Politico: Kamala Harris Is Reaching Out to Democrat Leaders About a Bid for California Governor But "No One Is Incredibly Pumped"

Well I am. I bet most of you guys are too.

I want to hear more about what can be (jazz hand high left) unburdened by what has been (jazz hand low right).

But we're not the people Politico is talking about.

They're talking about Democrat donors not wanting to give her their money.

Kamala Harris is ramping up her outreach to longtime supporters as she weighs a run for California governor. But many Democratic donors aren't enthusiastic, still hobbled by the hangover of her presidential loss.

Some party funders have privately shared that ambivalence with each other as Harris has embarked on a quiet schedule of thank you visits, catch-up calls and listening sessions, touching base with her most trusted supporters as she weighs her options. The former vice president has tasked aides with exploring several paths, including not just a campaign for political office but also a philanthropic venture.

Let me translate: What she really wants is to create a donation-sucking grift machine like Hillary Clinton did which will provide her with a salary, a floor of offices, a hired car and multiple drivers, and the illusion of prestige and influence.

But if she can't have that, her back-up plan is running for governor and maybe losing. And worse, maybe winning.

In other words: this is a threat. Set me up with a Clinton Foundation style grift, or I'll run for office, and I just might win and finish killing off the dying state.

In interviews, several major donors in the state told POLITICO they fear her reemergence as a candidate would re-open still-fresh wounds from her defeat in 2024. Some harbor lingering frustration about how her billion-dollar campaign juggernaut ended in debt and want assurances she would have a clear plan to win the governor's mansion. Others are impatient for Harris to start publicly making her case for why she'd want the job.

"There was more enthusiasm at first," said Mather Martin, a San Francisco-based fundraiser who has worked for past Harris campaigns. "I think it waned a bit."

One California Democrat who contributed six-figures to her presidential bid said a Harris candidacy would only serve as a reminder of how "traumatizing" the last election was.

"Kamala just reminds you we are in this complete shit storm. With Biden, we got bamboozled ... I think she did the best she could in that situation, but obviously she knew about the cognitive decline too," the donor said. "I've written so many checks because I knew the Trump administration would be horrible, but we're living in a nightmare because of the Democrats. I'm furious at them, truly."

Close Harris allies acknowledge the sting of Harris' failed White House bid has not fully dissipated among the donor class...

While still considering all her options, including running for president again, Harris' focus has been skewed toward a 2026 gubernatorial bid, since that is the most immediate decision to be made, according to a person close to her. The former vice president, who can be painstakingly deliberative, has been steadily collecting input and opinions from her allies to weigh the pros and cons of seeking her home state's top gig.

As Mark Halperin always says, Kamala Harris simply does not like making decisions. And here she is again, unsure of what she should do. Instead of deciding for herself, she's asking other people to choose for her.

He pointed out that Democrat donors are going to be even less inclined to donate to her due to her unable to decide if she even wants to be governor. It shows she lacks "fire in the belly" for the position.

...

Donors "realize it's just going to bring up the whole pathetic last presidential, which no one wants to hear about again. And then it's the whole 'Did you know Joe Biden?' thing," said one Southern California fundraiser who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive conversations. "She still would probably lead, but honestly, no one is incredibly pumped."

Harris has yet to weigh in on the topic which has roiled her party, even as Antonio Villaraigosa, a fellow Democrat who is running for governor, has accused her of being complicit in a cover-up. Even some of her supporters are antsy for her to address the issue head-on, believing she'll have to swiftly dispense with that question before she can make a positive case for her candidacy.

Others in the finance world say that so long as Harris plays coy about her plans, she's giving little for would-be supporters to rally around.

"It's very fair to say there's not an overwhelming clamor" for her candidacy, said Scott Drexel, a Bay Area-based donor adviser who works with individuals, labor groups and businesses. "It's very hard for there to be one if it's not 100 percent clear if she really wants to do it."

So she is weighing three possibilities: Running for governor, which she plainly does not want to do, running for president which maybe she wants to do but it's silly, or her real preference, starting a Clinton-like "foundation" to grift money and get paid a high salary and granted expensive billionaire-class perks (like a 24-hour a day chauffeur) while pretending to administer what is claimed to be a "charity."

She won't get that, either. Hillary Clinton was able to get her grift funded because donors were paying for her to be a candidate-in-waiting. The Clinton Foundation was a grift to make sure all of Hillary's top people had jobs so they'd stay with her rather than defecting to other Democrats.

Kamala Harris is not going to be supported by donors to be a candidate-in-waiting.

Polling shows that Kamala Harris is in second place in the race to be the Democrat presidential nominee.

First place goes to... Pete Bootyjudge.

Not only has Kamala Kollapsed in the latest poll of 2028 Democrat contenders, no one's excited about her potential run for California governor.

And now we come to the poll... A poll that must have Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio going full bro with the high fives...

Failed former transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg: 16 percent

Failed 2024 presidential contender Kamala Harris: 13 percent

Failed Gov. Gavin Newsom: 12 percent

Too Jewish-for-Antisemitic-Democrat-Party Gov. Josh Shapiro: 7 percent
Alexandria Ocasio-Crazy: 7 percent

Sanders also gets 5%.

That leaves 35 percent undecided.

So is Buttigieg the front-runner? The political "top," if you will?

Well, check out his big hole that needs filling:

Dylan Housman @Dylan_Housman

Black voters are simply not going to go for a gay white dude for president in large numbers but I suspect nobody in the Democratic Party will have the stones to observe this out loud

posted by Ace at 03:19 PM

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