As Sen. Kamala Harris’s 2020 campaign continues to take a nosedive, people close to her say the campaign only has itself to blame.
“It’s a campaign of id,” a senior Harris official told Politico, who spoke to over a dozen people close to the campaign, on Friday. The official said the campaign has a leadership structure that is run by “what feels right, what impulse you have right now, what emotion, what frustration.” The campaign has “No discipline. No plan. No strategy,” they added.
This comes as Harris has dipped into the low- and mid-single digits in national polling. She is polling even worse in Iowa, where she has gone “all-in” over the past month.
Staff blamed the fact that Harris’ campaign manager, Juan Rodriguez, is required to ask Harris’ sister, Maya Harris, for approval regarding basic decisions.
“From the outset of this race, he has had all the responsibility with none of the authority. He’s been managing this race with at least one, if not two, hands tied behind his back,” a senior campaign official said about Rodriguez.
“The whole campaign has been a bunch of people sitting around a table giving opinions and then not backing them up when it comes down to it,” another aide said. “The apparatus wasted her talent more than she blew it.”
In a statement, Rodriguez sidestepped the campaign’s ongoing troubles and said he and Harris’ sister are “pouring our heart and soul into winning this campaign.”
Despite the troubles, aides say they still have “loyalty and love” for Harris.
“People are still very much invested in her. It’s the directionlessness of the campaign that frustrates them,” an aide said.
