It has widely been speculated that Senator Kamala Harris would be making a run for the presidency in 2020. Sources now indicate that Harris, a popular figure among the Democratic Party base, is planning a campaign announcement set for January 19, which is, by no coincidence, Martin Luther King Day.
CBS News offers confirmation of the source and more details on Harris’ plans:
She’ll announce her candidacy on or around Martin Luther King Day, probably at a campaign rally in Oakland, the sources said.
Harris, 54, has been making the rounds of television talk shows and appearing at several events this week as part of a brief tour to promote her new book, “The Truths We Hold: An American Journey.”
At every stop, when asked about running for president, Harris has answered with some variation of “I’m not ready yet” to announce her decision and cited family considerations.
Even though Harris has alluded to a 2020 presidential campaign in interviews to promote her new memoir, aides said before the book rollout began that no formal announcement about her political future is expected before the first wave of the book tour concludes later this month.
But several sources with knowledge of her plans said she has in fact decided to run, with the enthusiastic blessing of her husband and two stepchildren.
Harris has been hinting at running for a while now, and with others already jumping in the pool, it’s time to get this show on the road and start locking up donors and proving that she’s serious about it. Harris made a name for herself in the Senate since first being elected there in 2016. It hasn’t taken long for Democratic voters to warm to her approach and she already has somewhat of a cult following.
The hurdle Harris has to overcome right now is that she’s been sliding as of late in early primary polls. I know, they’re early, but once you get locked in at a “lower tier,” it can be hard to dig out. Perhaps things will be different a month from now when we have a large handful of candidates that have actually announced which will instantly move them up the list.
If all goes as planned, per the source to CBS News, the announcement will come from Oakland, where Harris was born. There had been fear among her campaign, according to the report, that the Senator could be portrayed as being too tied to California politics. However, the choice has been made to embrace the state and embrace her upbringing and use that to tell her story to a national audience.
Progressive Lane
Harris will have competition for the progressive lane with Elizabeth Warren making moves and others like Beto O’Rourke currently stewing on the possibility. Harris would run to the left of someone like Joe Biden and hasn’t shied away from touting her progressive credentials.
Just last September Harris took the lead among Democrats in walking out of the vote on Justice Brett Kavanaugh from the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings over claims of his alleged sexual abuse.
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