# Is Kamala Harris the most disappointing candidate ever? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [December 3, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296 "2019-12-03T03:56:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/41 "2019-12-03T22:56:20Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Kamala reach the peak of her popularity right after that busing exchange? It sounds like you guys are saying that this exchange did her in, and I can’t imagine how the facts support what you’re saying. So I’m interested to hear whether I’m misunderstanding what you’re trying to say, or whether there are some facts I’m not aware of. (FWIW, I agree that the punch was loaded with self-pity and it did turn me off to her. But I had thought that was a personal problem, not something a lot of other people agreed on.) It didn’t “do her in” so much, it just didn’t help her in any longer-term way. She had a ‘moment’ and it gave her a brief polling bump, but that new support was clearly not solid. I do think she _maybe_ could have turned that bump into something lasting, if something _else_ went right for her at the right time. The busing exchange just didn’t have any legs, because it’s not an ongoing issue that people care about, and no one should have expected her to sustain higher numbers on that basis alone. I think some people thought it was the beginning of a pattern and she’d keep her numbers up by having another ‘hit’ every other week, or something like that. I don’t know if that would’ve worked or not, but she didn’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/42 "2019-12-03T23:46:33Z")
IMO the most disappointing candidate ever was John Kerry in 2000. The Republicans slung all that swift boat shit at him and he did little or nothing to refute it, to jump all over it and point out that Bush was a draft dodger, etc. Kind of the SOP for Democrats, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/43 "2019-12-04T00:58:55Z")
She shouldn’t have waited five months to get back at Tulsi Gabbard. Because in the space of those five months she went from polling the closest to Joe Biden to polling at 2% and by the time she got her comeback in, well it was too late and too desperate. I also think the Kamala is a cop meme messed the heads of her campaign. Americans like law and order. If she actually distinguished her actual record vs the fiction made to distort it then who knows, she may have avoided the banana skin in the primary of left wing activists heckling and strengthened the case in a general election of taking down criminals. Nobody calls Amy Klobuchar a cop when she too was a prosecutor. It’s clear Kamala was targetted by the left of the party because she was a threat. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/44 "2019-12-04T01:04:32Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Kamala reach the peak of her popularity right after that busing exchange? It sounds like you guys are saying that this exchange did her in, and I can’t imagine how the facts support what you’re saying. ) You could look at it both way, I suppose. The exchange led to her highest polling but her follow up was lame and ended up putting her in a bad light. But what you’re saying is far more reasonable, imho. The exchange led to a bump and then she just faded back and never made another move again. ---
**Author:** ![Barack\_Obama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/dc4da7/32.png) [@Barack\_Obama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barack_Obama)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/45 "2019-12-04T01:28:10Z")
Hahahahaha and… shes outta here. Good job tulsi. > **[Kamala Harris ends 2020 presidential campaign | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/03/politics/kamala-harris-ends-presidential-bid/index.html)** > > Sen. Kamala Harris ended her 2020 presidential campaign on Tuesday, an abrupt departure for a candidate who was once seen as a leading contender for the Democratic nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/46 "2019-12-04T01:57:24Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > Tbf I quite liked Harris until Tulsi pointed out that she’d zealously prosecuted people for having weed and blocked exculpatory evidence in death row cases. AFAIC Tulsi torpedoed Harris in that 2nd debate. Things like this. She wasn’t just a cop. (ETA: San Francisco District Attorney, to be more precise.) She had some reputation as a “bad cop”. Long before Tulsi got involved, we in California were seeing stories about that, that began coming out when she was running for state AG in 2010 and again when she ran for Senator. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/47 "2019-12-04T02:24:50Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > I can’t get why she was an actual candidate. She has great policies, good on gun control, but flip-flopped on that, IMO. > > I still think if the goal is to beat the Orange Crowd, then a woman can’t be the candidate in this election. Kamala would make a great cabinet member after this election and help move forward women in politics. But I just don’t think she can start at the top. And no, I don’t think she’s qualified in foreign policy to swing it. **I’ll vote for her again in CA. She’s fantastic** , just not the woman that can beat the GOP. I’m guessing you’ve never been part of the slave labor racket she helped run. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/48 "2019-12-04T03:10:53Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I’m guessing you’ve never been part of the slave labor racket she helped run. ? Cite? ---
**Author:** ![Linden\_Arden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/53a042/32.png) [@Linden\_Arden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linden_Arden)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/49 "2019-12-04T04:34:29Z")
on the subject. Busing is less popular than gonorreah. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/50 "2019-12-04T04:59:08Z")
I would be astonished if more than 25% of America’s population even knows what busing is. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/51 "2019-12-04T05:18:31Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > You could look at it both way, I suppose. The exchange led to her highest polling but her follow up was lame and ended up putting her in a bad light. > > But what you’re saying is far more reasonable, imho. The exchange led to a bump and then she just faded back and never made another move again. [FWIW](‘We disagree on Black Lives Matter’ actually means that they’re in favor of things like a police officer strangling a man to death during an arrest) in the days that followed: > [@](#): > > As the dust settles I am thinking she will drop back again pretty fast. Answering my own op she has pretty much doomed herself for a general with the very debate move that got her the bump in the polls. [And](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21736377&postcount=143) > [@](#): > > … What she is doing is not that serious approach and it is not something she has ever prioritized before. It is disingenuous posturing that will over time backfire on her badly, unless she fades otherwise before it can. > > Not everything candidates trot out is insincere or put out for political purposes only. Some things however are and some candidates end up giving more of an impression of soullessness opportunism than others… [Lastly …](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21743796&postcount=155) > [@](#): > > … What is true is that the media narrative in the immediate aftermath was focused on the positive of this interaction for her. I am positing that a blowback is beginning and will gain steam. To some degree the more successful the play was the more inevitable the blowback was to be. The scrappy underdog gets the good storyline. Move up the ranks and you evolve out of that role and become a target instead. And how that is handled informs. > > I’m thinking Warren outlasts her as the main Biden alternative. … Jus’ sayin’ 🙂 Seriously though - her play on Biden got her attention but it wasn’t playing to her brand’s strength, and was more using racial justice cynically than actually caring about it, which over the next week or so came through. And she had no plan to follow up on having grabbed the attention. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/52 "2019-12-04T05:20:07Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > If we want to limit it to primary contests, here’s a few I can think of. > > …Gary Hart 1998… 1. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/53 "2019-12-04T05:22:21Z")
Apparently trump tweeted: “Too Bad, we will miss you Kamela!” To which she replied :“Don’t worry Mr. President, I will see you at your trial”. Nice shot there! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/54 "2019-12-04T06:18:34Z")
That’s part of the appeal she had. She fights and she’s a natural prosecutor. But it’s just not enough to be President. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/55 "2019-12-04T06:51:58Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > How was Harris more disappointing than JEB! ? Because **HurricaneDitka** is a conservative. Therefore, the tears are sweeter when a liberal candidate fails. I like Harris. I can actually see her as a VP candidate if Mayor Pete were to get the nomination. She’s got experience, she could help shore up his support among the African American community, and she may appeal to some women voters who may be a little disheartened by the number of old, white men in the race. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/56 "2019-12-04T07:02:06Z")
> [@jaycat](#): > > IMO the most disappointing candidate ever was John Kerry in 2000. The Republicans slung all that swift boat shit at him and he did little or nothing to refute it, to jump all over it and point out that Bush was a draft dodger, etc. Kind of the SOP for Democrats, unfortunately. Nitpick: Kerry was 2004. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/57 "2019-12-04T09:06:07Z")
And now a lot of Democrats on social media are freaking out over the fact the 6 candidates who will be at the debate are white. Ummmmm, if we’re actually listening to minority voters, then the nominee should be Joe Biden in a landslide. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/58 "2019-12-04T09:55:47Z")
If we listen to _only_ minority voters, perhaps. I don’t think Biden wins the nomination, but I think that Harris gets serious consideration as a VP pick ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/59 "2019-12-04T10:03:12Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I would be astonished if more than 25% of America’s population even knows what busing is. Yea. I bet folks these days just use their own car or Uber… never public transportation. What? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296/60 "2019-12-04T13:03:34Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > [FWIW](‘We disagree on Black Lives Matter’ actually means that they’re in favor of things like a police officer strangling a man to death during an arrest) in the days that followed:[And](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21736377&postcount=143)[Lastly …](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21743796&postcount=155)Jus’ sayin’ 🙂 > > Seriously though - her play on Biden got her attention but it wasn’t playing to her brand’s strength, and was more using racial justice cynically than actually caring about it, which over the next week or so came through. And she had no plan to follow up on having grabbed the attention. Yes, I understand that is the narrative. But if you look at her polling, it’s been two bumps and steady decline. Candidates rarely maintain a post debate bump anyways, no need for fancy explanations why this one didn’t hold. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-kamala-harris-the-most-disappointing-candidate-ever/844296.md?page=4)