Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Kamala Harris: Dropping out of the 2020 Race
After what writers of this NYT article describe as "months of low poll numbers and a series of missteps that crippled her campaign," Kamala Harris announced that she will no longer be running in the 2020 Presidential Election. Her withdrawal appears to be a result of her inability to raise sufficient campaign funds for the remainder of the race. This made me recall our most recent readings on women's underrepresentation in politics from Women, Men, & U.S. Politics: Ten Big Questions and how authors Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox detail that it is not enough for candidates to master political efficacy, but also "raise money, build coalitions of support, create campaign organizations, and develop campaign strategies" (Fox and Lawless 26). In essence, they must be ambitious entrepreneurs on top of great politicians. While Harris herself was hesitant to forge through the campaign in debt, those on her immediate team as well as contacted donors had added onto this sentiment, by recommending she leave the race.
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As a California native, I'd be really interested in getting a clearer picture of how much of Harris's funds were coming from her home state. Even further, I'd be curious to gain more insight as to how her role as a Prosecutor shaped her campaign trajectory and how it changed her relationship with certain groups of potential voters, specifically African Americans.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/12/5/20995569/kamala-harris-identity-politics
ReplyDeleteRead this really interesting Vox piece about identity politics a bit more generally but it includes this quote: "In a post-Obama era, she also appeared as a close facsimile of many of the characteristics that made Michelle Obama so adored not just by Black women but women in general (she even earned Hillary Clinton’s support). And throughout the ensuing 11 months, one word anchored her campaign, officially called Kamala Harris for the People: identity."