Monday, July 30, 2018

Sen. Kamala Harris' book deal prompts talk about 2020

Sen. Kamala Harris got national attention with her aggressive questioning of AG Jeff Sessions.

ANALYSIS


CALIFORNIA Sen. Kamala Harris is set to release a new book about her life and her solutions for the country.

The California Democrat's book, titled "The Truths We Hold: An American Journey," is scheduled to be published by Penguin Press on January 9, 2019,

If you will recall, Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and Presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Mitt Romney released books about the same time before they launched their runs at the U.S. Presidency.


The Indian American senator has moved from two years ago when she denied any presidential aspirations, to jiu-jitsu-like deflections a year ago in saying she was too busy learning the ropes in the Senate, to two months ago when she said that the possibility of presidential run hasn't been ruled out.

There are better known Democrats that might run for president in 2020: Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and former Vice President Joe Biden for starters. Harris, formerly California's Attorney General, is not as well known outside of her home state, but she has an appeal that may be broader than the others. 

The first-term senator from California has surged into a tie with Sen. Bernie Sanders(I-Vt.) as the betting favorite among potential Democratic candidates to win the 2020 presidential election.

Betting site Oddshark lists Donald Trump as the runaway favorite to win in 2020, with betting odds of +140. However, Harris and Sanders each hold the second-best odds at +1,200, as of Aug. 7.

Oddschecker, a site that averages odds across different betting platforms, gives Harris the best odds to win the Democratic nomination, followed by Biden, who has emerged as the favored candidate among Democrats in a number of recent polls.

Another key sign that she might be a serious contender for the presidency is that her candor and her obvious contempt for Donald Trump has drawn the attention of the White House tweeters, conservative media outlets like the Fox News network, Brietbart News and the Washington Times are featuring more articles critical of Harris, and GOP-funded conservative researchers and think-tanks are beginning their search for dirt.

“America Rising PAC, which at the time of its founding five years ago focused exclusively on researching, tracking and deploying rapid-response against Hillary Clinton, is well into a beneath-the-radar effort to define — and ultimately derail — the Democrats preparing to take on President Donald Trump in 2020. The oppo-research carpet-bombing has commenced against Sens. Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren, among others. ... " wrote Politico's Christopher Cadelago in his article titled "Inside the mission to blow up the 2020 Democratic field."

As a cautionary warning to Democrats, Cadelago says the groups are also pursuing a strategy intended to pit Democrats against each other. The rise of so-called Democratic Socialists within the Democratic party probably has the GOP rubbing their hands in glee. They have already branding the Democratic ideological split as the  “#RaceToTheLeft.”

“They are sitting back and building up their ammunition stockpile,” said Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist who is not involved in this current effort to dig up dirt against Harris. He adds that Rising has proven to be among the best at “exploiting a candidate’s weaknesses.”

In listing her presidential attributes in mainstream media, they usually start out something like, "she's young, female and black." even though his father is from Jamaica. For some reason MSM always forget that she's half-Asian American (Her mother was an immigrant from India.) or that her mother brought her and her sister to India frequently.

Her atypical upbringing hasn't turned off any of her black supporters in the way Barack  Obama's Hawaii and Indonesian upbringing created an initial suspicion among African Americans as he set the foundation for his eventual presidential campaign.

Harris wouldn't even be the first Asian American to declare a run for the presidency. That honor goes to entrepreneur Andrew Yang, a long shot for sure, but he has some interesting ideas that might garner wide appeal.

Her rousing performance at the Netroots Nation gathering in New Orleans earlier this month had the progressive wing of the Democrats buzzing despite the presence of other presidential hopefuls Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker.

If she chooses to be a candidate, Harris could be a formidable opponent. In the two years since she's been a senator, some observers say she has taken the strategic steps to raise her profile nationally:
  • She has adopted Bernie Sanders' healthcare plank, "medicare for all," pleasing the legions of devout Bernie supporters; 
  • raised tons of money for other lesser known Democratic candidates across the country, building up a wad of political IOUs which she can call upon; 
  • during this primary season, her endorsement has been sought across the nation; 
  • as the daughter of immigrants, she has taken head-on Trump's immigration policies from the Muslim ban to family reunification and she's not afraid to call the policies for what they are -- racist; 
  • her background as a prosecutor makes her almost immune from the law-&-order types who attack candidates with lesser credentials as soft on crime; and 
  • she comes from a deep-blue state that has the most electoral votes (55) and has battled Washington on a host of fronts, including the environment, immigration, and healthcare.
Sen. Kamala Harris often gets the rock-star reception among voters.

In addition, since the day after Trump won, she has been relentless in developing an online presence and following.
Harris has insisted she is focused on the 2018 midterm elections, raising $3 million for Democratic senators up for reelection this year.

But that same digital infrastructure can be used for fundraising which allows her to forgo  contributions from corporations and special interests, the traditional source of campaign financing. She has built up a small-donor base

Perhaps, Harris' most attractive attribute might be her ability to talk like a moderate on issues popular with traditional politicians such as law-and-order, foreign policy and the economy, but also she has the ability to inspire like an idealistic socialist when she talks about civil rights, equality and justice. 

She might be able to bridge the ideological divide raging within the Democratic Party between those moderates who want to win back the white voters who defected to Trump to voters of color and #MeToo voters who abhor the Republican agenda on right to choose, race relations, immigration and trickle-down tax plan and the far left margin, tired of the same ol', same ol', which includes the rabid Bernie supporters who still feel they were cheated out of the 2016 Democratic nomination.

Harris might not be a official presidential candidate yet, but everything she's doing sure makes her look like one, act like one and talk like one.

UPDATED: May 9 to include oddsmaker results.
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