Politico
Last Monday, Kamala Harris dropped out of the presidential race following her steady decline in the polls and lack of funding. Harris, as an ex-prosecutor, seemed to possess the necessary skills to tear into her opponents during the debates and take them down one by one. However, internal issues and the lack of a loyal base resulted in her far too early exit. Even when she eviscerated Biden in the June debate, giving her a huge boost in the polls, she failed to capitalize on the victory and allowed Biden to recover.
Harris is yet another heavyweight to exit the heated race for the Democratic nomination. Her once-promising campaign never got off the ground, leading to her political embarrassment. Still, her young political career still bears potential and she will retain her Senate seat through 2022.
- Why did Kamala Harris's campaign fail?
- Was Harris's bid for the presidency a mistake for her political career?
- Should Harris consider running for president in 2024 or 2028?
1. From what I heard, there was a schism between the West Coast and East Coast branches of her campaign, their disunity making it hard for her campaign to coordinate well, especially in the face of flagging pole numbers. The rise of candidates like Buttigieg also may have made Kamala seem worse in comparison.
ReplyDelete2. I don't think so. Her name is out there now, and there's a chance she could be tapped for VP or some Cabinet role if a Democrat wins.
3. It's too early to tell, as this depends on who wins this year and in 2024.
A few weeks ago, when Beto dropped out, I commented on how his early exit from the race should be a signal to other candidates which no longer show any amount of promise in this presidential nomination process. I specifically pointed out Kamala, and for good reason. Her polling and fundraising numbers were on a constant downward trend, and her policy platform failed to empower her to stand out amidst a crowded field. She tried to form a focus on minority women issues, and while these are important issues they failed her in the face of other major issues such as healthcare and climate change. Her debate performances following her first performance were lackluster at best, and she her fundraiser got worse every quarter. Even in Town Halls, such as the CNN Climate Town hall back in September, she showed a lack of diversity and understanding in key policy issues. Even worse, she was always held down by her appalling history as an attorney general, imprisoning field of minorities on non-violent marijuana drug offenses, keeping her barred from gaining support in a vote she needed, the black vote. The stars never aligned, and this was all made especially worse 5 days ago when a top campaign aide resigned with a scalding letter claiming they had "never seen staff treated so poorly". Kamala Harris' campaign was a disaster, consistently failing to capture the political momentum needed to come out ahead in a nomination that should be characterized as a marathon, not a sprint. This campaign will serve as a scar on her resume, and while she can retain her place in the Senate I don't believe she should ever try her hand in a presidential election again. Lets be realistic, the only good decision Harris made throughout this entire campaign process was dropping out.
ReplyDeleteUltimately, I think the failure of Harris' campaign comes from her inability to connect with the voters she attempts to sway, Her description of her being "bused" to a school of higher income children doesn't resonate with many, and her drawing from her African-American and Indian ancestry contradicts with her record as an attorney general as Kyle said. In addition, Harris lacked the solid platform that all other candidates have; Biden and Klobuchar's moderate appeal to midwestern voters, Sanders and Warren's working class background and progressive outline for healthcare reform, Yang's universal basic income. Most people are unable to name anything specific that Harris stands for besides her diverse background. In addition, her political career, as well as Buttigeg's, in my opinion, is far too limited compared to her fellow candidates. Another thing to consider is her aggressive stance taken during debates, while good at knocking down others' arguments, Harris came off as too aggressive and not as someone who can compromise and make deals.
ReplyDeleteI would view Harris' candidacy as a mistake, but not as a scar as Kyle would say. It likely will not hold too much significance in the future for her as she never had much attention in the first place. In addition, I don't think Harris should run in the next few years, instead focusing on her senate career and gaining more experience there first.
Jung Haye
There are several potential reasons why Harris's campaign failed:
ReplyDelete1. She lacked a vision that differentiates her in the sea of candidates. Candidates such as Sanders, Yang, and Buttigieg had differentiating policy stances that are easy for voters to pinpoint. Not so much for Harris.
2. She focused too much on why other candidates are wrong and not enough on why she is right.
3. Her campaigning style focused excessively on promoting her personality.
4. She could have better connected her challenges as a minority with her plans to help minorities.
5. Her marijuana policy contradictions further jeopardized voter support.
6. She did not expand her geographic support well enough outside California.
Kamala Harris's campaign failed because she did not have a distinguishable issue that made her stand out. She focused too much on her background, not her policies. She does well in such a liberal state like California, but for the rest of the country, California is too liberal and her beliefs do not align with a majority of Americans. I think it was too soon for Harris to run for the presidency, but it is an experience she will learn from and may help her political career. While she was not the best fit for the country as a whole, she is loved in California, and I think that she will be elected again, thus not ruining her career. Harris could consider running for president in 2024, but I agree with Ryan in that it is too soon to tell. It will depend on how she reestablishes her platform in the Senate, and unless she has opinions on major issues by the 2024 election, she should not run again.
ReplyDeleteI think her campaign failed because she realized she couldn't get a strong enough support base to beat Trump for his re-election. I don't believe her bid for Presidency will hurt her political career at all.
ReplyDeleteI think that Kamala Harris' campaign failed because she had trouble in finding her place among the other democratic presidential candidates. She didn't stand out from the other candidates and she failed to gain support this way. This ultimately lowered her polls and reviews of the people. Her low polls and reviews forced her to leave the presidential race because there was no chance for Kamala to get her polls up. I do think that her bid for presidency was not a mistake at all for her political career. I think running for president has made people more aware of her beliefs and will help her gain more votes when her next campaign comes around if she does intend to run for Senator or President in the following elections. It is hard to tell if Kamala will run for president in the next few years including 2024 and 2028 because she just dropped so recently.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest reason that Harris’ campaign failed is because of a lack of money. Like we learned earlier this year, getting sponsors is becoming a bigger part of running for different government positions, and the higher the position, the more expensive it is to run. Also, during some of the debates I saw it seemed like she would use her talking time to tear down another candidate or Trump instead of saying what policy ideas she has and how she would resolve certain issues if she was president. I think if she had given some possible ways to resolve issues that are of national importance, her polls could’ve been a little higher. Even though she had to drop out, her running for president gave her a lot more publicity and experience in the world of politics, so I think it will help her career. She should run for president in 2024 or 2028 because she will have had enough experience and strategies to win.
ReplyDeleteKamala Harris has discussed the fact that her campaign doesn’t have the financial resources and she can’t fund her own campaign. Her poll numbers have also continued to make a downward trend which could be rooted at the fact she was unable to connect with voters. As an attorney general, she didn’t take a stance on state ballot proposition because she didn’t want to seem biased. I don’t think Harris’s bid for the presidency was a mistake because she has definitely gained popularity and a name for herself in the political world. I think that it can’t hurt for Harris to run for president again, especially since she now has more experience. This also would give her more time to think about new approaches to her policy ideas and strategies that she didn’t employ this around.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Harris's campaign failed due to her lack of budget and absence of presidential goals that could make her stand out from the rest. If we pay attention to the candidates leading the polls, we can discover that they are where they are because of a signature goal that makes them different from the rest. This ultimately gives them popularity, which Kamala suffered from. The lack of popularity is the leading cause of her small budget, so technically one reason led to another; As of now, it is still uncertain if she's considering running for president again but only time will tell. Maybe Kamala, somehow, will find a way to structure her campaign in a better way that will lead her to run a stronger 2nd presidential race.
ReplyDeleteAs stated previously, I think Kamala Harris' campaign failed due to the fact that she couldn't financially support her campaign anymore, she was low on the polls, and she didn't stand out to the majority of Americans. Although she dropped out of the race early, I think that her running for president helped get her name and policies out to the public. Therefore, I do not think that her bid for presidency was a mistake because now she is more well-known in the political arena, which could help her career. I think she should run for presidency in 2024 or 2028 because she will have grown having being in the race before, and know how to present her policies and stances better.
ReplyDeleteI think Kamala Harris’s campaign ended up failing because she tried to appeal to too many groups in the democratic party. She did not stand strong for any one issue, rather, she hoped around across the board. I think this may have been due to her lack of confidence along with her hesitation for what she wanted to do. Both these would also explain why she ultimately stepped out of the race. I definitely don’t think it was a mistake, she is still young and I think this situation allowed her to get a feel of how intense politics really do get. Depending on how strongly she feels going into the next election, she is overall a very good candidate for the 21st century United States, she just needs the confidence.
ReplyDeleteI think I heard that Harris' campaign would've just made it to the next debate financially, therefore it was a fiscal issue. It wasnt solely a financial conflict which caused her to drop out, I feel like people liked her for the reason that she did appeal to many groups with what she said, but because she didn't really belong, belong, to just one or 2 groups, she wasn't supported heavily and hadn't gained as loyal supporters as she couldve if she focused on one group. Its the ugly truth, but I truly believe this is why her campaign failed. Idefinitely dont think this will ruin her political career by any means, I think her popularity spike in the race will just propel her career in her own respect.
ReplyDeleteI don’t think her decision to run for president this year will ruin her future career as a politician, personally. What her campaign proved to me is that, more than anything, she wasn’t prepared enough nor had the experience to deal with the difficulty that is running a presidential campaign. In current times, polarization has developed more severely and challenging this issue is difficult to address as a candidate. It takes a very skilled and experienced candidate to effectively answer controversial questions and gather support. While Harris did an excellent job challenging Biden, Biden had the experience to bounce back and regain traction, whereas Harris didn’t know how to bury Biden deeper. Toward the end of her campaign, it seemed as if she was stuck in the same ideas and wasn’t able to bring anything new to the table or challenge another candidate.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Kamala Harris’s campaign failed because her views and beliefs do not catch the eye of many Americans. While in California she is reasonably well known and supported, her policies and beliefs do not complement the majority of the public that are perhaps not as liberal as she is. Because of this, I believe that for now, the best place for her to be is to keep her Senate seat where she can further her political career. I think running for presidency for her somewhat boosted her political career because now many more people know her name which may prove to be useful in the future. As for running for the 2024 election, I agree with the previous individuals that it is far too soon to tell if she will be successful.
ReplyDeleteKamala Harris was never going to be president. Even if she won the Democratic nomination, she didn’t have the bipartisan appeal to win the swing states she would’ve needed for 270 or more in the electoral college. I saw her as a sort of Hilary 2.0, so I’m kind of glad she dropped out. Her campaign failed for many reasons, the main one being she didn’t have a great vision the majority of Americans could get behind, and seemed to only pander to liberals who already agreed with her. Also, Tulsi on the debate stage played a pivotal role in her dropping out by exposing her past as a prosecutor putting hundreds of non-violent drug offenders in jail. That being said, I don’t think her running for president was a mistake for her political career, because it gave her a lot of publicity, I only hope she doesn’t try it again.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Kamala ultimately dropped out due to her finances, her real failure had nothing to do with money and everything to do with her lack of widespread appeal. Kamala rose to the top tier in the first debate by proving she was capable of taking on frontrunners such as Biden, but then had an "identity crisis" that was likely due to the conflict within her own ranks. Kamala at times tried to play for the moderate vote, yet still tried to position herself as a progressive. Her history as attorney general ultimately causes distrust with many of the more progressive side, yet she had nothing unique to offer to moderates. Ultimately, Kamala has dropped out soon enough to where her career is not necessarily over. If she had stayed in the race until California, where she was polling poorly in her home state, it could have doomed her re-election campaign for Senate. However, at this point, she seems to be positioning herself as a potential cabinet member. Her elected career is certainly weakened, but she still has appeal in other areas.
ReplyDeleteOn the second question, Kamala Harris' run for president caused her to lose a great deal of respect in my eyes. While I previously liked her as my Senator, her run for president was embarrassing and exposed many flaws in her policy beliefs. As a result, I will most likely vote for someone else in the 2022 California Senate primaries. Therefore, unless she greatly changes her stances I don't believe that she should run for president in the future.
ReplyDeleteWhile Kamala did have some very good 'clapbacks' candidates like Biden and Bernie, she failed to receive adequate stamina to continue her campaign. Beyond just running out of funds, she lacked a connection with the public. While she did have some decent policy ideas, her actions often contradicted her words. While she often asserted her prosecutor background would be a strength in the presidency, many felt it would be harmful, particularly black men who have long faced injustices and mistreatments by prosecutors. I feel she put too much reliance on the fact that black people would vote for her just because she is black and (a women) and did not effectively solidify her main message to the public. I don't think this will hurt her current status as a Senator, but she may feel discouraged from running again.
ReplyDeleteAs many have mentioned already, Senator Harris not being able to properly defend her Attorney General record was a significant factor in bringing the eventual demise of her campaign. However, all of the candidates have been shown to have their own weak points as well. What made Senator Harris stand out as a much worse candidate than most was that she really didn’t stand out at all. Nearly all of the democratic candidates have some policies or ideas that help attract the attention of the American population. From Bernie Sanders’s proposal for a 16 trillion dollar climate change plan, to Elizabeth Warren’s radical perspective on healthcare and college tuition, to Andrew Yang’s progressive ideas such as his proposal for UBI, so many candidates for the democratic party have cemented themselves early on as ambitious candidates with a laser sharp focus on several key ideas. Senator Harris’s campaign, on the other hand, lacked a clear direction. First she was progressive, then she pivoted right, which upset both bases, and on the policies that she did have a set position on her plans had too many conditions.
ReplyDeleteKamala Harris’ campaign failed for many reasons, one being the fact that she never had an exact issue that made her stand out. Harris did not focus enough on her policies, and she focused more on her background. Moreover, Harris didn’t really stand out compared to the other democratic candidates, which led her to not gain a large amount of support. Since she wasn’t able to gain a lot of support, her polls were very low along with her reviews from other people. Another reason why Harris’ campaign failed kind of had to do with the fact that she did not have enough money to support her campaign. I don’t think that her bid for the presidency was a mistake because she did gain some popularity and was able to get her name more well known.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree that Senator Harris displayed a lot of potential during the debates, but one of her major downfalls was the inability to stick to a single major claim that would attract (and keep) support for her campaign. Furthermore, there are many more candidates who have significantly more experience, which would is appealing to a large amount of the population her attempts to connect through her background were unique, but may not have pertained to enough people to win her the vote over some other candidates. While I don't think it's a bad idea to run again in the future with new changes and approaches in mind given her debate skills, the heavy cost of a presidential campaign should definitely be taken into consideration.
ReplyDelete