Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who has drastically switched strategies to go “all-in on Iowa” in recent days, is attempting to win over Iowans on a smaller scale by making dinners in their homes and visiting small businesses across the state.
In what appears to be a last-ditch effort to revive her floundering bid, Harris’s campaign confirmed the presidential hopeful’s plans to go “all-in on Iowa” by closing three offices in New Hampshire, scaling down its Manchester office, laying off campaign staff, and pulling from resources in Nevada.
“The campaign will continue to have a staff presence in New Hampshire but the focus is and will continue to be on Iowa,” campaign spokesperson Nate Evans told WMUR.
Harris, who is currently polling with three percent support in the Hawkeye State, is trying a different approach, focusing on intimate meetings and small-scale events rather than large gatherings. The Los Angeles Times reports that Harris is actively “making dinner in supporters’ homes and dropping in on small businesses, in hopes that one-on-one encounters can help close the deal with caucus-goers who will make or break her presidential aspirations.”
That strategy is not necessarily new for Harris, as she reportedly helped “prepare Sunday suppers in peoples’ homes” as part of her Hawkeye State blitz last month.
The California lawmaker’s small scale efforts, such as assisting Iowans with their dinner preparations, follows her “oops” moment, with a reporter catching her expressing her frustrations to a colleague and proclaiming, “I’m f*cking moving to Iowa” in September.
Harris confirmed that she is essentially campaigning out in Iowa in hopes of keeping her presidential bid alive during an interview with CBS News political correspondent Ed O’Keefe on Saturday.
“I’m practically living in Iowa to do the work that is necessary to make sure that I earn the support and have the folks in the caucuses who are standing in Kamala’s corner,” Harris said, adding that it was a “difficult decision” to downsize her presence in New Hampshire.
“It was a very difficult decision. But let me tell you, I care about New Hampshire,” Harris said. “We still have folks in New Hampshire. I have spent time in that state. I care about the people of that state.”
“And we know that Iowa being the first state, you know, you got to be all in here in order to be able to get to the point that we can actually get to New Hampshire and other states later,” she added.
Harris is currently in fifth place nationally with 3.9 percent support and faring even worse in Iowa, finding herself in sixth place with just three percent, according to Real Clear Politics.