Democrats forced Joe Biden out of the election in July because they were convinced that he was going to lose. Today, just over a week before the election, Democrats are privately admitting that Kamala Harris is headed for the same fate.
I wouldn't count my chickens before they hatch, of course, but we've been seeing signs of Kamala's campaign's collapse for weeks. We don't know if the polls are spot-on this year or underestimating Trump's support like they have in the past, but Trump's position in the polls in 2024 is far stronger than it was in 2020 or 2016.
According to a recent report from Axios, a growing number of top Democrats are privately expressing doubts about Harris’s chances, even though polls technically suggest the race could go either way. Despite the party’s tendency for pessimism, insiders are notably concerned that Harris’s efforts aren’t swaying voters, despite a $1 billion campaign to boost her image and discredit Trump. Meanwhile, Trump and allied committees raised about $92 million from Oct. 1 to Oct. 16, roughly half of what Democrats spent in the past three months.
“We’re not saying Harris is losing or will lose,” writes Axios, but the report “reflects scores of conversations with people close to Harris and intimately involved in swing-state races, including officials inside her campaign and top Biden administration officials.” The tone has shifted from early optimism to a far more somber assessment of her chances against Donald Trump.
A key frustration among top Democrats is Harris’s struggle to resonate with voters on a personal level. As one strategist remarked, “She is who she is … Let’s hope it’s enough.”
Good luck with that.
Democrats have been comparing Trump to Hitler for years, but in the last few weeks we've seen a significant increase in the Trump-is-a-fascist/Hitler rhetoric, with many in the media and even in the Harris-Walz campaign suggesting that just by having a rally at Madison Square Garden, Trump was emulating Nazis.
Related: Worst. Nazi. Rally. Ever.
The problem with this strategy is that we’re now eight days from the election, and the voters have long made up their minds about Trump while Kamala has yet to make the case for herself. Axios argues that Harris has been an effective “prosecutor” against Trump but “struggles as a public defender” when it comes to making her own case.
Another key sign for Kamala is that “Democrats are already starting to point fingers at who'd be more responsible for a Harris loss.” Some will blame Joe Biden for “dragging his feet,” and others point the blame at Kamala.
Of course, some of the bedwetting from Democrats includes complaining that people are holding Trump and Kamala to different standards. Which is a hilarious complaint coming from Democrats.
The bad signs for Kamala are all over.
Zoom in: Democrats once felt very good about Nevada, a state Biden won in 2020. But early voting has them panicked. Jon Ralston, the top Nevada election expert, writes that the surge in early rural Republican voting — a "rural tsunami" — is ominous for Harris: "There is no good news in these numbers for Dems."
• Pennsylvania continues to worry Harris, despite Biden winning there in 2020. Among the seven swing states, it's the one campaign insiders think she absolutely has to win, with signs of GOP momentum in the state's Senate race.
And of course, the report finished with the racism and sexism card.
"We can't ignore the reality that no matter what Harris says or does, this country has never elected a woman president and only once elected a Black president," Axios reported. "It's never elected a Black woman. Toss in broad concerns about immigration and inflation, and it's a lot to overcome, her advisers say."
Join the conversation as a VIP Member