Kamala Harris 2020 campaign megathread

[Mr. Smith]

Much of what I've feared has come to light. I knew there were two was this would go, but it would appear she's already down the path to Rubot.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/how-kamala-harris-running-against-2020-democrats/580921/

Also, at least Obama was the anti-war candidate.

[Mr. Smith]

Frankly, I don't really see a reason to vote for Harris. Nothing against her, why specifically would one want her to be president?

Funny, you seem like exactly the type of person that would want her first and foremost.

[Mr. Smith]

So now white people being at a rally is a problem? The hypocrisy is stunning. Oakland is changing and is a lot whiter than it was even just 10 years ago.

Oakland is still only 27.3% non Hispanic white in the 2018 estimates.

Don't let facts or logic get in the way of a good story with these people.

So now white people being at a rally is a problem? The hypocrisy is stunning. Oakland is changing and is a lot whiter than it was even just 10 years ago.

Oakland is still only 27.3% non Hispanic white in the 2018 estimates.

So you can Google, good to know. Your whining about the crowd being too white still makes no sense.

It's hardly good optics either, especially if the stated goal...vapid and naive it may appear, is to wrangle up a good coalition.

[Mr. Smith]

The speech has concluded. I swear to God this woman is going to win it all.

If she does, then we're gonna have another four years of Donald Trump.  Fortunately, I doubt she'll be the nominee.  Of course, it wouldn't be the first time Democrats blew a presidential election against Donald Trump by nominating a horrible candidate.   

Harris has some flaws, but to say she is an outright horrible candidate is ridiculous. I'm giving all the candidates a chance, but you can't make all these judgments this early in the race.

She'd get killed in the Midwest and a Democrat who can't win Michigan can't beat Trump.

Not if she gets the black vote up to at least 91%, which shouldn't be that difficult.

And I say this as someone who seriously wishes she had aimed her sights towards the Judicial Branch instead of elective politics.

[Mr. Smith]

Ah so you're using worthless anecdotal evidence.

  If my experiences to you are worthless, than so be it, that's your opinion. I would encourage you to go out and talk to people because I'd like to know what people are feeling and thinking about the Democratic candidates who have announced so far.

Most people on the street don't know who she is or have barely heard of her.

Not my streets.

[Mr. Smith]

Harris is a nothingburger. She’s going nowhere

Underestimate at your own peril.

[Mr. Smith]

Interesting article on her 2020 early-state process:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-harris/kamala-harris-carves-distinct-early-state-path-in-her-2020-white-house-bid-idUSKCN1RO2CX

There's only two ways this can go.

It's a breakout strategy...or it's Rubio's 3-2-1 all over again.

[Mr. Smith]

Harris isnt running with Sanders due to fact, he wont endorse Crt packing

She doesn't add much to the ticket as VP.

LOL

It depends on who the nominee is. If it's Sanders, it adds minority appeal.

Flawless Beautiful CCM could do that though, and without the "coastal elitist" stigma since she's from Nevada.

[Mr. Smith]

https://twitter.com/VABVOX/status/1126201898451787776
 

Well compared to Biden, it is rather true.

[Mr. Smith]

Harris is literally the only candidate, who if she was the nominee, would actually make me vote for Trump.

You've said that multiple times on this forum and it hasn't made you look any less ridiculous.

She's horrible. I would literally vote for my dear Mayor (DeBlasio) over her, and that's saying something because he's bad.

Oh please, this sorta vitriol ought be reserved for Biden.

[Mr. Smith]

Great command ofundering the constituency of South Carolina voters. If Kamala continues to perform like last night she will be a tough contender to beat for the nomination.


https://twitter.com/notcapn_america/status/1142498452468850690

Am I the only one who couldn't follow that word salad between 00:07 and 00:21?

You wouldn't be saying that if it was Bernie.

Lol, because this nationalist libertarian is definitely a huge Bernie fan. You know, you resort to whataboutisms whenever anyone breathes a word against Harris. That might work against the Atlas Berniecrats, but it's not going to work on me. How about defending her for once? Here's what she said, verbatim, as best as I could transcribe it:

"I come from a community where we were taught, 'Don't you hear no when they say it. Know where we are, and know, and see the vision, and be deep--" [inaudible-- "find strength?"] "-- in knowing that you can see what maybe others can't see, but you can help them get there.'"

One of us is having a stroke, and I'm pretty sure it's her.

I don't know... it's pretty clear. Are you sure you've had your hearing checked recently?

Actually, I haven't. Would you mind explaining it to my poor old wax-filled ears, since you obviously understand it?

Basically, she's saying don't give up on your goals and have courage to go through with them, even when others are staring you down and saying no.

Honestly, there're plenty of things about her worth the criticism, but the choice of words in this stump speech just isn't one of them.

[Mr. Smith]

I think Booker could easily do to Kamala what Pete did to Beto as in taking their support. He performed very well last night and is a great orator with a stronger connection to black voters whom Harris is counting on.

You weren't watching the same debate I did clearly. Big-Eyed Booker and the most awkward attempt at Spanish imaginable...makes my accent look good, and my history resembles Andrew Yang's more than Tim Kaine or Jeb! and how he dodged almost all the questions given.

And unless Harris really f&*ks up tonight, that performance in SC definitely gives her a lot of room to work with.

[Mr. Smith]

The Obama 2008 comparisons are laughable.

Not as laughable as your threats to stay home if she's the nominee.

What's the point if FL/PA/WI/IN/NC won't flip?

An why wouldn’t they flip?

Kamala has zero appeal to the White Working Class, and Trump's (as racist as it'll be) charismatic and aggressive following will eat her alive with enough independents pocketbook voting for Trump because of the good economy.

The economy isn't guaranteed to stay that way.

Also, you're forgetting that minority vote drop played a huge part in what happened in The Midwest too, just a little more out of Detroit and Milwaukee would've made the difference.

[Mr. Smith]

In terms of 2020, I have stated before I believe Biden would be a weak candidate for a variety of reasons and that someone like Bernie would be better against Trump, Harris would be even worse than Biden, Harris as a corporate democrat has many of the same downsides as Biden but doesn't even have the ability to make an emotional appeal to white voters outside the major metro areas the way Biden does, she would likely do far worse than Biden in those areas, worse even than Hillary.

In PA, Obama won Philly + its 4 suburban counties + city of Pittsburgh which is Allegheny County by 705,000 votes, Hillary won those areas by 770,000, maybe Harris can get to 800,000, at most 850,000, if Trump can do even 3% better outside of those areas in margin in the rest of the state, that is win a rural county he won by 30% in 2016 by 33% in 2020, not that difficult to achieve, he will be able to sustain even a 900,000 vote deficit in Philly + its suburbs + City of Pittsburgh and still win by 17,000 votes.

Counters:

Harris could close the 1,000 gap Yuma County and turn a 50,000 deficit over to a 50,000 gain in Maricopa, lower the deficit in Yavapai, and pad out the margins in Santa Cruz, Coconino, and Apache, which flips Arizona.

Add that to building on Hillary's share of the Cuban vote and rallying the Puerto Rican vote to get excellent margins in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, and then she could combine that with Gillum's numbers in Seminole and Duval Counties, and that flips over Florida.

If she flips those two states, she wins. No Rust Belt needed.

Crazy you say, so was the Rust Belt moving before Colorado and Virginia in the aftermath of 2012. But Trump needed an open. So he took it.

Also Pennsylvania was more Democratic than the nation for way longer than Florida's been Republican.

[Mr. Smith]

One thing that should worry Harris supporters is that she doesn't seem like she'd be a wave-proof President (think 2022 and 2024, and if she manages to win a second term, 2026).

No one is going to be a wave-proof President, Republicans will hate any Democrat and come out in droves to vote against them in the midterms.

True, but Dems could nominate someone that could play the trends to the hilt the same way Trump did and created a red tint in the Senate.

And 2022 is an excellent map to get such an effect in The Senate, even as the GOP make inevitable gains elsewhere.

[Mr. Smith]

Kamala Harris is Black. She is American citizen. She is of African descent.

She is not however a descendant of American slaves who came here 300 years ago. She is a descendant of recent immigrants who came here in living memory, one of whom wasn't even partially Black.

Her culture and ancestry are fundamentally different from the culture and ancestry of most African Americans.

It's a funny thing that the push for mass immigration and Affirmative Action started at the same time. This is not a coincidence.

When the government began to mandate diversity, most businesses did not want to hire American born Blacks, who were generally less educated. So they pushed the government to allow the elite of non-white countries to immigrate here so they could fill their diversity slots with them instead. Affirmative Action was thought up with African Americans in mind but most of the benefits went to Asian immigrants, the majority of whom came here in last 50 years and never experienced oppression from the US government.

Today the Democratic Party operates much the same way. They don't run members of America's historic Black population. They run the children of recent immigrants who were raised in Canada (Harris) or the children of foreign politicians (Obama).

This is going to go over many people's heads.

Not really. The post you quoted is full of inaccuracies.. She didn’t “grow up in Canada”... She lived in Oakland and Berkeley until she was 12 when her mother moved the family to Montreal because of work, where Harris attended high school.
In Berkeley the family lived in the flatlands on the west side which was a black neighbourhood at the time, while the hillside on the east was white. They attended baptist church and Harris later went  to Howard. Her parents were also involved in the civil rights movement.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Kamala-Harris-rode-the-buses-that-integrated-14060240.php#photo-17774467

It still is, it, West Oakland, Richmond, East Oakland, easily the largest share of the black population west of the Mississippi.

There's a reason Ron Dellums and Barbara Lee are the Congresspeople for the last 40 years, and not someone like Pelosi.

Oh but shhh, shhh, something something San Francisco values, something something useless degrees. Oh you can't go ruining their fun like that.

[Mr. Smith]

Harris didn't live in Oakland. She had lived two locations in Berkeley, once of which was indeed in west Berkeley in what is now a Montessori school. She had also lived on Milvia street, which isn't west Berkeley.

Agree to disagree, but depending on where on Milvia, it could be in South Berkeley, itself also the sort of area that was minority majority...at least until you get east of Telegraph.

[Mr. Smith]

The knowledge that Harris lived in Berkeley makes me like her less, to be truthful. After living in this town for a year I can honestly say that I wouldn't want anyone from such a degenerate cesspool to hold elected office at any level.

Challenge accepted.

Granted it'll take a good decade, since I should at least finish up this degree, and I ought to honor that degree for some time.

[Mr. Smith]

Can someone explain what's up with Harris's accent? It sure isn't Californian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMlrGte-RmM

Well for one thing she isn't white, and she spent her teenage years in Canada.

What accent? I don't hear any accent. Her father was Jamaican and I still don't hear any hint of that.

Her mother (who she was actually mostly raised by) was from India, but you wouldn't be able to tell from the way she talks.

I don't think Kamala would realistically have picked up a stereotypical Cali accent in her childhood, since she 1) initially grew up in a black neighborhood, and 2) spent her teenage years in Canada

Did she actually grow up in a segregated black neighborhood?  Berkley is under 10% black and it only has one high school so everyone flows into it.  Her mom in a Berkley PhD biomedical researcher and her dad is an economics professor at Stanford.  Her mom's family was upper class to elite in India, mom's father was a senior diplomat.

Berkeley was around 25% black in the 70s, and it had zoned high schools. They lived in a majority black area (that is still plurality black) on the southwest side of Berkeley.

Really, wow, that’s crazy black out movement!  The overall population between the 1970 and 2010 census’ barely budged while the numbers of African Americans must have dropped by 60%.

That's gentrification for ya'.

[Mr. Smith]

Can someone explain what's up with Harris's accent? It sure isn't Californian.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMlrGte-RmM

Well for one thing she isn't white, and she spent her teenage years in Canada.

What accent? I don't hear any accent. Her father was Jamaican and I still don't hear any hint of that.

Her mother (who she was actually mostly raised by) was from India, but you wouldn't be able to tell from the way she talks.

I don't think Kamala would realistically have picked up a stereotypical Cali accent in her childhood, since she 1) initially grew up in a black neighborhood, and 2) spent her teenage years in Canada

Did she actually grow up in a segregated black neighborhood?  Berkley is under 10% black and it only has one high school so everyone flows into it.  Her mom in a Berkley PhD biomedical researcher and her dad is an economics professor at Stanford.  Her mom's family was upper class to elite in India, mom's father was a senior diplomat.

Berkeley was around 25% black in the 70s, and it had zoned high schools. They lived in a majority black area (that is still plurality black) on the southwest side of Berkeley.

Berkeley had only 1 HS and it was fully integrated. Not that it mattered to Harris, since she went to HS in Canada.

Excuse you? It still has the one!

Also, it integrated before Harris even took her trip over to Thousand Oaks, so that part wouldn't have even mattered.

[Mr. Smith]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/finance.yahoo.com/amphtml/news/trymyui-study-finds-sen-harris-winning-design-primary-231300659.html 

Would you really expect anything less from the Silicon Valley?

[Mr. Smith]

Unfortunate that despite all this, she's still better than the other 16 or so candidates running. [but not Bernie/Warren]

[Mr. Smith]

Why are leftist Americans so hell-bent on banning private insurance? I never understood that. Does any Western country with public health insurance do that?

Because it triggers the right and their obsession with privatized stuff.

[Mr. Smith]

Tulsi’s attacks were lies and when I watched it (I missed it live) it wasn’t even that bad. I feel Harris responded effectively. The people who don’t like her will say she got owned or whatever but she’ll be at the next debate and Gabbard won’t. Kamala better stop letting the disinformation fester though.

They may have been lies, but Harris really dropped the ball when defending anyway.

But  yeah, it's her responses to her own healthcare plan that are the problem.

[Mr. Smith]

Also those lines about withholding evidence which would have set innocent people given the death sentence & on using prisoners as cheap labour was brutal.

True false exaggeration or whatever, how Gabbard delivered absolutely wrecked Harris.

I just hope somebody’s willing to carry that torch when Gabbard misses the September debate.

Not me...not until Biden is surpassed by someone else.  Until then, the attacks on any of the current 3 runner-ups just allow Biden to Mitt Romney his way over.