I vowed to eschew commenting on the horse race for the Democratic presidential nomination. But I feel obliged to make an exception for this:
Struggling to raise money and to find a strong foothold in the crowded Democratic primary field, Sen. Kamala Harris on Tuesday dropped out of the presidential race, a dramatic fall for a contender who earlier this year appeared headed to top-tier status in the nomination battle. …
‘I’m not a billionaire … I can’t fund my own campaign. And as the campaign has gone on, it’s become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete.’
(U.S. News & World Report, December 3, 2019)
The title says it all, but here in part is what I wrote in “Biden-Harris 2020: That’s the Ticket!” January 14, 2019:
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Joe Biden is easily the most qualified American to be president of the United States. Moreover, to recover from this Trump presidency, we will need to inaugurate a president with the experience and character to restore competence to and respect for the office of the leader of the free world. …
I hasten to note that, but for [Trump’s] nightmare presidency, I would have picked Kamala Harris to head a ticket. [Because] she is even more accomplished and appealing than Barack Obama was when he launched his presidential campaign.
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That said, you’re probably wondering about all the hype surrounding Stacey Abrams. Well, as Joe Biden showed with respect to getting the VP nod from Barack Obama, you gotta be in it to get it.
It took a humiliating fifth-place finish in the Iowa Caucus on January 3, 2008, for Biden to cry uncle. Arguably, by getting out before suffering similar humiliation, Harris makes herself an even more attractive VP choice to Biden (or whoever becomes the nominee) than he was to Obama.
Interestingly enough, Biden was the first of the remaining candidates to congratulate Harris on her (failed) campaign. Perhaps this was telegraphing his intent. Or perhaps he was just trolling her for that infamous cheap shot she took at his record on “busing.” She turned it into a fundraising meme, remember:
That little girl was me.
But, evidently, it didn’t raise enough funds to keep her in the race.
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