Kamala Harris fires dozens of campaign staff in desperate bid to keep her 2020 run alive, after going deep into the red amid cratering polls
- Harris is slashing staff and repositioning talent in Iowa amid a cash shortfall
- She is at 3 per cent in the Real Clear Politics average
- Her campaign is blasting 'gimmicks,' says it is making 'strategic decisions'
- It is also in the red - at the end of the last fundraising quarter, Harris raised $12 million but spent nearly $15 million
Sen. Kamala Harris' campaign is laying off dozens of staff members as she seeks to inject new life into her presidential bid, which is struggling in the polls and facing money problems as she goes all-in in Iowa.
The California senator, who had a breakout moment in the first presidential debate and hoped to capitalize on an advantage in the Golden State, now finds herself paring down her team and seeking to reconfigure a smaller-scale effort focused on the first caucus state.
'From the beginning of this campaign, Kamala Harris and this team set out with one goal — to win the nomination and defeat Donald Trump in 2020. This requires us to make difficult strategic decisions and make clear priorities, not threaten to drop out or deploy gimmicks,' wrote her campaign manager, Juan Rodriguez, in a memo explaining the changes, Politico reported.
Sen. Kamala Harris' presidential campaign is laying off dozens of staff members and focusing on Iowa amid financial struggles
He noted the 'incredibly competitive resource environment,' she faces.
He may have been referencing gambits by rivals Sen. Cory Booker and former Housing Secretary Joaqin Castro, who said they'd quit if they couldn't meet an online fundraising goal.
Harris is running at just 3 per cent in the Real Clear Politics polling average, which, as the Republican National Committee notes in an email trumpeting the bad news, puts her about on par with Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
Harris has tried to use her background as a prosecutor as a calling card to attack Trump during the impeachment battle.
She told 'Late Show' host Seth Meyer's Monday night: 'We have a clear display of consciousness of guilt ... We have a cover-up, that is that.
'And we have a confession. And as a former prosecutor, I know a confession when I see it ... And frankly somebody ought to tell Donald Trump he has a right to remain silent,' she said.
She may get a platform for free this fall if the Senate ends up taking up any House impeachment articles for President Trump.
But she was not a central figure during the last presidential debate in Ohio, and her breakout moment, when she attacked former Vice President Joe Biden over school bussing, came back in June.
Harris is running far behind the top tier in national polling, and trails South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg in two recent polls
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris high fives Senator Bernie Sanders as former Vice President Joe Biden applauds him for his response to a question about his age and health during the fourth U.S. Democratic presidential candidates 2020 election debate at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio U.S., October 15, 2019
Rodriguez resorted to citing two candidates who won their party's primaries – but lost the general election.
'Plenty of winning primary campaigns, like John Kerry's in 2004 and John McCain's in 2008, have had to make tough choices on their way to the nomination, and this is no different,' he wrote.
At the end of the last fundraising quarter, Harris raised $12 million but spent nearly $15 million, leaving her campaign further in the hole. She pulled in a similar amount the previous quarter. According to her campaign, she raised $35 million from over 350,000 donors.
In a Suffolk University / USA Today poll released Wednesday, Harris was at 3 per cent, trailing Biden, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Bernie Sanders, and South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who bested her with 6 per cent. She also trailed Buttigieg in a Hill / Harris poll.
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