A staffer for Democratic Senator Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign has blasted her strategy and organization in a scathing resignation letter, calling out campaign leadership for abuse of staff and bungling the California Senator’s campaign.
Kelly Mehlenbacher, a state operations manager, resigned from the campaign earlier this month, and her letter blasting the campaign’s strategy surfaced on Friday.
Mehlenbacher said that she had “never seen an organisation treat its staff so poorly … I no longer have confidence in our campaign or its leadership. The treatment of our staff over the last two weeks was the final straw.”
The bulk of campaign staff had apparently been moved from Washington, D.C, to Baltimore, Maryland.
Disillusioned campaign workers such as Mehlenbacher have taken objection to senior leadership. Harris’ sister Maya has apparently exerted control over the candidate, and campaign manager Juan Rodriguez is also blasted in Mehlenbacher’s letter.
Once considered a frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, Harris’ campaign has floundered as she’s been surpassed by other Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg.
Harris also was devastated from an exchange with anti-war Democrat Tulsi Gabbard in July. Gabbard took Harris to task for her track record in imprisoning casual drug users as a California prosecutor. Campaign insiders have pointed to the moment as a point of failure for the candidate.
Harris has lacked an ability to articulate clear policies and chart a direction for her campaign. She’s been outpaced on health care policy by progressive Democrats such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and lacks a signature political issue to market herself to voters with.
The formerly vaunted California Senator will likely drop out within a matter of months, as fundraising dries up in the first quarter of the New Year. If anything, her departure from the race could swing a few meager percentage points of support to other Democrats such as Joe Biden.