Democrats Reportedly Concerned Over Harris’s ‘Light Campaign Schedule,’ ‘Risk-Averse’ Strategy: ‘Still the Biden Campaign Infrastructure’
Screenshot via Philadelphia 6 ABC
Democratic operatives are becoming worried about Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign with just weeks left in the presidential race, according to a new report.
Politico published a report on Saturday based on interviews with more than two dozen Democratic operatives, some remaining anonymous, who candidly criticized Harris’s campaign as too light on “unscripted” interactions and too “risk averse” with how close she is in the polls to former President Donald Trump. They also knocked her for a “relatively light campaign schedule” as of late.
According to a Politico review of Harris’s of Harris’s travel, she’s spent more than a third of her days since the Democratic National Convention “receiving briefings from staff and conducting internal meetings, or without any scheduled public events.” The vice president spent more than half the remaining days “holding rallies, policy-focused speeches, events with labor unions and other in-person, public-facing events, including stops at small businesses, in swing states,” which the outlet noted is relatively light compared to former President Barack Obama who rarely had a day not focused on campaigning at the same time in his races.
“We’re in the game, and we’re competitive because Joe Biden stepped down and Kamala Harris filled the void. And she met the moment,” one Democratic operative told Politico. “This is still the Biden campaign infrastructure. That was anemic.”
The operative claimed it “takes forever” for decisions to be made by the campaign.
Another operative identified as a former staffer for President Joe Biden said Harris is doing better than past candidates like Hillary Clinton, but she needs to up her appearances.
“We know this isn’t actually 2016 again, and it’s not like she’s not going to Wisconsin,” the Democrat said. “But we can still learn from that. Trump is everywhere again, just like he was then. Our side needs to be, too.”
Another strategist said Harris needs to hyper-focus on states like Pennsylvania and Michigan in the final run of the race.
Harris has upped her media interviews as of late. She’ll soon appear on the popular Call Her Daddy podcast, and she has a 60 Minutes interview coming, though she’s still done less press than her opponents since becoming the nominee.
Democratic strategist David Axelrod went on record and argued Harris needs to “barnstorm” swing states in the coming days and have spontaneous interactions.
“It’s the most difficult oral exam on the planet for the most difficult job, and part of that is just that spontaneous — town halls, all kinds of interviews, and not just friendly interviews. OTRs where you interact in a substantive way with people, all of those things are valuable,” he said. “And I would be doing them if I were her.”
