If Kamala Harris is nominated as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, the US vice president will have to overcome a number of problems that forced her to withdraw from the campaign race in 2019, The Washington Post writes. Among these problems, the publication calls the lack of campaign funds, the inability to formulate a coherent message and the constant layoffs of campaign staff.
After US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the presidential race, Kamala Harris will have to launch her own campaign, which will be the second for the vice president. As The Washington Post notes, in his announcement Biden endorsed Harris’ candidacy, while the vice president herself said in a statement that she intended to “earn and win” the nomination by agreeing to fight for the Democratic presidential nomination.
However, the success of Harris’ new campaign will depend on her ability to overcome the challenges that hampered the first one. In 2019, for example, Harris, who was then heralded as President Barack Obama’s political heir, dropped out of the race just 10 months after it began. Her efforts then were undermined by declining campaign fundraising, an inability to articulate a coherent campaign message and constant layoffs of campaign staffers.
“She was always our dream for the next step after Obama, but she has not lived up to expectations because she ran a terrible campaign,” a Democratic Party strategist said on condition of anonymity, referring to 2019.
Harris’ supporters argue that five years later, things have changed. However, The Washington Post writes, she has repeatedly had difficulties in her job during her tenure as vice president, including failing to deal with the press. Moreover, a number of representatives of the Democratic Party all this time condemned the appointment of Harris as vice president, doubting her “strength, charisma and skill”.