Former President Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist David Axelrod said on Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris is wise not to campaign on becoming the first black female president of the U.S.
Voters have suggested Harris’ race and gender are part of the vice president’s appeal as a presidential candidate. However, Axelrod on “CNN News Central” said Harris is taking the right tact by focusing on her qualifications rather than her identity. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Biden News Prompts Prominent Republicans At RNC To Wargame The Kamala Scenario)
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David Axelrod Says Kamala Harris ‘Smart Not To’ Run On Being ‘First Black Woman President’ pic.twitter.com/AcSRHOUvPJ
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“I heard my really dear friend, and she is, Congresswoman [Jan] Schakowsky, leaning into ‘I’m so excited. This is a historic thing. A black woman’ and so on. You don’t hear Kamala Harris saying that, and she’s smart not to,” Axelrod said. “She’s not running to be the first black woman president. She’s running to be president of the United States, and she thinks she’s the best qualified and the most representative of this country as a whole, and that’s how she should run.”
“And that’s how people should talk about her. You know, the fact is her supporters should talk about why she’s the strongest candidate, not that she’s a historic candidate,” he added. “Everybody can see that, but that’s not enough to bring the voters who they need to come along.”
Media pundits and some Democrats have characterized criticism of Harris as racist and sexist, particularly in response to Republican Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett calling her a “DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] vice president.” Fox News anchor Lawrence Jones warned Republicans on Wednesday to criticize Harris’ policy rather than her race and sex because it could “tick voters off.”
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten on Wednesday said Harris is not regaining the young voters that President Joe Biden has lost to former President Donald Trump.
“So I want to take a look at Trump versus Democratic margin. Just remind folks where we were at the end of the 2020 campaign. Joe Biden won voters under the age of 35 by 21 points,” Enten told host John Berman. “What do we see with Kamala Harris? Well, she’s still ahead, but the margin here is significantly less than what we saw with Joe Biden back in 2020. She’s up by just nine points.”
“You may make the argument that was better than Biden was doing before he got out, but compared to that Democratic baseline, where Democrats have historically in presidential elections, at least this century, been carrying that young vote by 20 or more percentage points, she is way down from that,” he added.
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