Senator Kamala Harris at one time seemed to be the anointed Democratic presidential candidate to take on President Donald Trump. However, her efforts to get people to like and trust her are just not working as recent polls put her in sixth place.
The latest poll numbers show Harris’ support in the African-American community stands at a measly 1%, even though she has gone above and beyond to appeal to the demographic. This isn’t the only group she’s losing ground with, however. Only 7% of Democratic women voters are going for Sen. Harris, as women far prefer former Vice-President Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders.
It’s not hard to see why Sen. Harris is tanking in the polls. In the last Democratic primary debate, rival Rep. Tulsi Gabbard ripped into Sen. Harris’ record as Attorney General of California. The lawmaker pointing out that, as California AG, Sen. Harris jailed people from marijuana violations, worked to keep people in prison even after their sentences were finished, kept a cash bail system in place that is known to price out the poor.
Sen. Harris had no prepared response and resorted to calling Rep. Gabbard ugly names. The verbal assault probably didn’t help Rep. Gabbard’s campaign, but it certainly did not benefit Sen. Harris’ campaign either. Viewers and progressive news outlets alike were quick to notice the obvious fact that Sen. Kamala Harris was not the “progressive prosecutor” that she is making herself out to be.
While California’s Department of Corrections made it a point to quietly delete information about Sen. Harris’ prosecution record, many people had already found the information and shared it far and wide.
Another big problem for Sen. Harris is the fact that she does not have a target demographic that she appeals to. Former Vice-President Joe Biden, for instance, is the candidate of choice for moderate Democrats who aren’t interested in electing a socialist as president. His voter base also includes nearly 50% of the black Democratic vote, even though there are African-American candidates to pick from. Far-left and liberal voters are turning either to Sen. Bernie Sanders or Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Sen. Warren has also earned the support of nearly a quarter of all women Democrat voters.
Sen. Harris picks up small numbers of voters from each group, but she really doesn’t appeal to any one segment of the population. The data does not bode well for Sen. Harris, especially since she is far behind former VP Joe Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Bernie Sanders in all polls in early presidential primary states. Some polls even show her trailing South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg in states Sen. Harris would need to win in order to keep her campaign afloat. Fundraising statistics show that she has only about one-third of the number of donors that Sen. Bernie Sanders has. While Sen. Harris touts her campaign as a grassroots effort, the truth is that it is being funded by a small yet wealthy group of California liberals.
Naturally, Sen. Kamala Harris could reverse her downward spiral and rise once again. After all, there is well over a year until the 2020 presidential elections take place. However, it seems unlikely that Sen. Harris’ campaign will go anywhere. Her initial rise in the polls after the first Democrat debate is all but gone now. Her policy plans and ideals are either too liberal for middle-of-the-road Democratic voters, or not liberal enough for progressives.
The fact that Sen. Harris abused her authority as California AG to trample on the rights of people less powerful than herself won’t soon be forgotten. It remains to be seen just when Sen. Harris will realize that her presidential campaign is doomed to failure. What is clear right now is that Sen. Kamala Harris’ odds of becoming the next president of the United States are slim to none.
