Sen. Kamala Harris, whose campaign cut staff in last month’s drastic overhaul, is now polling at just 3%, tying her to Michael Bloomberg for fifth place among the presidential nominees of the Democratic Party — according to a poll released Friday — even though Bloomberg has not even officially announced his candidacy for 2020.
And now Harris could face another problem: a second report Friday identified internal strife at Harris ‘ Baltimore campaign headquarters, with several helpers calling for the resignation of campaign manager Juan Rodriguez after his decision to lay off field staff in several states at the end of October and dedicating Harris ‘ already diminishing campaign war chest to a seven-figure television ad campaign before the Fe campaign.
In a poll conducted by Reuters / Ipsos on Nov. 12-14, Harris and Bloomberg were blocked. Although not yet a declared candidate, Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City and multimillionaire business and media mogul, launched a massive $100 million digital ad campaign for President Trump on Friday.
In an October 30 campaign memo from Fox News, Rodriguez said several dozen employees would be laid off at the Baltimore headquarters of the campaign — as would volunteers in New Hampshire, Nevada, and California — in an attempt to go “all – in” in Iowa. He also said the campaign was aimed at dedicating $1 million in the weeks leading up to the Feb. 3 caucus to a media campaign, a sum now deemed unlikely given the meager support from Harris.
Three additional staff members have been laid off and another quit at Harris ‘ campaign headquarters in Baltimore in recent days, unnamed aides said Friday to Politico. They said that several helpers approached campaign chair Maya Harris, the sister of the nominee, to pressure Rodriguez to step down, arguing that his poor leadership was responsible for the recent problems of the campaign.
But others praised Rodriguez, claiming that even before she first announced her candidacy in January, he was loyal to Harris. She pointed Maya Harris ‘ fingers, who shared responsibility for leadership with Rodriguez.
“He had all the burden with none of the authority from the start of this race. He’s running this race with at least one, if not two, hands tied behind his back,” said Rodriguez’s senior campaign official. “He was never going to undermine her. He’s not the guy.
The Politico report cited 12 individuals who spoke on condition of anonymity, either current or former campaign staffers or donors.
In the meantime, Harris crossed the country in an attempt to rescue support. Her campaign struggled to regain traction after an initial stand-out moment in the race during the first June Democratic debate when she challenged Biden, a front runner, about remarks he made about U.S. senators segregationist and school busing. After Biden and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, challenged her record as the attorney general of California, Harris fought in the second debate. In subsequent debates, she struggled to shine.
