Harris Aims for the Middle of a Divided Democratic Field

[question everything]

Sen. Kamala Harris is increasingly pitching herself as the presidential candidate who can bridge the growing divide within the Democratic Party by focusing more on kitchen-table issues than ideological labels. Competing against fellow top-tier Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, whose campaign slogan is “big structural change,” and Sen. Bernie Sanders who has been promising a “political revolution,” Ms. Harris has in recent appearances tried to distinguish herself by laying out a vision that is still liberal, but less far-reaching than those of the two prominent progressives.

She has also sought to be more aggressive on issues like health-care reform and climate change than former Vice President Joe Biden, the front-runner in the primary contest who has accused Ms. Harris of lacking clear positions. The California Democrat is pushing her “3 a.m. agenda,” which she has described in interviews and town halls as “stuff that people are dealing with every day” instead of ideas that are going to “transform and upend.” She will be promoting it during a five-day bus tour across Iowa this week, following last week’s presidential debates that showcased the ideological split within the party—one that Mr. Trump is hoping to use to his advantage.

(snip)

Without calling out any of her primary opponents, Ms. Harris made that more emotional case for her candidacy ahead of the Detroit debate on an interview with “The Breakfast Club,” a New York-based, hip-hop radio show that has hosted presidential candidates. “People can talk about how they want to transform the world,” she said. “Well, let’s just first talk about dealing with the things that wake people up at night, which is going to be about their health care, it’s going to be about their children, it’s going to be about how they’re going to get through the end of the month, how they’re going to pay off their student loans. We could go on down the list.”

(snip)

A WSJ/NBC poll last month also found that Ms. Harris received the most support as the second-choice pick for those surveyed who said they back Ms. Warren and those who said they back Mr. Biden. Multiple recent national polls have found Ms. Harris in fourth place in the Democratic contest, behind Mr. Biden, Ms. Warren and Mr. Sanders. Some surveys have suggested her support has leveled off following the bump she got from a strong June debate performance in Miami. When she took a middle-ground stance on Medicare for All, Mr. Biden’s campaign accused her of having it “every which way” on health care. On the debate stage in Detroit, she was attacked by more liberal candidates for allowing a limited role for private insurers in her Medicare for All plan and by less liberal candidates for going too far in rolling back private insurers.

Jess Morales-Rocketto, a Democratic strategist who worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, said as a woman of color from one of the most liberal states, Ms. Harris doesn’t need to be outspoken about her progressive views or about radically changing the system as other candidates have chosen to do. Her “3 a.m.” pitch, Ms. Morales-Rocketto said, is rooted in her efforts to speak to the daily struggles of women, black and Latino voters—the electorate whose support the Harris campaign views as its path to the nomination, and for which she is increasingly competing with Ms. Warren.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/harris-aims-for-the-middle-of-a-divided-democratic-field-11565212638 (paid subscription)

[squirecam]

1. Not enough

Harris is trying everything to gain traction. She gained some after that debate, but has fallen off. I don't think she will be at the top of the ticket.

[Skya Rhen]

2. Too late - poll numbers are tanking. Campaign can't be too happy about this.

[Hortensis]

3. :) Considering that all the candidates who can win are on ONE side

of this "divided" field, with a few blue dogs and a couple of dissidents on the other, heading for the "middle" of the liberal progressive pack instead of the top would be a very bad idea.

Good grief, WSJ. Spin your guts out.

[Thekaspervote]

4. I can understand why that might be her next move. Not sure it will work, moving away from the

Positions she had may alienate those that supported her initially

[Princetonian]

5. Try the kitchen sink next.

[madville]

6. 4th place in today's California poll

Even her home state doesn't particularly care for her campaign strategies.