I don’t know if I’d call her the most overhyped and disappointing candidate ever, but she was definitely hyped. If you get in your DeLorean and travel back to about one year ago, you’ll find all the smart people at the big media outlets who are highly paid to understand politics saying that Kamala Harris is #1 and will totally win the nomination. For example, here are Chris Cillizza and Harry Enten at CNN:
There was lots of that sort of thing all over the media. Even Republicans agreed that the Democratic voters were going to reject men and white people and elect a minority woman instead.
So where are we at now? Thetop 5 choices of Democratic voters are a white man, a white man, a white woman, a white man, and a white man. In other words, the media have proved yet again that they’re totally clueless.
Kamala Harris was my favorite candidate, but I’m not a Democrat, only an extremely disaffected Republican. While I support her, she really needs more experience in the Senate. The next election in 2024 is when she’d naturally peak, but I don’t blame her for running this time. I’m disappointed it didn’t work out, but happy to have her represent me in the Senate. And there’s still a vice-presidential slot to fill; she’d pair well with Sanders (blech) or Buttigieg.
This is not correct. The Democratic party did not endorse her for the Senate election in 2016. Because of the primary system in California, no Republican qualified and her opponent in the general election was also a Democrat, so the party did not endorse either candidate.
I met her and heard her speak at a backyard Ohio fundraiser for Sen. Sherrod Brown last year and was basically underwhelmed. When she spoke at a county Democratic dinner later that year she didn’t change that impression at all. I thought she’d at least get through Iowa and New Hampshire, but apparently not. Wouldn’t be too surprised to see her as AG in the next Democratic administration, though.
Yes, she would be a natural for AG. And her seat would be a safe DEM seat if she stepped out of it. But, where do you go from AG? I think she would remain in the senate and continue to keep her powder dry for future White House runs.
My crystal ball prediction says I see her as landing VP, followed by a failed Presidential run, then Governor of California, then retirement (with frequent calls for her to give the White House one more shot). So, we haven’t heard the last of her.
In other news, thank OG she’s out! Now my email inbox will no longer be quite so inundated. (I used to think of her as my obsessive ex.)
I’m surprised she is out considering that she is one of only six who qualified for the next debate. She is polling much better that several who are still in the race. I thought she had a lot of money too.
My impression is that she did not manage her campaign particularly well, from a management perspective, from a campaign perspective, and from a financial perspective. It doesn’t matter how much money you have, if your burn rate is too high.
Like some others that were high-flyers early on (Beto), it’s easy to get confused by how much money is going to continue to flow in based on early contributor enthusiasm. I suspect that at this point in the race, one would be talking to the big donors, PACs, and bundlers. If they are not giving you the love, it’s time to fold up the circus tent.
Yeah, not especially disappointing - this is after all what happens with most presidential aspirants anyway. I for one did not really expect her for a 2020 run anyway so IMO shecwas just before her time (sure Obama did it, but he was an outlier).
Harris’ bump in the polls back in June was based on fluff. Busing isn’t a live issue in 2019. That’s why it was just a bump. She had an opportunity, during the bump, to solidify her position if she made some smart moves. But she didn’t. Around that time, she totally flubbed debuting her health care plan. The plan itself deserved more attention tbh, but she came across as not understanding “her own” proposals. Except for the LIFT act, which is a fine idea but not the kind of policy that can make waves in 2019.
She potentially had time for a comeback, but she didn’t really do much. I knew she was finished when she said she was “fucking moving to Iowa”. She was never a good Iowa candidate, particularly compared to the 2020 field. At that point she should have essentially conceded the first two states and focused on winning Nevada. I’m actually pretty surprised there hasn’t been a single “I’m skipping Iowa for New Hampshire” candidate this year. New Hampshire isn’t good for Harris either, but Nevada could have been.
Harris’ biggest issue was probably that she never really answered for the rough spots in her record as DA. That could’ve been overcome with the right messaging. She just didn’t have it. She did make one correct move: dropping out now rather than later.
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.)
As gatorslap mentioned, the busing exchange put her in the public eye, but once that happened, it showed that she didn’t have much. And when people thought back on it, they realized, wait, busing isn’t really an issue anymore.
Unlike most candidacies that implode, it wasn’t one thing. It was her own position on busing, which is the same as Biden’s, her flip flops on M4A, her poor campaign management, her choice of positioning(be everything to everyone), and just the fact that I think she’s too polarizing. Some people look at her and see Barack Obama 2.0. Others see a very unlikeable, insincere candidate. On the left, there was a lot of “Kamala Harris is a cop” memes and Tulsi lit into her over that record. Some people were just enamored with the fact that she is genuinely good at prosecuting a case. Others saw that “prosecuting the case” is insufficient to be President. What happens once you get there? You just prosecute all the evildoers?
