We are witnessing the organic development of a winning campaign with Senator Harris.
Ever since 1992, I’ve gone out of my way to read magazine articles and newspaper reports, watch television interviews and keep track of polling from multiple sources. I am not a college professor or a journalist; I’m strictly a layman—an armchair political analyst. But in the past 27 years, I have personally observed some trends and patterns in previous winning Democratic campaigns.
As much as Senator Harris dislikes being compared to past candidates because she wishes to judged on her performance alone, I see more than 1 or 2 parallels to the successful campaigns of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Here’s why.
MAKING ADJUSTMENTS & CLARIFYING CAMPAIGN RHETORIC
Let’s look at how Harris’s campaign adjustments echo Bill Clinton’s own first race.
On Tuesday, July 16th, Senator Harris was interviewed by Kyung Lah on CNN. Ms. Lah covered multiple topics, but zeroed in Harris’s answers to questions on the matter of healthcare.
CNN's interview last night with Kamala Harris
KYUNG: “The impression people are left with is not quite sure. So let’s clear it up. Now tell me your position on what Medicare for all means under a President Harris.”
KAMALA: “Sure. So, Medicare For All means everyone will have access to healthcare and costs will not be a barrier. As it relates to private insurance, there will still be supplemental insurance. But yes, transitioning into Medicare For All will reduce the requirement for insurance because everyone will have access to healthcare. Under my vision of Medicare For All, people will have coverage for what they don’t now in terms of vision care, dental care, hearing aids.”
Many have claimed Harris’s past answers at her CNN Town Hall and in the first Democratic Debate were clumsy flip-flopping on an issue as John Kerry was once accused of. But watching Kamala succinctly answer Kyung’s direct questions reminded me of how Bill Clinton ran his 1992 campaign. Harris stood her ground and then explained how insurance would still play a role in coverage. She clearly stated her stance against raising taxes on the middle class and for raising taxes on Wall Street to help pay for Medicare For All.
Was this a badly needed clarification of past vague answers when questioned by the press? Yes. But she stuck to support of Medicare For All and defended her position without backing down while giving greater detail. That kind of resolute message discipline while answering calmly and coherently has precedence for winning Democratic Presidential candidates.
Strategy; Discipline, Message and Good Luck: How Clinton's Campaign Came Back
In the last three months, Gov. Bill Clinton has transformed the Presidential campaign from a referendum on his character into one on George Bush's Presidency by sticking to a disciplined plan, and the tactic has salvaged the Democrats' hopes of regaining the White House…
They developed a carefully honed message and organized a campaign of taut, centralized discipline.
No candidate is perfect. Each one has moments where they aren’t crystal clear or express a point in a way voters dislike or disagree with. A gifted politician won’t throw in the towel, but finds a way to come back from those missteps. Campaign strategy has to follow a plan yet evolve organically. Any candidate under pressure when voters react badly and reporters challenge them has to adjust behavior in order to survive.
COMEBACK KIDS & REBOUNDING FROM SETBACKS
Clinton earned the title of “Comeback Kid” after he came in 3rd place in the 1992 Iowa Caucuses and then improved to 2nd place in New Hampshire a week later.
Barack Obama came in first in Iowa, but then lost a week later to Hillary.
Kamala Harris has proven she can do the same. After the 20,000+ turnout at her campaign’s launch in Oakland on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend which garnered tons of positive press coverage, her campaign started to lose momentum. Over the next few months, her poll numbers stagnated and media pundits were writing off her campaign. Little did they know that their pronouncement was quite premature.
There isn’t much detail I can add in retelling Senator Harris’s phenomenally successful performance on the 2nd night of the first Democratic debates in June. Reporters and pundits lavished her command of the stage that night with superlatives. Her polling numbers shot up like a rocket and haven’t gone down since. She was the unquestionable star on closing night.
In the five months between her stellar campaign launch in January and her epic recapture of the attention of both voters and the press in late June, Senator Harris didn’t panic. She also didn’t give up. She stuck to her guns in the face of repeated criticism from reporters that her campaign had stalled and was moribund and on life support.
How many times was Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign challenged by external events or rhetorical miscalculation? Remember the debacle that was the controversy over Reverend Jeremiah Wright? Or when many journalists, newscasters and even voters decided Obama was done for after his statements at a campaign event about how rural voters cling to guns and religion got leaked?
I recently read criticism from a Facebook friend that stated Kamala Harris was a hypocrite for saying she once smoked pot yet was a District Attorney and Attorney General who prosecuted first time drug offenders. My friend conveniently failed to note her rehabilitation program for nonviolent first-time offenders. But I’ll concede that on the surface such criticism may sound damning.
However, we’ve seen a similar scenario play out before…
Kamala didn’t claim she tried pot and did not inhale which everyone knew was both ridiculous and unbelievable when Bill Clinton said it in 1992. The point being, Clinton somehow navigated that bump in the road and bounced back from it. He evolved to overcome his weaknesses into the dominant lifeform in that election.
Every election, every campaign has its own organic structure. Like a virus attacking the human body, unexpected attacks on a candidate will happen and structural weaknesses in their political plans will be revealed by adverse events that no one saw coming. I believe candidates and their campaigns have a cellular structure that evolves over time every time it faces assaults and obstacles.
This year we have observable data on the fundamental traits and evolutionary tendencies of Senator Kamala Harris. She has an indomitable survival instinct combined with innate gifts of perception when it comes to opponents and physical stamina fused with emotional resilience. She recalibrates her lines of attack by paying very close attention to her environment and scoping out her competitors. The ability to adapt to hostile environments and fending off malignant elements that hit out of nowhere is crucial to winning the battle.
The New Yorker - Kamala Harris Makes Her Case
Harris, however, has demonstrated an ability to defeat incumbents and heirs apparent—who are also white and male—in spite of skepticism about her viability.
What she is not is static. Her capacity for growth and change isn’t stunted and appears to be almost limitless. The bones of her campaign are sturdy and not brittle. She and her team bend yet do not break. Yes, it’s a broad analogy that I’m stretching more than a little here. But in watching Kamala’s actions, reactions and her decision-making process in this campaign all year so far, I see undeniable parallels to the behavior and structure of the last 2 Democrats to win back-to-back terms in office as President of the United States.
I want the strongest, toughest and best-suited candidate to be our nominee. I want the one who can go the distance and keep sharpening their skills while adjusting their strategy for survival and success. I want the person who is best-suited to win the battle all year, every year.
Based on what we can see with our own eyes, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind whatsoever that that candidate is Senator Kamala Harris.
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This week’s schedule
Saturday, July 20 — Progressive 2016
Monday, July 22 — rflctammt
Thursday, July 25th — Cecelia S
Saturday, July 27th — Gay CA Democrat
Monday, July 29th —
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Group Guidelines
The Kamala2020 community group has been created to positively support Senator Kamala Harris, and not to engage in negativity towards other Democrats running in the 2020 primaries.
All should be made to feel welcomed here. What’s not welcomed here is petty bickering over any of our preferred candidates, or personal attacks on fellow Democrats. We’re not responsible for the actions of others who may offend, insult or attempt to sow discord and disunity — that’s on them.
What we are responsible for are our own words and actions — that’s 100% on us.
I’d like to ask all group members, as well as those dropping by who support or are interested in Kamala’s bid for the nomination, that we not respond to negativity from other campaign’s supporters with even more negativity. Let’s do better than our best and respond with respect, humor or try to hold our peace. Recipes and cat pics work, too 😃
Doing no harm costs us nothing... pie-fights will cost us everything.