Kamala Harris is off to the fastest start among Democrats

[honest.abe]

From The Hill:

Kamala Harris is off to the fastest start among Democrats who have already entered the 2020 presidential race, say party strategists and donors closely following the contest’s early stages.

<snip>

Neither Biden nor Sanders has entered the race, and the polls showing them at the top of the contest likely reflects their widespread name recognition. Biden served eight years as vice president to Barack Obama after a long career in the Senate, while Sanders ran a tough campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2016 for the party’s presidential nomination.

Harris, in contrast, has not been on the national stage nearly as long. She was elected to the Senate in 2016 in a campaign that first brought her to national attention.

Democrats attribute her strong standing to a relatively seamless launch last month.

They say Harris largely beat her competitors to the punch in announcing a full-blown presidential campaign and capitalizing on the momentum which followed.

“There’s always been this motto, 'You have one day to launch and you have to get it right,' and Kamala crushed it,” said Robert Wolf, the prominent Democratic donor. “It’s the day that you have all the media buzz, the grass roots excitement and to tell your story. That is the one day all eyes are on you and she hit out of the ballpark.”

More: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/430298-harris-off-to-best-start-among-dems-in-race-say-strategists-donors

I know its early but I have already made up my mind. Harris is the one. She has what it takes to get the vote out and will know exactly what to do to counter Trump's aggressive insulting style of campaigning and debating. Also, it appears her campaign is very well organized and well run. That's a huge plus.

Also a good VP choice would be either Beto or Julian Castro. Either of those would likely result in a huge victory.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. Well, it's a while until primary season, so I'm just biding my time...

to see how it shakes out.

However, I will have absolutely no problem voting for her should she stay out front.

[honest.abe]

2. True.

But I can envisage a fairly quick determination of our candidate given California is now on Super Tuesday. That's only one year away.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. Yeah! Primary seasonal is costly and dangerous-- get it over with...

and I suspect this may get us a better candidate than stringing it all along.

If that better candidate turns out to be Harris, so be it.

And celebrate the future!

[honest.abe]

4. Clearly there are some benefits to an intelligent and competitive primary.

But a long drawn out ugly affair like in 2016 is not at all what we need now.

[Garrett78]

10. Much will depend on how many are still in the race on Super Tuesday.

Last edited Mon Feb 18, 2019, 02:51 AM - Edit history (2)

We could potentially see a lot of vote-splitting that day if we still have half a dozen people in the race. Hard to say. This is what I posted recently:

I'll say again that it's absurd to lead with 2 states that don't remotely reflect our electorate. That's a tradition that needs to die.

Anyway, if Harris exceeds expectations in Iowa or New Hampshire, she'll be set up well for NV, SC and Super Tuesday. If she were to win one or both of those first two contests, she would likely be on her way to the nomination.

Winning both IA and NH wouldn't guarantee the winner the nomination, but it would give that person a big boost, depending - in part - on who that individual is (Sanders, for instance, still wouldn't have a path to victory). And it would also depend on who else does well in those states. A close 2nd for an underdog could be huge, as it was in 1992 (Clinton got crushed in IA but came in 2nd in NH and then won the nomination with ease).

Biden winning both IA and NH would obviously be very significant. Endorsements and donations would start piling up. But another candidate could win NV or SC, do well on Super Tuesday and make a race out of it.

"Pre-Obama Biden the candidate" has never been nearly as highly regarded as "post-Obama Biden the potential candidate," so time will tell if Biden (gaffe-prone, Thomas-Hill hearing, 78 in 2020, etc.) has as much success as some seem to think he will. In 2008, he dropped out after getting just 4% in Iowa. His previous attempt ended even earlier following several accusations.

[PTWB]

5. I think she is great. It seems like we have a broad and deep pool of diverse candidates this year.

We are gonna rock.

[sellitman]

6. I'm with you on this.

Except I'd love Kennedy to be her running mate.

Talk about name recognition!

[honest.abe]

7. Yeah, Kennedy would be great too!

Thanks for the reminder.

[Adrahil]

8. She has my vote so far....

let's see how things go.

[Cha]

11. Have you seen this?

Link to tweet

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. Kick

[Cha]

12. Barbara Lee endorses Kamal for POTUS!

Link to tweet

[honest.abe]

13. Yes I saw that!

Fantastic!

[Cha]

14. Sorry, I see I forgot to put

the "a" at the end of Kamala.. and I had a bus to catch.