Over the past couple of months, it has been all bad news for the 2020 presidential campaign of Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA). Things have apparently just gotten worse.
Harris is being forced to lay off a significant number campaign employees because of a shortage of funds, according to a Politico report
Empty coffers
The Harris campaign is currently going through a massive overhaul. Of course, such an outcome seems all but inevitable when $14.6 million is spent at the same time that only $11.8 million is raised, as was the case with the Harris campaign during the third quarter of the year.
With that $2.8 million spending gap, a notable number of campaign employees are being laid off, with others being redeployed to the locations where the Harris campaign will literally go for broke, such as the key primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and California.
For those who have managed to hold on to their jobs for the time being, salaries are being slashed. This includes Harris’ campaign manager Juan Rodriguez, who was previously being paid $10,000 per month.
Campaign consultants are also among those reportedly subject to Harris’ cost-cutting measures, which are likely to include renegotiation of contracts in order to reduce general overhead expenses.
Only herself to blame?
For anyone who has been keeping a close eye on the Harris campaign in recent months, the fact that she now has to lay off staff will come as no surprise. In addition to the $2.8 third quarter spending gap, the campaign still has outstanding debts of roughly $900,000 accumulated during previous quarters.
In politics, one would think that the lack of money can only mean one thing: a lack of support. But, one donor, quoted in the Politico article, seemed to imply that the problem actually has more to do with laziness, or perhaps even incompetence, on the part of Harris.
“She’s from ******* California,” the donor said. “The idea that you don’t have the support of high-dollar donors doesn’t make any sense. I blame her.”
Confronting the inevitable
While there may be serious questions about why Harris has not done particularly well with “high-dollar donors,” polls have also clearly demonstrated that Harris’ support among everyday voters has also been on the decline.
Among Democratic candidates, Harris currently sits in fifth place with 8% of the vote, according to a KQED survey. As such, she trails Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) at 28% and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) at 24%, former Vice President Joe Biden at 19%, and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 9% support.
All signs point to the obvious. It won’t be long before the Harris campaign will have no choice but to close up shop.
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