With donors disappearing, a dwindling war chest and dissension in the ranks, Sen. Kamala Harris announced on Tuesday, Dec. 3, that she was ending her presidential quest. It was a mission that began with a bang and now ends with a whimper.
“My campaign for president simply doesn’t have the financial resources we need to continue,” she said in a press statement. Harris caused quite a stir during the first debate when she assailed frontrunner Joe Biden with a blast from the past, but it gave her run only a momentary boost.
Recent articles about the turbulence in her staff and the drought of cash were ominous signs that things were not going well for the California senator.
Sen. Cory Booker seemed more upset about her departure than anyone, expressing his anger in a lengthy outburst. “I’ve seen the bile, the anger, from my family members, to people in the Congressional Black Caucus, to leaders of color across the country who just don’t understand how we’ve gotten to a point now where there’s more billionaires in the 2020 race than there are Black people,” he said.
Booker and former Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick, are the two remaining African Americans in the bid for nomination.
During the debates Harris was also attacked by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who took measure of Harris’ career as a prosecutor. And there were some concerns about her selection of a Latino to run her campaign that finally reached a boiling point when one of her key coordinators resigned.
Others contend that she really didn’t have a good campaign platform that voters could grab and identify with. And there was her management style and dealing with her volunteers that rankled her associates.
It was an accumulation of missteps that finally led her to pull the plug, and now it becomes a matter of where she lands, whom she will endorse, and if there’s a possible vice presidential spot or attorney general position in the future.
There may yet be a Camelot for Kamala.