'No discipline. No plan. No strategy.': Kamala Harris campaign in meltdown

[brooklynite]

Politico

the California senator crisscrosses the country trying to revive her sputtering presidential bid, aides at her fast-shrinking headquarters are deep into the finger-pointing stages. And much of the blame is being placed on campaign manager Juan Rodriguez.

After Rodriguez announced dozens of layoffs and re-deployments in late October to stem overspending, three more staffers at headquarters here were let go and another quit in recent days, aides told POLITICO. Officials said they’ve become increasingly frustrated at the campaign chief’s lack of clarity about what changes have been made to right the ship and his plans to turn the situation around. They hold Rodriguez responsible for questionable budget decisions, including continuing to bring on new hires shortly before the layoffs began.

Amid the turmoil, some aides have gone directly to campaign chair Maya Harris, the candidate’s sister, and argued that Rodriguez needs to be replaced if Harris has any hope of a turnaround, according to two officials.

“It’s a campaign of id,” said one senior Harris official, laying much of the blame on Rodriguez, but also pointing to a leaderless structure at the top that’s been allowed to flail without accountability. “What feels right, what impulse you have right now, what emotion, what frustration,” the official added. The person described the current state of the campaign in blunt terms: “No discipline. No plan. No strategy.”

This account is based on interviews with more than a dozen current and former staffers as well as others close to the campaign, including donors. The sources were granted anonymity to speak freely about the turmoil within the organization and protect them from repercussions.

Let me advance the discussion by stipulating that someone will call Politico a "right-wing rag" without disputing the facts of the story, and someone else WILL dispute the facts of the story because the interviewees aren't named.

[LaurenOlimina]

1. This is sad to see.

I had high hopes for her.

[DavidDvorkin]

3. Same here.

[BlueMTexpat]

12. +1! eom

[B Stieg]

2. You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows...

(apologies to B. Dylan)

[comradebillyboy]

4. The trajectory of her campaign, which got off to a great start, is

testimony to her team's poor performance. I am very sad to see it because I had very high hopes for Harris.

[Wellstone ruled]

5. Kept my yap shut about this,

knowing her and her Sister who is the Campaign Manager,had a bad feeling they were going to lose steam as the days go by.

[brooklynite]

6. Family members should not be your Doctor, Lawyer, Financial Adviser or Campaign Manager

[Pachamama]

9. Her husband too

I love Kamala Harris and have been an early and faithful supporter and think she would be a great President or Vice President. I have been open and direct when she attacked Biden and I said this was a really big mistake and that many people here in California in circles who know her (myself included) was that this was a fatal mistake. I am sure either her sister or husband or both had that horrible idea that she followed.

But I have mentioned before that her husband is someone to watch and that I and others who know her thought would be problematic. Sadly I think we are now seeing the results of all this.

I am feeling that her campaign for President is not going to be going anywhere.

Now is the time for her to position herself for Biden's VP slot which I have long believed is the winning ticket: Biden/Harris

And hopefully her sister and husband will not be in the way or mess that up.

[Wellstone ruled]

14. Same for me,not ready

to jump ship. She sat next to me at Dem HQ working the get out to vote phones. Just hoping someone will come to her aide. The Lady has so much to give.

[stopdiggin]

7. can't really tell if this is a failure of management

personality, leadership, focus, style, what-have-you .. or whether this is just the typical (and inevitable) death rattles of a campaign that is going on life support? When something fails (goes down) people point fingers.

[stevesinpa]

13. all campaigns that "go on life support"

are a result of a failure of some sort, failure of management, failure of leadership or personality, "what have you". typical death rattles are all a result of one, a few or all of the things you mentioned.

[underthematrix]

8. Let e start by saying I'm African American and female.

No one likes to discuss this but I think it's the real reason her campaign is struggling has to do with her attack on Joe Biden during the first debate.

Senator Harris is my senator and my sister's senator. We love her as our senator. But when she attacked Joe Biden that was a bridge too far. I think many African Americans feel the same way. Then during an interview on Rachel Maddow, she tried to push the idea that she was a unifier but it wasn't believable because she had attacked Joe Biden for one of the most complicated and contentious issues of the fifties, sixties and seventies. People didn't talk about it but the polling shows it had an effect.

We really need her in the senate. I hope she'll stay and one day become the Majority Leader.

[Celerity]

10. I am also a woman of colour, Senator Harris is my Senator as well, and I concur, with the additional

stipulation that Gabbard's debate attack did substantial damage as well, unfortunately. Harris got a sugar high initially off the Biden argy bargy, but that eventually melted away like a toffee in the noonday sun. Then the Gabbard debate blow (subtly (or not) cheered on at the time here by many of a certain candidate preference) aided in her polls going down even more, to the point where Buttigieg has easily displaced her (especially in IA and NH, but also nationally) as the 4th place candidate now.

I think her initial foundational blunder was to try and take over the far left lane that was already clearly owned by Sanders and Warren. If she had positioned herself as the centre-left alternative to Biden from the start, she would be FAR higher atm now, IMHO, and Pete and Biden would be lower. I must admit it was the biggest surprise to me in the first 6 months (January to June 2019) of the real campaign. She really got bogged down by (hardly a surprise) health care, with her back and forth vacillating (before finally coming out with plan that is amongst the most confusing of all) leading to a muddying of perceptions, which is often fatal in POTUS campaigns.

I hope she stays in the Senate, unless she were to be named AG by our new POTUS, and even then, I am not sure if she would take that position (coin toss it, lol.)

[underthematrix]

18. Love your great analysis. You have broadened my perspective.

Thank you

[Celerity]

19. yw!

[tishaLA]

21. ITA that veering to the far left was a mistake for her

and it never fit her well, which was why she as always at her weakest when she tried to deal with far left positions Her weakness on healthcare, for example, happened because she never really believed in it and she kept revising herself and it made her look like someone who didn't believe in anything. And the worst moment IMO was during the CNN town hall when Don Lemon asked her about whether people like the Boston Marathon bomber should be able to vote from prison. You KNOW she doesn't believe in it, but rather than just saying so, she gave the mealy-mouthed "it's a conversation we should have" answer after trying to avoid a real answer. That was a harbinger of things to come.

I really like Sen Harris and I hope she can rebound, but having her sister on staff is a bad idea and her campaign has lacked focus since the initial burst of energy. I love having her as my senator, though, and I see great things for her in the future.

[Cha]

17. Mahalo for your perspective,

underthematrix.

[peggysue2]

11. My dream ticket has always been Biden/Harris

I've really admired Kamala's performance in heated hearings when she's definitely held toes to the fire (think Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing). And I think she started off great. But I agree that her attacks on Biden in the first debate backfired. After the initial uptick in the polls, she fell dramatically and was never able to reignite. The debate dispute doesn't appear to have killed the Biden/Harris relationship from what we see in the after-debate interactions. So . . . a position within Biden's cabinet--if he's our nominee--is not an unreasonable expectation. As for the VP slot? Most people seem to think Stacey Abrams has that sewed up.

We shall see.

But for Harris' presidential ambitions? Looks pretty bleak.

[The Valley Below]

15. I don't think Biden/Harris is going to happen.

I believe that Joe Biden has a model for the sort of VP he wants; himself.

Not that he's looking for a clone, but he will want a trustworthy partner who has his back the way he always had Barack Obama's back. Attacking Biden as if he (of all people) was a racist, really was a bridge too far.

As to the Kavanaugh hearings, I kept seeing Harris appear that she was "laying a trap" and that her lines of questioning were about to "get good," only to see those lines of questioning collapse.

She is my Senator. I've voted for her every time I've had the option in primaries and general elections. But I've been disappointed in her campaign. Instead of being the authentic liberal pragmatist-with-a-heart that we've seen here in CA, she instead seemed all over the map. Abruptly changing her "lane" depending on who she was speaking to. Many times I wondered where the person I thought I knew had gone?

[peggysue2]

20. You could very well be right, Valley Below

But it was a nice dream.

[abqtommy]

16. If we think about it we know that only one candidate will receive the nomination. Any

Democratic administration will be in need of qualified, competent people and if Kamala is one of those not nominated there will still be a place for her and other candidates not chosen in the new administration. It's not like all these good people are going to thrown out on their collective ears.