Here is a look back at how Vice President Kamala Harris’s last presidential campaign ended in ruin as she embarks upon another quest for the White House as the Democrat presumptive nominee, despite never running as a presidential candidate in the 2024 Democrat primary.
Harris began the 2019 cycle strong thanks to a late June 2019 debate performance headlined by an attack on President Joe Biden on race and busing.
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Harris’s numbers surged after that debate, data from RealClearPolitics showed, but when she faltered, it happened quickly. Following a short bump, Harris plummeted down a cliff in the polling average chart until she eventually dropped out.
By the end of the campaign, relations between Harris and her then-campaign manager, Juan Rodriguez, had turned sour, and staffers and aides began blaming Harris for what was ultimately a failed run, the New York Times reported. On its last legs in late 2019, the campaign was in financial disrepair and marred by internal factions and finger-pointing.
“You can’t run the country if you can’t run your campaign,” former Harris aide Gil Duran, who is now an editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, told the outlet.
WATCH — Michigan Auto Worker: “America’s Done for” if Harris Wins:
Harris’s sister, Maya Harris, who was the campaign chairwoman, seemed to drive tension as she would go “unchallenged,” per the Times. Harris also caught criticism from advisers for haphazard attacks on rivals.
The article, which came days before Harris announced the end of her bid, stated that “aides said it’s unclear who’s in charge of the campaign.”
Aside from dysfunction and an apparent lack of leadership and direction, another major issue that sunk Harris was voters’ confusion regarding where she stood on issues, as Politico reported at the time:
Throughout the campaign, Harris had never been steady on health care, many voters’ stated key issue. Harris had to backtrack following an ill-fated moment in a CNN town hall in which she said, “let’s eliminate all that,” when asked whether she supported a health care plan that got rid of private insurance.
Her stumbles on the issue continued into the fall, as Harris waffled on whether she backed the kind of single-payer, “Medicare for All” plan championed by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, or more incremental change.
In addition to health care, voters complained that they were unable to pin Harris down on a host of other issues.
WATCH — CNN’s Sellers: GOP Doesn’t Know How to Deal with Harris Because She Changes Positions:
Harris is taking a second swipe at the presidency after a successful behind-the-scenes pressure campaign from top Democrats, Hollywood elites, and donors to force out President Joe Biden as the nominee. But she is still haunted by her disastrous 2020 run. Republicans, ranging from the Make America Great Again Inc. PAC to Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick, have already released ads exposing Harris’s record via videos and interviews from her last bid.