Kamala Harris Withdraws From Presidential Race
[guest post by Dana]
“I’ve taken stock and looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life,” Harris wrote in a letter to supporters Tuesday. “It is with deep regret — but also with deep gratitude — that I am suspending my campaign today.”
Along with a frustrated campaign staff and internal fighting, Harris’s polling plummet makes the news of her withdrawal expected, rather than surprising:
Support for Harris in national polls peaked at 15 percent after her breakout debate performance in June. But it has been declining ever since, hitting a low of about 3 percent on Dec. 2, according to a Real Clear Politics average. That put her in sixth place, behind former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Still trailing in the polls, and with no real chance of taking the nomination, Tulsi Gabbard could nonetheless, be seen smiling to herself.
(Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.)
–Dana
Pre-emptive strike: It’s not because she is a woman, it’s not because she is a woman of color, it’s because she
iswas a crappy candidate.Only a mere 95 Democratic candidates remain…
Dana (6fefe0) — 12/3/2019 @ 10:40 amNate Silver points out that the candidates who qualify for the next debate are all white, and only one is a woman (because somehow this is what is important). But when you think about it, it really is funny given the Dems see themselves as the ruling diversity gods: Biden, Bernie, Warren, Steyer, Buttigieg, Klobuchar
Dana (6fefe0) — 12/3/2019 @ 10:45 amI thought Warren was part Cherokee? Didn’t she say something like that?
Appalled (1a17de) — 12/3/2019 @ 10:54 amJVW hardest hit.
Dave (0f0736) — 12/3/2019 @ 10:58 amThanks for this post, Dana. I started one too, so I am going to turn mine into an elegy of sorts for her campaign and I’ll publish it in a few hours, after everyone has had a chance to start an initial discussion.
Ha ha, Dave.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 11:16 amButtigieg going after the non-white vote by agreeing that Mexican illegals are just re-claiming land stolen to perpetuate slavery.
https://hotair.com/archives/jazz-shaw/2019/12/02/buttigieg-agrees-illegal-aliens-reclaiming-stolen-land/
harkin (337580) — 12/3/2019 @ 11:19 amButtigieg going after the non-white vote by agreeing that Mexican illegals are just re-claiming land stolen to perpetuate slavery.
Nothing like the gross historical ignorance of a Rhodes Scholar. Of course Buttigieg probably knows better and is just pandering to the La Raza vote.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 11:25 amMaybe they might consider raising the campaign contribution limits?
Kamala Harris was going to be in the December debate. I think she was running out of money, that is, money she controlled and could use to pay staff and travel (a Super Pac had just bought $1 million of ads in Iowa and cancelled the buy after her announcement.)
She had already economized by planning to stay for weeks in Iowa. Her staff was quitting and I think she had asked them to sleep in supporters’ homes rather than hotels. She laid some off, and maybe the rest were getting worried about getting paid the money they had been promised, and maybe she had cut their salaries, too.
Her staff was anxious to leave to work in other campaigns, and went to her and asked her what was her plan to win the nomination. One already went to work for Michael Bloomberg.
https://nypost.com/2019/11/28/michael-bloomberg-swipes-top-staffer-from-kamala-harris-presidential-campaign
Sammy Finkelman (ce04e1) — 12/3/2019 @ 11:33 amMY GOD, PEOPLE, NEVER MIND KAMALA HARRIS: DO YOU REALIZE THAT BOTH STEVE BULLOCK AND JOE SESTAK HAVE DROPPED OUT TOO?
I think at this point we might have to dip into our Strategic National Reserve of Democrat Presidential Candidates.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 11:36 amHer staff was anxious to leave to work in other campaigns, and went to her and asked her what was her plan to win the nomination. One already went to work for Michael Bloomberg.
I confess that I don’t know the protocols of Democrat campaign work, but it would seem to me to be a really bad idea to leave the campaign of a bona fide Democrat like Sen. Harris to go work on the campaign of an ersatz Democrat like Mayor Bloomberg. Wouldn’t that mark you as something of a Quisling for future campaign work?
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 11:45 amYou knew her campaign was in the death throes when she threw down the race card, alluding that the country wasn’t ready for a female black president, when the reality is that the country didn’t want her as our first female black president.
Paul Montagu (00daa1) — 12/3/2019 @ 11:53 amNot a good day for California’s congressional delegation on either side of the aisle.
Duncan Hunter is the latest Trump crony headed to the slammer for corruption.
Maybe if he stabs somebody in the throat while in prison he can qualify for a pardon.
Dave (1d11b4) — 12/3/2019 @ 11:56 amJVW, its better to take the money that is much more likely materializing now. Also, you might be working on an IOU basis if Warren or Sanders is the nominee and Silicon Valley/Wall Street/even Hollywood is like “eff that ish”.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 12/3/2019 @ 12:17 pmIs she a contender for VP? Would she want to do that, or are her druthers to head back to California and continue screwing up the state?
Dana (6fefe0) — 12/3/2019 @ 12:20 pm“ Maybe if he stabs somebody in the throat while in prison he can qualify for a pardon.”
Heck of a lot cheaper than billions in cash to terrorists…..
Oh wait that’s not against the law.
harkin (337580) — 12/3/2019 @ 12:21 pmIs she a contender for VP? Would she want to do that, or are her druthers to head back to California and continue screwing up the state?
What does she have to offer to the Democrat nominee? He or she is destined to win California anyway, and Sen. Harris did not show any special ability to relate to blacks, Asians, or women on the campaign trail. Plus, her political instincts, which appear to be built around vacillating, aren’t very impressive. Clearly Dinosaur Joe isn’t going to pick her, and I would think that Lieawatha would be better off with someone from the Midwest like Amy Klobuchar or Pete Buttigieg. I suppose Mayor Pete himself would be the most likely Dem nominee to give Sen. Harris a close look, since having a woman and a minority would quell some grumbling about yet another white male candidate who has poor relations with his own minority constituents.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 12:33 pmOn second thought, it really would be a Joe Biden move to forgive-and-forget and choose Kamala Harris as his VP, wouldn’t it? It would make him look magnanimous, and any male Democrat nominee would almost certainly need a woman on the ticket. I think that Dinosaur Joe would not want Elizabeth Warren on the ticket because of age issues, and as much as the prospect of Stacey Adams may intrigue him, she is way too much of an unproven wildcard in what will probably be a very close race. Again, it would seem that his best option would be someone safe like Amy Klobuchar, but who knows how that crazy mind of his works.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 12:48 pmWith a Biden-Harris ticket, we will find out real quick if she wears wigs or extensions.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 12/3/2019 @ 12:58 pm@17. =ring-ring= Hey Joe, it’s for you; March calling to remind you you’ll be dropping out in February.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 12:59 pm@12. Second verse, same as the first; a little bit louder and a little bit worse…
Randy ‘Duke’ Cunningham redux.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 1:03 pmRandy ‘Duke’ Cunningham redux.
Duke Cunningham at least had the distinction of being a war hero.
This strikes me as more akin to a Jesse Jackson Jr. situation. Everyone knows the old man is a crook too, but it’s the kid who gets busted for wrongdoing because he is that much worse at hiding it.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 1:25 pmLots of good reasons to leave her off the short list, but more to the point, the VP candidate’s traditional role is to throw haymakers at the opposing presidential candidate, and she apparently has the political equivalent of a glass jaw.
If she has to throw in the towel after going one round with a lightweight, pant-suited punk like Gabbard, what chance would she have against the Intercontinental Super Heavy-Weight Champion?
Dave (1d11b4) — 12/3/2019 @ 2:20 pm@21. Until he disgraced his legacy by raping his own country. He was my folks’ congresscritter and a total POS.
There isn’t a hole deep enough for him.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 2:22 pmDuncan Hunter was scum; Duncan Hunter Jr., is scum; conservative GOP both. These nut bags are creeps who wrap themselves in the flag to sucker the retirees in their San Diego military constituency. And =drumroll= they’re both Trumpters!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 2:29 pmIt speaks volumes of just what a lousy, entrenched, electoral system America has thanks to these feckless, major parties that she had to fold chiefly due to a lack of money whilst billionaire Bloomie types just buy there way in. The Brits do this better: 90 days and done.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 2:34 pmQuestion – Did Willie leave the light on for her?
mg (8cbc69) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:33 pmOne would have though she would have put the forward press on Bill Clinton for a stained dress.
mg (8cbc69) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:36 pmIf she has to throw in the towel after going one round with a lightweight, pant-suited punk like Gabbard. . .
You betta check yo’self, Dave.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:37 pmAnd =drumroll= so are you!
Dave (050ab0) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:38 pmIt speaks volumes of just what a lousy, entrenched, electoral system America has thanks to these feckless, major parties that she had to fold chiefly due to a lack of money whilst billionaire Bloomie types just buy there way in.
No, it speaks to the shallow, easily-districted, ill-educated voter. And all of the “electoral reform” in the world isn’t going to change that fact.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:39 pmIf I am not mistaken, DCSCA, you are a fan of JFK. Didn’t his daddy essentially purchase every political seat he and his rotten brothers ever occupied?
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:41 pm@29. Really? Suggest you review my consistent comments post- Helsinki— then grovel. Making ideologues cry in their beer brings such joy; temporary inconvenience; permanent improvement.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:48 pm@31. Think you’ll find JFK relished debating; Bloomie, not so much.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:52 pmIs lieawatha the only person of color left?
mg (8cbc69) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:53 pmTiming and luck has a lot to do w/it; Harris’ messaging wasn’t clicking this cycle; she was just the wrong candidate at the wrong time– a fate JoeyBee will soon discover. No malarkey.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 3:56 pm@30. No, that’s elitist. Don’t blame the voters, busy working and living their lives for corrupt political parties most voters don’t even belong to.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:00 pmYou voted to make him the nominee and to send him to Helsinki; you regularly express satisfaction with your decision and your “consistent comments” are that all the damage your wretched judgment has helped inflict on our country is just entertainment.
Dave (050ab0) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:04 pmSo long, my Little Bay Area Sweetie.
norcal (88a89b) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:06 pmI still don’t know what she saw in Willie Brown. I’m much better-looking than him. 🙂
norcal (88a89b) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:10 pm@37. It is entertainment. Or have you been asleep since The Big Dick’s ‘sock-it-to-me’ Ailes moment from 1968?
Dave, Dave, Dave; the objective was and remains to effectively neuter the modern ideological conservative movement. Temporary inconvenience; permanent improvement, fella. An the strategy is working well. An you still get some judges as a consolation prize. America survived a civil war, a Great Depression, two world wars, the 1960’s and Reaganomics–it’ll survive 8 years of Trump. Like a bad Mexican meal, this too shall pass. What’s for dessert?!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:13 pmElectable in California means unelectable in America. They oughta know by now. Duckface L’Orange should brag about his California numbers, not whine about them.
nk (dbc370) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:25 pm@41. That would be news to dead Ronald Reagan.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:28 pmThat was three generations ago.
nk (dbc370) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:32 pmOr half a century.
nk (dbc370) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:33 pmMaybe even 52 years.
nk (dbc370) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:34 pm@41./42/43/44/45… Dead Dick Nixon, too. 😉
DCSCA (797bc0) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:35 pm1972. Forty-seven years ago.
nk (dbc370) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:38 pmElectable in California means unelectable in America. They oughta know by now.
David Brooks made this very point — that candidates who can win statewide in California and New York probably can’t win nationwide — on Twitter and a whole bunch of progressives (and probably some Trumpists too) jumped all over him for it. But I think he’s right. Everyone who claims that Trump proves Brooks wrong overlooks the fact that Trump was never — and almost certainly could never be — elected to office in New York. And everyone’s golden unicorn, the moderate Republican, ain’t gonna happen, even if the candidate had huge name recognition. Does anybody really think that Arnold Schwarzenegger (his Constitutional ineligibility notwithstanding) could have beaten Bill Clinton in ’96 or Barack Obama in ’12? And it’s really hard imagining him winning a competitive GOP primary in any year.
Democrats make the same mistake when they give us someone from Massachusetts, at witnessed by Michael Dukakis and John Kerry. We may end up seeing if Fauxcahontas can break the mold.
JVW (54fd0b) — 12/3/2019 @ 4:51 pmRe #2. Nate Silver points out that the candidates who qualify for the next debate are all white, and only one is a woman (because somehow this is what is important). But when you think about it, it really is funny given the Dems see themselves as the ruling diversity gods: Biden, Bernie, Warren, Steyer, Buttigieg, Klobuchar
Dana (6fefe0) — 12/3/2019 @ 10:45 am
__________________________________________
(Elizabeth)Warren. (Amy)Klobuchar. Do you or Silver know something the rest
Gary L. Zerman (a1521c) — 12/3/2019 @ 5:00 pmof us are not privy to? GLZ.
Gabbard – (Bel) Edwards 2020
urbanleftbehind (959a8b) — 12/3/2019 @ 5:06 pmWashingto Post – who qualified for what debates
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/11/15/who-has-qualified-december-democratic-debate/?arc404=true
Since one criteria is the number of unique campaign contributors (can be $1) and Michael Bloomberg isn’t raising any money, I don’t think he’ll get into any debates unless they change the rules.
Sammy Finkelman (ce04e1) — 12/3/2019 @ 6:19 pmShe woke up one day and found out she was too old for Willie Brown.
steveg (354706) — 12/3/2019 @ 7:11 pm