# Kamala Harris and the runup to the 2024 Presidential Election {No more on Guns} **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** kamala-harris\ **Created:** [July 22, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571 "2024-07-22T00:39:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 50
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/987 "2024-09-08T05:59:57Z")
Yes, his threats against those who prosecuted him is old news. But now Trump is engaged in blatantly intimidating those helping to get Harris elected. This could have a real effect if he scares off enough big donors and election workers. That’s why I put it in the Kamala Harris thread. He intends to win through intimidation before the election and cheating during the counting and certification process. Election interference at this level should be seriously illegal but he’s getting around it through weasel words and secret backroom shenanigans. This is banana republic stuff and it’s just mind-boggling that this can happen in a supposedly first-world country. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/988 "2024-09-08T07:01:45Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > it’s just mind-boggling that this can happen in a supposedly first-world country As an American who moved overseas many years ago and has been looking back at his country of origin from a great distance with much clearer eyes, I have news for you. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/989 "2024-09-08T09:13:13Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > it’s just mind-boggling that this can happen in a supposedly first-world country > > As an American who moved overseas many years ago and has been looking back at his country of origin from a great distance with much clearer eyes, I have news for you.   Yeah, the US has had significant problems for a long time, but to paraphrase P.J. O’Rourke, at least in modern times they were (mostly) “problems within normal parameters”. It was Trump’s ascension in 2016 that sent everything off the rails into uncharted territory. He’s essentially a mobster thug threatening Harris’s supporters. “NIce life ya got there, would be a shame if anything happened to it”. This cannot be allowed to continue. He’s gonna claim freeze peach, but at his point he’s materially interfering in the election. IMHO Harris should seek a court order to shut him up. Everyone knows that real election interference is a serious crime. They don’t need a thug pretending to remind them of that with veiled threats that suggest he’ll find “unscrupulous” behaviour in anyone and everyone who helped Harris, because in this thug’s view helping Harris is in itself a crime. That’s what this election has come to. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/990 "2024-09-08T10:44:57Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > When was the last time a former VP endorsed a candidate from a different party? Keeping in mind that George H W Bush was Vice President before he was elected President, GHWB voted against Trump in 2016 and confirmed he made disparaging remarks against Trump after the election. Bush Sr. died in 2018 so he didn’t know who the 2020 Democrat candidate would be, so endorsement wasn’t possible, but Bush pretty much did the opposite, renunciation. > **[George Bush Sr calls Trump a 'blowhard' and voted for Clinton](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-41871958)** > > The former president voted for Hillary Clinton, while his son casts doubt on Mr Trump's ability. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/991 "2024-09-08T11:42:00Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > It sounds like some of the staff issues that made the news in the past were because she had high standards and expected a lot from her staff. I’m guessing one factor might be that many of these jobs go to people with connections who may not have had to work very hard to get into those positions. They may not be used to having bosses which expect them to be prepared to that degree. I can’t see the WP article either, but I’m pretty sceptical. The paragraphs in the image come across as blatant propaganda meant to discredit articles that were written about the dysfunction in the Vice President’s office going back to 2021. [https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/kamala-harris-office-dissent-497290](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/kamala-harris-office-dissent-497290) Harris didn’t inherit her staff. The WP article implies she hired people who didn’t expect her level of attention to detail. That’s unlikely, but if it’s true it means she was a poor executive in overseeing her staffing. What’s more likely is that people in her office didn’t like working in a chaotic blame-filled environment and quit for that reason. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/992 "2024-09-08T12:16:16Z")
And yet the reason frequently given for the usually-disorganized Democratic Party immediately and unanimously lining up behind Harris when Biden discontinued his campaign is that Harris was so well-organized that she had already done substantial work on nailing down support for a potential 2028 campaign. And her fundraising efforts, her choice of VP, her messaging, her campaign strategy all have been revealed to be strong. Seems like good, non-chaotic leadership to me. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/993 "2024-09-08T12:40:05Z")
Sounds like more propaganda to me. Harris didn’t get the Democratic nomination because she was the most prepared. She got it because she happened to be the Vice President. If Biden had announced he wasn’t running for a second term in 2023, there’s a pretty good chance Harris wouldn’t be the candidate. She inherited the campaign machine that was already underway. Being dropped into an executive role doesn’t make you a good executive. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/994 "2024-09-08T12:40:57Z")
Working in her previous job and being VP is a magnitude of difference in intensity and importance. It’s possible she “clamped down” in her new job when she was elected (understandably so) and they just weren’t ready for the change. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/995 "2024-09-08T12:47:34Z")
Sounds like more desperate right-wing spin to me. Being VP didn’t automatically mean she inherited the right to lead the campaign from then on, and it **certainly** didn’t mean the Democrats would fall completely in line when they rarely have before. And Harris _did_ already have the machinations in place for a 2028 run, whether you wish it to be true or not. And Vice President _is already an executive role_. Funny how the right are struggling so much to find any dirt on such a “poor executive” running a “chaotic” campaign office. I suppose that’s why they’re so willing to manufacture so much of it out of nothing. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/996 "2024-09-08T12:57:17Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > If Biden had announced he wasn’t running for a second term in 2023, there’s a pretty good chance Harris wouldn’t be the candidate. The situation this election is like a sports team where the head coach is removed in the middle of the season. The best thing to do when that happens is to have one of the assistant coaches move up to head coach. Trying to bring in a new head coach from the outside creates a lot of chaos in the middle of the season which would degrade the team’s ability to win. It seems like Harris is doing a pretty good job of stepping into the role. I agree that if there was an open primary, I think Harris would have lost. But I also think if there was an open primary, the Democrats would have ended up losing the election. It would have been such a mess trying to pick a new candidate that the Democrats would have lost a lot of support. It doesn’t matter if there’s a better candidate from a theoretical standpoint. The process of making that outside person be the candidate would be so contentious that it would likely guarantee a loss for the Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/997 "2024-09-08T13:07:12Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > The paragraphs in the image come across as blatant propaganda meant to discredit articles that were written about the dysfunction in the Vice President’s office going back to 2021. > > [https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/kamala-harris-office-dissent-497290](https://www.politico.com/news/2021/06/30/kamala-harris-office-dissent-497290) You wrote “going back to 2021.” Are there any _recent_ claims that Harris has a toxic office? In more recent times, it seems that she has developed a close and loyal team, and has others eager to join her. > [@](#): > > Ms. Harris, by contrast [to Joe Biden] relies on a multiracial, intergenerational web of about two dozen advisers, friends and relatives, firing up her phone every day to call in favors or ask for advice… > > While Ms. Harris has her own inner circle, she was also thrust into a campaign with only a few weeks to make her case to the American people. So she has accepted the help and support of much of Mr. Biden’s team, added a few Obama-era operatives and elevated some loyalists of her own to positions of power. [https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/17/us/politics/harris-inner-circle-advisers.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/17/us/politics/harris-inner-circle-advisers.html) ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/998 "2024-09-08T14:12:22Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Working in her previous job and being VP is a magnitude of difference in intensity and importance. It’s possible she “clamped down” in her new job when she was elected (understandably so) and they just weren’t ready for the change. So you’re saying she hired people unqualified for the job who later quit because they were unqualified for the job? I suppose that’s possible, but that doesn’t support her as an effective manager. I’d also speculate that working in the Vice President’s office is viewed as a somewhat prestigious position. If people are quitting that position, it’s probably based on the office environment and leadership, rather than the exiters’ qualifications. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/999 "2024-09-08T14:44:29Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > So you’re saying she hired people unqualified for the job who later quit because they were unqualified for the job? If I hire you as the assistant to the store manager, and then he gets a _big_ jump in his career, you might not be ready for that jump. That’s what I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/1000 "2024-09-08T14:51:58Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > So you’re saying she hired people unqualified for the job who later quit because they were unqualified for the job? The Politco article which you linked lays a large part of the blame on the new chief of staff that Harris hired after she was elected VP. That woman, Tina Flournoy, has an entire career of working for high-ranking Democrats, including Bill Clinton and Joe Lieberman. She worked for Harris for about 16 months before she was replaced. ISTM that Flournoy was hired because of her past experience and qualifications but did not fit well into the role for which she was hired. And that is not at all unusual in corporate America. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/1001 "2024-09-08T14:53:02Z")
> [@Wrenching\_Spanners](#): > > I’d also speculate that working in the Vice President’s office is viewed as a somewhat prestigious position. If people are quitting that position, it’s probably based on the office environment and leadership, rather than the exiters’ qualifications. Your speculation doesn’t comport with reporting\* on the issue. > [@](#): > > The vice president’s office has traditionally relied heavily on staff from other parts of government who serve short-term details. This can account for a high turnover rate. > [@](#): > > By the same measure, for instance, her predecessor [Mike Pence](https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/candidates/mike-pence-2024/?itid=lk_inline_manual_15) saw 83 percent turnover in his vice-presidential office. But there was talk of volatility at the beginning of her term as Vice-President, for a myriad of reasons. > [@](#): > > the history and expectations [of being the first female, black and Indian vice president] brought additional attention to an office that has been routinely overlooked in previous administrations and is about one-eighth the size of the president’s. Journalists shadowed her across the world; some tracked her popularity along with Biden’s, and political opponents sought to amplify any stumbles… > > To serve as her primary gatekeeper and office manager, Harris appointed Tina Flournoy, a longtime Democratic operative as her first chief of staff. The two did not know each other previously, and Flournoy’s prior White House experience had been limited to serving as chief counsel in the personnel office during the Clinton administration. > > Some current and former staff said that Flournoy’s visibility into White House operations was limited and that she had a difficult time managing requests for Harris’s time… > > Harris sought to prove to Biden and his inner circle that she was a team player, following lingering tensions from the 2019 primary campaign, said six former and current White House staff with knowledge of those conversations. > > The dynamic prompted Harris not to push immediately to carve out her own portfolio or hire her own people, often bringing in staffers who had previously worked for Biden… > > Harris also told Biden and senior officials that she did not want to be defined by women’s or racial issues, particularly in her first year… > > Making matters more difficult, Harris took office in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, meaning her staff initially worked remotely… Any such problems have subsided. > [@](#): > > Turnover in Harris’s office has slowed as the vice president’s team stabilized. One-third of current staff have been on the team for more than two years, her office said; turnover in the VP’s office since the summer of 2021 is roughly on par with the rest of the White House. > > People close to Harris said she has not changed how she manages staff but has surrounded herself with people more comfortable with her style, including a bevy of alumni. Kirsten Allen, a 2019 campaign spokesperson, is now her communications director; Kristine Lucius, her former Senate chief of staff and White House legislative policy adviser, is on her third tour of duty as Harris’s domestic policy adviser; Josh Hsu, who worked for her in the Senate, on the 2019 presidential campaign and in the White House, has returned for a fourth tour on the current campaign. \*All quotes come from the WaPo gift link listed upthread. I don’t know why the link below is so weird. **Kamala Harris ran her office like a prosecutor. Not everyone liked that.** _After a difficult first year as vice president, Harris has grown into her role — and found staff who respond better to her style, allies say._ [https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/06/harris-veep-boss-management/?pwapi\_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzI1NjgxNjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzI3MDYzOTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MjU2ODE2MDAsImp0aSI6IjUzMDEwMmFhLWY5YmYtNDlhNS05ZjRmLTFhYzQ1ZDY5YzNiNSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI0LzA5LzA2L2hhcnJpcy12ZWVwLWJvc3MtbWFuYWdlbWVudC8ifQ.DmxsTK7QquMbfagSeVGLp-cIPSJ9uzLu01VqfKtvjBg](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/09/06/harris-veep-boss-management/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzI1NjgxNjAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzI3MDYzOTk5LCJpYXQiOjE3MjU2ODE2MDAsImp0aSI6IjUzMDEwMmFhLWY5YmYtNDlhNS05ZjRmLTFhYzQ1ZDY5YzNiNSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI0LzA5LzA2L2hhcnJpcy12ZWVwLWJvc3MtbWFuYWdlbWVudC8ifQ.DmxsTK7QquMbfagSeVGLp-cIPSJ9uzLu01VqfKtvjBg) ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/1002 "2024-09-08T15:20:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > He’s essentially a mobster thug threatening Harris’s supporters. And his name is, what,        **Don** ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/1003 "2024-09-08T15:23:06Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Remember when I said that Florida was in play this year, and I was pooh poohed? I will make a friendly bet. I bet Texas and Flordia go to Trump. All this “too close to call” business in those states is not accurate. Harris will lose both states. No stakes, but wanna bet? Or feel free to come up with something fun as stakes. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/1004 "2024-09-08T15:25:29Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > No stakes, but wanna bet? Or feel free to come up with something fun as stakes. **Moderating** : [No stakes allowed](https://boards.straightdope.com/tos). So please keep it to a friendly bet only. > **Betting.** Betting is not permitted for any purpose, including but not limited to fun, charity, or for the sake of argument. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/1005 "2024-09-08T15:27:51Z")
Thanks. I didn’t mean any actual stakes, more like having to say “I WAS WRONG” in the thread or something goofy. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571/1006 "2024-09-08T15:28:45Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > having to say “I WAS WRONG” Are you kidding? Those are the HIGHEST STAKES IMAGINABLE. 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571.md?page=49) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kamala-harris-and-the-runup-to-the-2024-presidential-election-no-more-on-guns/1004571.md?page=51)