Campaign Status Check

Kamala Harris, California’s attorney general keynotes the UCLA Law Review Symposium: "Examining the Roots of Human Trafficking and Exploitation," at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Harris has ... Kamala Harris, California’s attorney general keynotes the UCLA Law Review Symposium: "Examining the Roots of Human Trafficking and Exploitation," at the UCLA campus in Los Angeles Friday, Jan. 30, 2015. Harris has announced her candidacy for U.S. Sen Barbara Boxer,’s open seat. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) MORE LESS
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I’m struck by the velocity and activity around and from Kamala Harris’s campaign. This is not a pro- or con- analysis. I genuinely have no favorite in any of this. Part of this is just the frequency of media attention, reports from campaign trips. That of course can simply be circular, media attention. But if you notice, over recent days Harris has received the endorsements of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), Dolores Huerta and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). The new governor of the biggest state in the union speaks for itself. The other two endorsements are in their own way more significant. In fact, considerably more.

Lee is one of the most important progressive leaders in the House. Huerta is a legendary labor organizer, cofounder of the United Farm Workers. True, endorsements don’t usually count for much. But these, I think, give Harris a great deal of credibility against attacks on her for being a fraudulent progressive, which is at least supposedly her main vulnerability.

Obviously, these are elected officials from Harris’s state. But I think we’re pretty far past the point where elected officials from a given state automatically come out for a presidential candidate from their state, especially when it is a state as big as California. It all suggests a deep level of politicking and preparation.

I don’t know what others are seeing. But watching from some distance, it seems as though Harris’s campaign is running at two or three times the speed of the other candidates.

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