]In the past couple of weeks, the Democratic Party establishment has made clear who they have chosen to run in 2020: Kamala Harris. After 2 high profile meetings with Hillary Clinton’s biggest donors in ’08 and ’16, the senator is signaling a 2020 presidential bid.
Harris has only been in office for a little over 200 days, but she has been on the political and law enforcement stage for virtually her entire life. She is a freshman senator from the state of California. Before becoming senator, she served as San Fransisco’s District Attorney and as Attorney General for California. Harris, unlike many, lacks an extensive voting record that can be used against or for her.
The progressive wing of the Democratic Party is quite frankly sick and tired of Harris. If the senator wants to win the primary in three year’s time she’ll have to prove that she is a true progressive who will have a grassroots campaign or she risks alienating the base of the Democratic Party.
Nomiki Konst who is a Sanders supporter and serves on the Democratic National Committee’s unity commission said three simple words: “follow the money.”
“The Democrats will not win until they address income inequality, no matter how they dress up their next candidate,” Konst said. “If that candidate is in bed with Wall Street, you may as well lay a tombstone out for the Democratic Party now. Voters are smart; they can follow the money.”
Konst’s skepticism represents a common belief within progressive Democrats. The base of the party will not accept another candidate who has ties to Wall Street and does not fully commit to a populist economic agenda.
Another Sander’s supporter and executive director of National Nurses United RoseAnn DeMoro brushed aside Kamala Harris’s future as a progressive 2020 contender and going so far as to say “She’s not on our radar.”
While Harris does not have an extensive voting record there are many other indicators that she is not a “true progressive”. Harris is praised as a fearless opponent to Trump and his cabinet, but just a few years ago, she declined to prosecute Steve Mnuchin and his bank who illegally foreclosed on thousands of Californians including single mothers, the elderly, and the poor. Harris declined to prosecute even after receiving a strong recommendation from her own lawyers and investigators. To top it all off, Harris was the only 2016 Democratic Senate Candidate who received a campaign contribution from Mnuchin.
Many members of the Democratic establishment have begun to employ a tactic they used against Bernie Sanders that eventually lost Hillary Clinton the election: shaming voters. Essence Contributor Michael Arceneaux responding to DeMoro’s comments about where progressives live, stated, “When it comes to where progressives live, uh, which ones is she referring to? The white ones?” He is alluding to the common misconception that Sanders supporters are all a bunch of white men. Former Press Secretary for Clinton’s 2016 campaign Brian Fallon tweeted out the following:
If you are attacking Harris right now, the problem is you, not her.https://t.co/maMuXur2ce
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 31, 2017
This tactic will not work and if the Democrats continue to employ it they will lose the election and guarantee Donald Trump a second term. Shaming voters is not a remotely logical strategy because candidates and their surrogates should be taking responsibility for their shortcoming. Senator Kamala Harris or her staff have not personally delivered any of these attacks and I commend her for that. But it is imperative that she not get into bed with Wall Street. Whether she claims money won’t influence her or not it is clear that money is very influential whether a candidate knows or not.
If Senator Kamala Harris continues down the path she is currently on, she will alienate voters and emulate Hillary Clinton. If Harris wants to be the next President of the United States, she needs to quash concerns about her record and what she will do in the future.
As of right now, it does not look like Kamala Harris is the right choice for 2020.
