Because......Willie Brown, that's why. Many, like myself, won't vote for anything Willie Brown had anything to do with.
11
Sure with I could have had an affair/relationship a married mayor 20+ years older than me to launch my career.
11
There's a lot to love among all of the candidates, but ultimately Mayor Pete Buttigieg is the leader we need to help our country begin the healing process, rebuild our international reputation, and unify Americans. He will win Iowa, and then go on to huge wins on Super Tuesday... including CA.
5
Let's get something straight. Nobody is getting up on stage and debating Trump on the issues. He lost all his debates in 2016 and it didn't matter. The Dems need somebody to stand up there and say to him "What small hands you have" followed by 'Your, not my type' Then stand back and watch him have a cow.
That's where this will be played out. Harris can do it and I'm growing to think Warren can too.
6
I notice a fair amount of criticism of Senator Harris for her questioning Biden on his record on school busing. The concensus at the time was that the question was fair and by all accounts Senator Harris won that debate. Bidens response was pathetic, in particular his remark that he conceded to the local authorities . That is not how Democrats govern.
In terms of Senator Harris record as California AG, Our attitude to cannabis usage has turned a very large curve over the past ten years, going from draconian laws that imprisoned minorities disporportionall .As California's AG Senator Harris had no choice but to follow the federal laws. Being tough on crime is frankly what made her a good AG. As Senator Harris has commented on many times ,all citizens are entitled to feel safe.
If anyone doubts Senator Harris ability to be tough and to stand up to Trump, I suggest they look back at her questioning of Jeff Sessions AG hesrings , and also how she got Bret Kavanaugh's, knickers twisted at his hearings. Senator Harris will trounce Trump in a debate .
Senator Harris the darling of Wall Street ,OK last time I checked the United States was a Capitalist country ,like it or not we are Capitalists , which by the way is fine as long as it is not allowed to run rampant as is currently the case.
Progressives need to wake up, the Democrats need to select a candidate who can beat Trump , it is a question of picking the Perfect or the Best. I am going with the Best.
2
@Brit Here is an insightful article just published today that articulates why Harris is a risk Democrats should not take: https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/08/24/kamala-harris-is-a-risk-democrats-shouldnt-take/
3
I think this article over emphasizes home court advantage. There is much to admire about Kamala Harris but far from everything.
This proud Californian will be voting for the most lucid, practical, and statesmanly candidate in the primary race, Ms. Elizabeth Warren.
7
I saw Bernie Sanders in Chico, CA. He was very well spoken, thoughtful, etc. His talk focused on the importance of Climate Change. i'm still undecided on which candidate to vote for in the primary -I like Warren. I still prefer a candidate from the south or midwest, either as Prez or VP. Ultimately, I want two people who can bring voters to the polls. the #1 issue is vote suppression, as Stacey Abrams promotes. I want more candidates to discuss THAT.
4
Via AP:
"California Sen. Kamala Harris is getting a rousing hometown welcome at the Democratic National Committee summer meeting in San Francisco.
Harris is looking to California as a potentially key part of her path to the Democratic presidential nomination.
With scores of supporters in the gallery Friday, Harris harkened back to her first political race for district attorney. She laughed as she recalled setting up an ironing board outside local grocery stores to get shoppers to stop and talk to her.
She said a similar grassroots effort is required to defeat President Donald Trump in 2020."
Kamala Harris will do just fine in California.
1
I would like to see her as VP with Biden and I live in California.
1
@Rev. Henry Bates She destroyed the possibility by throwing a low belt punch to Biden. It also exposed her that she does not have the integrity and principles to pair with Biden.
14
@jnl I guess you weren't around for Clinton Vs Obama 2008.
HRC portrayed Obama as an "other" to try to appeal to WWC voters in the primary.
They had a very contentious battle for the nomination.
HRC became Obama's Secretary of State.
It's politics. This stuff will blow over by next July.
Biden / Harris will be the ticket to beat Trump.
If anyone thinks a HRC / Kaine 2.0 ticket of two bland homogeneous moderates will win in 2020, well it won't.
1
@jnl I disagree , as in love and war all is fair in politics. Biden is smart enough to see that she would be a huge asset as his VP. In fact there disagreement only strengthens the idea that he would be taking a good look Senator Harris as a running mate. Or vise versa for that matter. .
2
California elected Ronald Reagan as governor. It is not a liberal state. Travel outside of L.A. or San Francisco and it bleeds red. And it is just wrong to think that because Kamala Harris is from there, she should have it locked down.
But what bothers me about these comments is the basic tenor; “we don’t want a woman, but we definitely don’t want a black woman.”
Ms. Harris is formidable and could tear Trump up in a debate. Are we really going to go down this road of “a woman cannot win” again?
6
@Anonymous I could not find any negative comments to this article about her gender or race. In fact, she was one of my top two choices when she first came out due to her diversity background. But soon I found her inauthenticity and lack of principles and now I cannot wait for her to drop out. Gender and race are her advantages, but her problem is she herself as a person.
7
The idea that you could have a "homegrown" candidate in a state as huge and diverse as California is ludicrous. There are few "grassroots" candidates from a state with such a massive political party apparatus. It's more about political power and money than the needs of the voting public. This extends to the national level, of course, where NYT's insidious headline, "Tulsi Gabbard thinks we are doomed" still leads search results three weeks after their purposeful article about her. Bernie Sanders and, possibly, Andrew Yang are the other obvious gadflies to an establishment that pretends to represent the people or pretends to act 'pragmatically' in the interest of the people. The little secret is that there are about as many Independents and non-affiliated voters in America as there are Democrats and Republicans COMBINED. The viewpoints of Tulsi and Bernie are pretty 'common sense' and widely popular in the country (and throughout the world). But democracy has some hefty establishment institutions to overcome here. There should be plenty of propaganda on display leading up to the democratic nomination (again).
4
I was already planning on voting for Harris until she hit Biden below the belt. That showed her true character and I now don't think she has the wisdom and judgement to be president.
Plus She Sentenced An Innocent Man to Death Row who Would Have Died had The Innocence Project not interfered! Shame on her. I no longer think she shd be a VP candidate too if Biden wins.
16
@Dolly Patterson I have the exact thought process as yours. Disappointedly She does not have quality as a President or VP. Lack of principles and substance.
5
For me its Andrew Yang if we are talking about anyone pulling crowds in California.
4
Anybody as long as they are not white males. Harris hits all the notes. Immigrant, skin color, lawyer, female. She is a great campaigner and she will beat Trump. Harris represents America's future.
2
@as that’s what I thought of her when she first came out. But pretty soon I found she is nothing but.
8
A thin record, a cheap shot at Joe Biden and a t-shirt.
She might play better outside California, but lets face it, a long dialogue about busing and/or the little girl on the bus is not a winner for either Harris or the Democratic Party.
12
Not one moment sooner—-but when RBG retires
I want to see Senator Harris follow her onto the Supreme Court Bench.
3
@Warren Shingle : a good idea especially since the Senate needs to change hands and Trump has poisoned the American Presidency almost to the point of death.
Kamala Harris is nothing more than vacuous "demographic allure", with political expediency trumping any convictions.
13
People in California are aware of her terrible record as a prosecutor.
“Ordered to reduce the population of California’s overcrowded prisons, lawyers from then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris’ office made the case that some non-violent offenders needed to stay incarcerated or else the prison system would lose a source of cheap labor.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/kamala-harris-ag-office-tried-to-keep-inmates-locked-up-for-cheap-labor
“Kamala Harris Was Not a ‘Progressive Prosecutor’”
“Time after time, when progressives urged her to embrace criminal justice reforms as a district attorney and then the state’s attorney general, Ms. Harris opposed them or stayed silent. Most troubling, Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of crucial information by prosecutors.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/opinion/kamala-harris-criminal-justice.html
11
If you remove the septuagenarian revolutionaries who want to blow everything up; the backward-looking Barack Obama caddy who seems frighteningly frail; and the fringe players looking for a book deal or a recurring gig on MSNBC, that leaves Cory, Beto, Pete, and Kamala. I like her prosecutorial style, I believe in her pragmatic approach, and I trust her to make smart decisions in difficult situations. Sign me up.
2
Look at the polls Senator Harris is sinking like a stone. Her attack on Biden in the first debate got lots of publicity but she shot herself in the foot. She has zero charisma and is not the female Obama.
13
Ms. Harris has proven herself incompetent in each of her government jobs, San Francisco DA, Calif. AG and now senator, but she is a pawn of the corrupt Burton/Brown machine, a dishonor she shares with Gov. Newsom. One would hope that the Democrats could come up with someone more informed and capable to run for President. Since Harris and Newsom were in office in San Francisco, the city has become ever more
filthy, drug-infested and disgusting. Is this what we want for the whole country?
12
Tulsi Gabbard exposed her horrendous, racist and unconstitutional policies as a prosecutor, and she hasn't even attempted to respond. Nevertheless she remains a darling of the corporate media.
8
Sideshow, nothing to see here.
6
Senator Harris will make a good AG
1
@Ted she will be a AG like Barr — good at her own hidden agenda.
5
Headline disagreement. Texas is the state still growing out of high school stereotypes.
The locals know best. Prosecutors like Harris, Giuliani, Cuomo, and Christie are fine when acting within that venue but when they move up the scale into real politics, their true face is revealed. Without an adversary in the courtroom, the qualities that served them so well as lawyers soon congeals into spite, vindictiveness, and the constant need for an enemy. At bottom, they are all extremely nasty people, best avoided.
14
It's interesting how those who do not live in California, or are ultra liberal or conservative have bought into many of the falsehoods of Kamala Harris' position as Attorney General and her choices. When Tulsi spoke to this during the second debate, she played very loose with the facts. Several media outlets that bothered to do a fact checks commented on the looseness of the Tulsi facts.
She certainly is nothing like Gouliani, Cuomo or Christie. She has great integrity and intelligence which is much more than the forementioned.
3
ms. harris does not get my vote nor many of my circle. What she is remembered very clearly for is her penchant for putting and keeping men of color in prison. The police love her. the rest of us not so much. Lately, in case you were wondering where she stands on the green new deal, she was not even going to participate in a democratic debate on the subject as she was too busy collecting big money from the big spenders till she got l a lot of bad press and changed her mind. just another corporatist candidate whose finger is always in the wind, and oh yes where did you say she stands on medicare for all? She is still trying to figure that out. ugh
15
Kind of silly to imply that just because she's from CA we'd all be behind her (I'm sure quite a few New Yorkers don't happen to be Trump supporters). Even sillier is that I'm from Oakland, born and raised, and so far, I'm in favor of Warren.
12
Why doesn't Sen. Kamala Harris have a lock on California?
Among the reasons: As California state attorney general, Sen. Harris authorized her deputies to threaten the licenses of physicians who spoke about the medical uses of cannabis--this happening years after California voters had legalized it for such purposes.
This travesty went unreported in the mainstream press. But I know this occurred because it happened to a friend--a past president of the Los Angeles County Medical Association in his 80s who still much needed to make a living and hadn't the money to hire a lawyer.
My friend's "crime" in the view of the attorney general's office was having participated in a serious video discussing the medical uses of cannabis. I held and read the letter it sent him.
Eventually the state laid off my friend, but not before causing him considerable distress.
And then, recently, to hear Sen. Harris joke and laugh about personally using cannabis recreationally? Later, Kamala.
22
Harris is the living embodiment of the old Groucho Marx quote, "Those are my principles. If you don't like them, I have others."
Harris is intelligent enough, and forceful, but she is mostly demographic allure wrapped in political expediency.
Within hours of her being elected CA senator, Establishment democrats were touting her demographic allure as her ticket to the presidency.
As CA Attorney General, Harris’s office declined to prosecute Steven Mnuchin’s OneWest Bank for foreclosure violations in 2013 after finding over a thousand violations of foreclosure laws by his bank, and expecting to find thousands more. In return, she was the only Democrat who ran on the national level to receive campaign money from him.
Having no convictions that would impede her ambition, she voted yes on her first defense appropriation bill, though it was a huge increase and included $285 billion more than the Pentagon requested. She voted no on the latest defense appropriation bill, realizing that a no vote was appropriate to appear progressive.
She has realized that she cannot be The Progressive, so she is going to be The Moderate.
Mostly she is the candidate of no conviction.
We need the courage, integrity, ideas and vision of Bernie Sanders as President to take serious action on climate change and income/wealth inequality... making the US stronger, healthier, better educated, and more thriving.
14
Sanders would be bad for the economy. He just wants to spend money.
2
As an independent voter in FL I care little of Ms. Harris. Short of Michelle Obama or Oprah running on the Democratic ticket, I will vote for Trump.
4
@MJ Gruskin Why?
3
I'm glad to see that Harris' cheap-shot attack on Biden and flip-flopping have caught up with her. I don't know anyone who is planning on voting for her (myself included), and know more than a few who would like to see her knocked out of the race entirely at this point.
19
In an attractive field, Ms. Harris is no standout. As "my" senator, she is a looser. She has real problems with anything that is not on the bay area donor agenda. For Southern California she has nothing but scorn, given her statements (or lack of them) on water, on bi-lingual education, on immigration, on debt, on other than silicone gadget innovation, on .... I've voted left since the 1960s; she is opportunist right.
18
A disgruntled left constituent. Got it.
2
Of the 20+ candidates running for POTUS, Kamala Harris is as qualified as anyone running, and has a shot to win the Democratic nomination.
She's a younger ( mid 50s), telegenic candidate positioned to the left of Biden and right of Sanders / Warren, but still palatable to a large swath of prospective voters in a diverse ( 60% female / 40% nonwhite) pool.
Most of the negative comments from the Twitterverse, social media, and comment sections like this are from the far left, and from men who still feed on anonymous misogyny.
Talk of Harris "fading" in August is overblown by the political junkies who already support another candidate.
There's still time for her to make her case as the field shrinks, and as the non political junkies start to pay attention in the fall.
Yes, she has to execute going forward, but the path / opportunity is there.
Regarding California, there are 8M registered Democratic voters there. No one poll with 600 - 1000 respondents will capture the advantages Harris will have on the ground. She has won statewide elections in CA. No other candidate running has ( Sanders lost CA to HRC). She'll do just fine in CA and pick up a lot of delegates.
Funny how there aren't any NYT articles on Massachusetts not being a lock for Elizabeth Warren...
3
@KT I guess I am one of your male mysoginists in hiding who has looked forward to a female president since the Sixties. In my opinion, male presidents, except President Obama, playing on American fears have completely screwed up America and the world. But Kamala Harris is two-faced and as opportunistic as the worst of them. She sways with every wind that blows her way. She has demonstrated a meanness and double standards throughout her career that rivals the cWHr. If she is the candidate, I will not vote for her. I'll write in Senator Warren unless she absolutely states she will not accept the Presidency if write-in votes elect her. She, most of the other women and, yes, a couple of the men are far better choices than Harris, Sanders, and Biden who are just more of the same opportunistic politics that are killing our nation.
5
@KT I’ve lived in San Francisco for thirty five years , and have follows Hamptons Harris career since her nascent stages with Willie Brown .
Gabbard touched on a few issues ,Harris refused to address the allegations after the debate . As Harris put it “ Obviously I’m top tier “ ! What has not seen the light of day yet is possibly her greatest crime against humanity, one that also clearly indicates what a grifter she really is . When Hallinan was the District Attorney here in San Francisco , his team of investigators were looking into PEDOPHILE PRIESTS in San Francisco. Hallinan’s team spent a long time gathering evidence ,statements from boys that were sexually molested by priests in the Catholic Church here in San Francisco . Hallinan had everything needed to go forward with indictments . However in 2003 Harris defeated Hallinan, and therefore Harris became the DA .Hallinan was like a pit bull in respect to protecting young people from pedophiles , and with all the evidence he had to put these priests in prison ( names of victims who had come forth , dates ,what exactly happened ,where it happened and had the actual boys ( who were now young men ) names ,ages ,and stories )
Hallinan gave EVERYTHING they had collected ,a huge dossier to Harris when she became the new District Attorney of San Francisco.
These men wanted their stories to be told .
HARRIS DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ,AND BRUSHED THIS ENTIRE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION UNDER THE CARPET ! Just wait for details ...
10
One person, one vote.
Harris will win MD btw.
She is gonna do great in the Senate if she dedicates her career to it. Leave the presidency to someone who hasbeen around the block. Harris is too inexperienced to be president. Leave it to Warren who has the experience and the vision. All Harris has at the moment is the ambition. - not enough.
10
Initially I was excited about Kamala Harris. The more I listen to her .... the more she sounds like she would govern from 30,000 feet above sea level. I think it's time for a woman on the the ticket .... hopefully in the lead. I like Elizabeth Warren and most of her policies. I am a little concerned with Warren and Sanders "Medicare for All" Big Bang. I think that there should be an alternative for employer based health care if they want it. If Joe Biden eventually wins the nomination I really hope he picks Stacey Abrams as his VP. She will add no nonsense clarity and vision to the ticket.
4
This time, I will vote for the Democratic pick whoever she or he might be. However, neither Biden nor Anderson can beat Trump, I think.
My first and second choices remain to be the same: Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, respectively. Together, they will definitely defeat Donald Trump, something the civilized world will applaud.
Biden loyalists' impolite and unjust criticism of Kamala Harris has made it more difficult for her to accept a VP position.
The present young and future generations of African Americans have to be convinced that 'Barack Obama' was not just a chance happening.
Kamala Harris has all the qualities a 21st century US president should have.
4
It's sad, Kamala has connections with big money and that always turns voters back to the 99%.
Hillary had the same problem. Joe is connected also with caviar and champagne money collection plates.
When she took on Joe she had admiration from a lot of voters with the possibility of taking on Trump. A black woman with courage, might have had a chance of winning. The problem is the pay back favors when collecting money from the richest and also corporations. American voters cannot take that chance. We will trust a candidate who only accepts small donations from the American people and collecting the most money proving they are the candidate that can win. Many donors=Many votes
Kamala is admired by many and she did a fine job. Not many could hold their own in that motley crew. I personally thank her for a strong performance.
4
I don’t know how Ms Harris has treated her staff or waiters and waitresses for that matter. But since first seeing her in action at the Kavanaugh hearing and then later at the first Dem debate where she attacked Mr Biden, the meanness in her demeanor and the pleasure she seemed to take at being nasty, left a very bad impression on me. And I bet it has left many others—including Dem women, who have been treated the way Harris treats public figures less than enamored with her and less likely to support her.
17
@ehillesum The same thing struck me instantly when she attacked Biden: This person is mean and has no empathy for others.
7
@ehillesum Very well said . Hamptons Harris is a high paid grifter . You nailed it . Harris is a grandstanding shill for the wealthy . Please read my responses , one in particular concerning the pedophiles that Harris refused to prosecute. I hope you read that post , it was a reply . Just look for my name . You did such an admirable job of painting Harris . “ Look at me , am I not the toughest thing you’ve ever seen “ . Just wait Kamala . If you don’t believe the other candidates are not aware of what I’m aware of , you’re dreaming , and you will have to answer to others the fact that you turned a blind eye when you were given the dossier in respect to the pedophile priests here in San Francisco WHERE I LIVE ! Kudos to you
7
Please focus on the electorate. In the last congressional elections the Democrats were able to flip 40 seats. Of those only two were progressives. I believe that here in the Midwest many who voted for Trump are tired of his shenanigans but will not consider a radical shift to the left.
5
@Conrad
Sanders won the 2016 primary contests in Michigan and Wisconsin. That included independents, not just Democrats. Midwest voters want an economic populist. That would be Warren or Sanders.
5
I continue to think that Ms. Harris will be the Democrat nominee despite the many difficulties that her history will bring to the race against Trump.
The reason is her competition. With all due respect she is simply the best of a not very viable group of front runners.
With respect Joe Biden is proving himself not quite up to it. I don't think that afternoon naps will see him through to defeating Trump. His wife's argument of "grin and bear it" somewhat nailed it don't you think?
Ms. Warren has even more problems, not least her inauthenticity. The fact that she erased her DNA video from her website shows that she sees how damaging that issue is. It will only get worse.
And if we are honest the rest of the bench really has no chance.
How agreeable to the Democrats' Far Left program will America be? Why can they just not play "crazy"?
1
Our state is tailor-made for Buttigieg, and my non-scientific prediction is that after second-place finishes in Iowa, NH and (with momentum) South Carolina he’ll get the big prize out here.
1
The histrionic scene where Ms. Harris attacked Biden gave a preview of her character. Too bad she could not promote something positive about herself. Is there anything positive one could say about her? I haven't heard anything.
10
The slumbering Bear awakens. It's about time.
4
I’m not sure why I really don’t like Kamala Harris. I didn’t know her until the debates. She is attractive and intelligent. But she exudes an oily opportunism that is a real turn off.
I will not vote for Joe Biden and I don’t think he’s the best candidate. But the cheap shot Senator Harris fires during the first debate was ruinous for her. She got a big bump because (I’m sorry to say), many people are not that bright and they thought that her taking a cheap shot made her seem strong. But that bump is gone.
Now she just seems oily.
19
Withdraw! There are 3 democrats with a legitimate shot at the nomination. The rest are only taking up space and adding to the confusion. Let’s try to get real. It’s going to be Biden, Warren, and in a distant fourth, Sanders. To much to ask for but whoever emerges as the nominee..WE ALL SUPPORT! Any deviation is a vote for Trump. So we either vote to dump Trump or we vote to kiss America goodbye!
4
The Democrats have multiple charismatic candidates to choose from in 2020, including Ms. Harris who is terrific on stage and in interviews. But I've never quite figure out what exactly she stands for or believes.
Just like I admire Steve Bullock from my state (and wish he would run for the Senate) I have no intention of voting for him in the primaries. Montana votes late so we rarely have our first or second choices to pick from (only those deemed "electable" like Gore and Kerry).
But in this case, I'm hopeful my first choice will be on the ballot next year: Elizabeth Warren.
I'm excited to vote for the candidate I think will be the best president, not just the native son candidate, whom I also happen to like. My guess is that Californians are smart enough to be voting the same.
8
@avrds Let me help you a little bit: She is a mean spirited opportunist and stands for herself.
6
Kamala Harris had the potential to be a good Senator until she decided the White House was more to her liking. I don't deny her ambition and talents, but beneath her 'progressive' facade is a typical centrist Democrat who hasn't made that much of an impact in CA. I didn't find her tenure as Attorney General all that memorable, or marked by sweeping reforms. She's got some good ideas, some not so good. She's a decent politician to represent CA, but I don't see her leading the nation. She tends to turn off as many people as she inspires, and I don't see her really having original or particularly innovative ideas. I think she jumped the shark when she dove into the Presidential race, trying to leverage a couple of moments of hard questioning in the Senate into a reason why she should be President. She's great at drilling people with questions, but a President needs to be more than a good prosecutor.
17
As a Californian, I am grateful that the most populous state finally has a say in the primaries. I have donated to several Democratic candidates, but not Harris. I will of course vote for her if she is the nominee, but she is low on my list.
In the primaries, I am voting for the person I would most like to see as the next president of the United States. So I’m campaigning for Pete Buttigieg.
2
Kamala Harris was impressive in the televised Senate Judiciary hearings. She should stay there, where her talents can do the most good for the country. A Biden/Warren ticket seems like the best combo to beat Trump.
9
@Mary Ann
Yes, Biden/Warren 2020!
(It was Biden/Harris for me prior to the debates -- but what a disappointment to find Harris simply a ruthless opportunist -- a disingenuous low belt punch to Biden and a disgraceful 0% or 1% whatever polls to undermine Tulsi Gabbard instead of substance rebuttal)
5
Her sound bite attacking Biden gave her a bump in the polls.It also on reflection helped to project an image that was mean and flat wrong about federally mandated forced busing.In the weak field of democrats she is still my choice but she needs to watch her step.
3
Kamala is a good senator, but since the winter months I have not seen her resonate with key audiences.
Black voters are sticking with Biden. Women are going with Warren. Young men are going with Sanders or Buttigieg.
Some other election maybe, but not this one.
5
@Cousy.....Why do you believe African Americans will support Biden? You do know we vote anonymously and exist polls are equally unreliable to determine who black people vote for. I see Zero enthusiasm for Biden. Indeed, black males are more enthusiastic to vote for Trump I have determined, anecdotally.
Biden seems sentimental and weak. Real men hate that quality in a male. Biden will not energize African American turnout. Trump wins again in 2020. Trump will also win Colorado and Minnesota.
3
No reason to expect her to be leading. Californians are smart and they will make careful choices.
8
Instead of serving breakfasts or shaking hands and speaking at rallies I want to see candidate Booker return to Newark, the city where he was mayor, and do something about its lead water crises which surely ensued while he was in office as mayor.
20
I'm a Californian since 1985 and I would not in any way, shape or form endorse Kamala Harris. She is, in my book, a disingenuous, inauthentic, opportunistic politician. I don't trust her - from what I have seen, read and heard, she is more interested in Kamala Harris' future than she is in taking any sort of principled stand. I was glad to see Tulsi Gabbard take her down.
25
She completely lost me in the second debate. Even a non-entity like Gabbard threw her a tough curve ball that knocked Harris off the plate and out of the game. And wasting time picking racial fights with Biden rather than the WH destroyer doesn't earn her points for savvy judgment.
15
Not only is California big in terms of delegates, but it allocates them in such a way that any candidate getting at least 15% of the vote will do well. That's a huge incentive to campaign there.
Unfortunately, like so many primaries on both sides, doing well in California may help for the nomination but not in the general election. Any Democrat will win California in the general, just as any Republican will win Kansas. The real question is who can win in the swing states: Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Florida, Colorado, Missouri, and so on.
That's the fallacy of the whole primary system: it only magnifies the faults of the electoral college.
5
The GOP did not pick a traditional candidate in 2016 and he won. I think that the Democrats need to stop thinking about who can (MAYBE) be Trump in the swing states and go for the best candidate, who is Elizabeth Warren.
8
An accomplishment or two in the Senate would make Harris a better candidate. Granted, accomplishing anything in the Senate these days qualifies as a miracle, but the Senate is where she chose to be.
The Governorship of California would have been a better place to show what she could do. Her resume is thin even compared with someone like Hickenlooper, who has dropped out. Making Joe Biden look bad for a news cycle isn't something to be proud of.
30
"They also noted that they were trying to make sense of how Ms. Harris’s positions had shifted over her 15 years in public office, and what she really believed."
This small observation, hidden in the middle of the story, deserves far more attention. Harris and Biden both have the same problem -- the immediate superficial public impact of their candidacies provides their most compelling political moment.
But as you look beneath the surface with Harris, questions arise both as to her depth of understanding and consistency. Harris's claim to championing progressive and courageous positions benefiting poor and minority communities as a prosecutor does not stand up under examination. Her real base of support in San Francisco was the activist wing of the wealthy socialite community and her actions largely reflected this.
The sole guiding principle of Harris's presidential campaign seems to be doing whatever it takes to position herself to win the nomination. There is no indication of a guiding political philosophy or passionate commitment to a particular policy outcome.
It could be that in these challenging times voters are willing to depart from customary practice and sacrifice style and glamor in favor of substance and depth. If so, Harris will be facing an uphill battle.
28
Agree
3
She should step aside and endorse Biden who will bring a Democratic majority to the Senate. Then she would be eligible for a powerful position, perhaps as the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Bernie just had a rally in Sacramento last night and about a thousand people turned out, that is about 14 thousand less than the last time he was here.
18
@Joe Barnett
crowd of more than 4,000 that filled Cesar Chavez Plaza.
2
I live in the Bay Area. Only 1 of my friends is even considering voting for Harris. Her career has been one of an opportunist. Good at politicking. But short on integrity and lacking well thought out plans and ideas for change that will actually work. Most people I know are choosing between Warren and Sanders. And I am not a ‘flaming’ liberal. More of a moderate, who recognizes that our systems are broken.
43
@Doc. A close friend of mine used to work for Harris. She has nothing good to say about her.
11
@Doc
Just because you "live in the Bay Area", doesn't mean you're a Democrat
You sound like a Republican to the rest of us, "Doc"
After reading all the comments posted here, I tend to listen most closely to those voices in California closest because no doubt, they know Kamala Harris best.
That said, if the rest of the country listened to what New Yorkers had to say about Donald Trump, chances are we wouldn't find ourselves in the position we're in now.
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I am dubious that being a former San Francisco prosecutor and Sacramento official makes a big impression in Southern California when there are more policy-exciting candidates on the stage. Northern California politicians are getting a little shopworn down south. Really, a donor-class doyenne from San Francisco for 2020?
California is going to be looking for something "new." Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are discussing significant policy change. That's what's going to sell in the Democratic primaries.
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@Paul A Myers
That's only part of the picture.
"New" isn't going to sell in the Democratic primaries if it's too untried to be true.
And at this point, most Democrats just want someone who will succeed in getting Trump out of the White House.
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@Paul A Myers
I agree. Warren will be a big hit, though.
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@Paul A Myers
Hillary was supposedly a donor-class doyenne in 2016 and she turned Orange County blue for the first time in a presidential election, if I'm not mistaken (beating policy-exciting Bernie in the process too). But I'd be surprised if she won Newport Beach/CdM (although I don't have the data so I could be wrong).
However, expecting affluent SoCal residents to want to exchange their first-class health insurance for some as yet undefined Medicare plan seems unlikely (and unlike Bernie and Elizabeth, Kamala will apparently let them do that).
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I have supported Senator Harris since she announced that she was running. She will make an excellent President and believe me Trump will Not be shadowing Senator Harris on the debate stage.
Other than Senator Booker any of the other candidates mentioned in this piece are also very worthy of the nomination. As Democrats we are so lucky to be spoiled for choice .
Ultimately however it is my firm believe that come March Senator Harris will carry her home state easily she is beyond being popular in California. I see no reason for her not to come out on top.
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sorry but Harris's policy background is thinner than ice in the middle of the Sahara. and after her debate assault on Biden she is toast for me just as gillibrand is for her attack on Al franken and Castro's attack on orourke. character counts
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The only reason she was even doing well-- momentarily-- was because she had a great 15 second soundbite against Joe Biden on an issue that they don't even appear to disagree on. It was a moment crafted for television and the current A.D.D. culture we live in. Thank God it doesn't seem to be carrying her any further.
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@Matt I think that that ungracious, mean spirited attack on Biden, along with her silly laugh about smoking pot, after jailing thousands for it, exposed her for the phony she is and effectively ended her bid.
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Well, this Californian voter is voting for Yang in the primary.
I was on board with Harris when she first announced, but she hasn't shown that her policies have substance or are well thought out. Also didn't appreciate the empty attacks on Biden during the debate even though people thought she won the night because of that.
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@L
"... didn't appreciate the empty attacks on Biden during the debate even though people thought she won the night because of that..."
Yeah, those were certainly "empty" attacks. I also didn't understand why it was thought by anyone that those attacks were what "won" her the night. I don't know anyone who felt that way either. As for those pundits who proclaimed her the winner, well, they haven't said any more about this for quite a while now.
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@L
The only people who thought that stunt won Harris anything were:
Members of the media.
The same people who thought Michael Avenatti was the savior of the country.
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“Not a lock” is one way of putting it, “she’ll be lucky to come in third” is more accurate.
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The photo of the Bernie volunteers dispels the media lie about Bernie not appealing to young and minority voters. There it is in living color! Go Bernie.
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@Miriam
I am glad you mentioned that. in 2016, I attended a Sanders rally here in California and I looked around to discover I looked like one of the oldest people in the crowd. It was a wonderful reversal.
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@Miriam
Sorry. But photos mean nothing.
It's the votes that count.
No mention of Yang, yet again - he's drawn the largest crowds out of any other candidate in his visits to SF!
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@Jonathan
A lot of people do find Yang compelling.
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@Jonathan Yeah but he is a tech guy 'Right'.
Senator Harris has positions that have zigged and zagged. That is a problem.
As someone who lives in Northern California, I find that her inadequate attention to the malfeasance and incompetence of our electric company (P,G $ E) that has been responsible for hundreds of deaths and billions in damages, an utter failure.
But, maybe I do not understand all the details.
That being said, she is not a malignant and non-reading narcissist. She has my enthusiastic vote if she is the nominee.
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Harris wants reparations and holds many other unreasonable positions.
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@R. R.
Just wait and she will change those positions.
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The problem with Kamala Harris is that she tries to be all things to all people. Her lack of authenticity makes her an easy mark for Trump. And, her record has not been scrutinized. Ending the SF DA's office (under Hallinan, her predecessor) inquiry to child abuse by priests bought her the support of the diocese, but was a major sell out. She beat Hallinan using ads that depicted young men of color as predators and gang members--sound familiar? She did not support cannabis legalization until it was approved by the voters. You can't really call her progressive or moderate, merely for sale. Btw, don't forget her SF social connections, eg Dede Wilsey et al, also Trump supporters. Is having been Willie Brown's girlfriend really a qualification for public office? Whither SF--under the thumb of the WB political operation, with the worst economic inequality, proving ground for policies that eroded labor protections (gig economy), took thousands of housing units off the market (airbnb), and filled the streets with homeless people with no hope of housing or care, whither the US if KH is president. There is a reason that CA voters are flocking to support her.
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You nailed it! Her comments about cannabis alone make her look like a duplicitous fool- and I’m a Bay Area Democrat!
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I know this is hard to deal with, but when Biden becomes the Democratic candidate, please don't repeat 2016 and whine like puritans because he's not progressive enough. No one will ever be progressive enough. It's a red herring.
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@Tim - I won't be whining about him not being progressive enough. I'll be depressed because Trump will make mincemeat of him in a debate. You do remember this is his third try at the presidency right. Remember why he didn't get the nomination?
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@Tim - please no. it's time for Joe to retire. He's really not equipped for the office. He made a great partner with Obama. But, he's not the guy for the job....
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@Tim
Biden has no ideas or vision relevant to dealing with the ticking time bombs of income/wealth inequality or climate change. He does not even seem capable of comprehending them.
Many would not vote for Biden out of lack of enthusiasm, others would not for him because to do so would be endorsing a status quo that desperately needs changing, by vote or by pitchfork.
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In my view, Ms Harris has zero chance of being president.
She is a cop with no message. Trump will run rings around her.
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Does anyone really believe that Biden will win his party's nomination? It really isn't his, or the Clintons' party anymore.
The 2020 election will be decided in fewer than 10 states, and we all know which ones they are. President Trump lost my state, Massachusetts, by almost 30 points in 2016, and will do so again in 2020. That is why I do not bother to vote in presidential elections. I do vote in the Democrat primaries, because that is where the action is in my state, and this, I believe has caused me to become a registered Democrat. I will cast my vote for Harris in the primary since the country deserves a real choice between two very different candidates.
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@Dante EVERY Dem running is very different than Trump. Most of them are better choices than Harris.
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I am still trying to understand why Ms. Harris is running for president. She didnt like working in Alameda so she has her powerful friends get her into S.F. office she wasn't progressive when it came to the court system. She was all for locking minorities and their parents up, When she was questioned about her tenure she stated she created a criminal template that is used in other parts of the country ,still dont know what that template is.
Have yet to read a plan that makes sense for the American people Her last plan with the big announcement was difficult for small minds to understand. some candidates act as if the public doesn't need to hear a plan, just trust them to have our backs.
This election is to important. If your not in it to win and help the American people just get out now. We dont have time for candidates to find themselves or egos.
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One visit to California would convince any voter that those in charge of California (Ms. Harris included) would be grossly unqualified for national office. The taxes, transportation, homeless, criminal laws, lack of respect for police and degraded quality of life reflects how they would govern our country. Ask 50% of the residents who would leave today-if they could.
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@Jack leave for where? I’ll take California over any other state. The issues you cited are a problem in any high density area in the US. They’re difficult problems to solve and require effective public policies. I will never vote for a political party(currently the Republicans) that campaigns on the idea that government doesn’t work and wants me to elect them so they can prove it.
I don’t think Kamala Harris is the best candidate we have and I am unlikely to vote for her in the primary but that has nothing to do with issues in California and everything to do with her slippery policy stances and weak attempts to appeal to everyone.
17
Please tell us more about the place you've never visited.
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@Jack - really? i grew up next door to you in Guilford and have been in Northern Ca since 1985. Leaving CA is easy as a dollar stretches so much further than virtually anywhere else in the country. I've been here for so long because it is a great place to live.
5
Harris' position is clear. Immediately after being elected to one office, run for a higher one.What has she done in the Senate that qualifies her to be president? After Trump, we need experience.
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is that what you said about Obama?
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Up here North of the Bay Area, all I hear is Warren. No one I know is enthused about Harris, or Biden. In 2016 our county and all of the northern counties went for Sanders, but not this year. I think Warren will do very well in the primary, maybe win it. But Rep. Rouda's warning should be taken very seriously.
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Californians were willing to give Ms. Harris the benefit of the doubt, admiring her DNA and career path. However, her attack on Biden about busing was too disingenuous to stomach, considering that as state AG and then as Senator she had and has the ability to push for busing in so many segregated California school districts, but did not and will not. Instead, she's happy to take Beverly Hills, Mountain View, and Pacific Palisades money. Better Biden gaffes from time to time than her hubris.
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Is it just me or is Kamala Harris receiving more (unfounded) negative press than any other Democratic candidate, including Joe Biden?
At this point, they should ALL be allowed to speak for themselves without "speculative" articles such as this one. Ok, say that California is in play because of how their primary is structured, but don't then also put blame on Kamala.
As for some people's upset over her contretemps with Joe Biden in the first debate, I fault the ridiculous debate structure and ground rules thus far: with ten candidates on the stage at one time and baiting questions being lobbed at them like flamethrowers, how else should we expect a candidate to stand out? As I viewed Kamala "taking it" to Joe, I didn't so much see her attacking him as I saw a forceful and direct candidate not afraid to speak her truth, push back, and essentially, get up in the grill of anyone with whom she disagrees––including Trump!
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@gothamlp except she later said she agreed with his policy on busing! The cynicism, gall, and pointlessness of her attack on the man who had been a mentor instantly disqualified her to me and a lot of other people.
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@gothamlp I don't see any intentional negative press. In fact, It's the other way -- I saw several articles trying to pump her up in the pas week (owing to her powerful connections, I guess), but a majority of readers rebutted the articles and posted negative comments. The reason that her recent polls are taking nosedive (which I predicated right after the second debate) -- not because of negative press. It is because of Kalama's own negative characteristics -- people see through her hypocrisy and lack of principled stands.
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@gothamlp
First of all, no other Democratic candidate had t-shirts immediately for sale with the exact words she "spontaneously" said on the debate stage.
Moreover, no other Democratic candidate has lied about their woebegone suffering background as much as Harris has lied about hers.
4
Harris is fading fast. She's come across as an opportunist and no one knows what she really stands for. Plus her big moment (attack on Biden) eventually backfired as people figured out it was clearly done in bad faith. Maybe next time, or maybe the VP spot.
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It’s hard to pin down, but I just don’t get a sense in Harris of the higher purpose I see in the other candidates. Her now famous “food fight” comment at the first debate felt scripted. Her attack on Biden cynical and self-serving. I question how well she would actually do in the election against he whom I choose not to name, and I don’t favor the idea of her as President.
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The state is Pete Buttigieg's to lose. I was following Kamala with interest until she took the cheap shot at Biden during the debate, counting on people having a relatively thin understanding of desegregation busing and the many people of all ethnicities, who were against the methods with which is was being implemented.
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Harris is not universally well-liked in California. Many voters are ambivalent about her tenures in both San Francisco and Sacramento. She is anything but a shoo in.
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Re: “A day earlier, Mr. Buttigieg attracted a couple of hundred Bay Area supporters to an industrial section of San Francisco, for a fund-raiser that featured a panel discussion on diversity and the tech industry.”
The number quoted is off by an order of magnitude. There were a couple of thousand Pete Buttigieg supporters at this event, held in a far flung part of the city at an inconvenient time on a workday.
There is huge support for Mayor Pete in the Bay Area. The more we hear him speak, the more we like him. He’s the real deal, and I suspect many people will be surprised by how well he does here on Super Tuesday.
He’s well positioned to do well in the Midwest in the general election and has just what we need to guide America into the future.
He and Stacy Abrams together would be my dream ticket.
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Perhaps because she's never been all that popular, even in the Bay Area. Outside of her ethnicity and gender, the fact that her positions on the issues are neither clear nor consistent cannot be ignored, especially when she's going up against a candidate like Warren, who has a very clear and strong message.
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@Matt Bernie Sanders' message is even clearer and stronger than Warren's.
11
@CP
Agree. Bernie's message is very clearly incoherent. He hasn't a clue as to how to enact anything he advocates.
1
Because California delegates will be awarded proportionally, every top tier candidate will pick up delegates. The voting is also on Super Tuesday, so California will not dominate the news cycle entirely. Although Harris has supporters, she also has detractors who are unhappy with her record in CA. California is an ATM for Dems, but that money is going to go to several top tier candidates. Don't expect CA to fall in line behind Harris. Steyer is also in the race and may be a bit of a wild card because of his wealth and his familiarity to CA voters.
16
Her 15 minutes came with her cheap shot at Mr. Biden in the first debate. Hopefully, she will sink with grace.
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NONE of the candidates is a "lock" in California.
That said... Kamala Harris does have a number of inherent advantages in the California Primary. Unless she really drops the ball on campaigning here... I think it is likely she will come out in front in the primary.
4
I expect Senator Harris to carry her home base-Northern California- or at worst come in second. If she doesn’t, her candidacy will be in serious difficulty. However, in Southern California, from Santa Barbara to San Diego, that’s a different story. Here in Los Angeles county, I would expect Senator Warren and Senator Sanders to split the liberal/progressive vote, and VP Biden to take the blue-collar Dems.
22
Who ever stated Kamala Harris is a "Lock In" out here? Nothing like a fabricated headline to create one's own narrative. Does this piece even belong in the News section? It sounds more like an obligatory Friday-filler or an op-ed.
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Kamala Harris made a big splash by attacking Joe Biden in the first debate. Is that enough to qualify her for President? -
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@Christa I must add, a "disgraceful" attack with distorted and manipulated view. She was my second choice prior to the debates and then I crossed her out completely from my list soon after the two debates. She exposed herself a ruthless opportunist with no substance. Very disappointing.
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Yep. The Democrats found their Trump. Let’s just hope that Democrats can see through the attacks, vague messages, and opportunism more clearly than the GOP did.
5
California voters place the same emphasis on trust that the rest of the nation should. Harris is more of a politician than a leader and tailors her message to what she thinks will best further her chances of getting elected.
Elizabeth Warren never wavers.
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@dutchiris Except that she used to be a republican...Bernie has hardly modified a position for 40 years. Don't get me wrong, I like Warren but when it comes to consistency no one tops Sanders.
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@dutchiris
Until a decade ago Elizabeth Warren was a Republican.
All his life, Bernie Sanders has worked to make life better for ALL working people.
And Sanders has always been skeptical of the value of military action in resolving conflict.
While I value many of Warren's ideas, I deeply believe that only Sanders has the courage and vision to stand against the "Washington consensus" and the military industrial complex.
Kamala Harris is nothing more than vacuous "demographic allure", and with political expediency instead of conviction.
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@Will
I'm voting for Warren this time out if I have a chance, but am also a strong Sanders supporter and continue to send him small donations.
To address your "she used to be a republican" swipe that I suspect will come up again and again, Warren came to her liberal views honestly -- not by political whim or seeing which way the winds blow.
She grew up in conservative Oklahoma but, as I understand it, started doing academic research on bankruptcy and soon discovered how the political and economic systems were rigged against working people.
She was soon advocating on behalf of workers, the working poor and the middle class, long before she entered politics. Indeed, it was her advocacy that got her selected by Obama to help serve consumers.
She entered politics because Obama thought she was too liberal to get selected to head the agency she helped establish and, as I understand it, she wanted to have a voice in the debate. That's a trajectory I admire and would never hold against her.
11