By Mark Angelides
In the wake of her elevation to the top spot on the Democrat ticket, buoyed by a DNC lovefest and a winning debate performance, Kamala Harris appeared to have the presidency within her grasp. The much-touted “Kamalamentum” was in full swing, and she could do no wrong – although much of this perceived sure-footedness resulted from her failing to engage the press in a meaningful manner. But after former President Barack Obama left the stage in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, October 10, a palpable sense of deflation diffused the electoral landscape. Has Kamalamentum reached its apogee? And is there anywhere to go but down?
CNN’s Wolf Blitzer encapsulated the stalling campaign of Kamala Harris in a brief but damning denouement on Thursday. He said:
“I’m hearing this from top Republicans and top Democrats, that Harris seems to have stalled out a bit in the last couple of weeks. You know, she had a great rollout, great convention, very successful debate, but she seemed to have plateaued. One top Republican said two weeks ago, I would’ve said that she was a slight favorite. He said today I’d say Trump is a slight favorite.”
His sentiment here was echoed by colleague Chris Wallace (formerly of Fox News), who said, prior to Obama’s PA stump efforts, that Harris’ campaign had “plateaued,” and he suggested that heavy hitters were needed to shore up falling support. “Barack Obama is probably the most popular democrat in the country,” he said. “I think you see him, he’s gonna be in Pittsburgh tonight you’ll see him in a lot of urban areas, obviously, trying to help Kamala Harris with a weakness she has with younger below 50 black men.”
And he was 100% correct that Obama made that pitch.
One of Joe Biden’s most abiding gaffes in the 2020 campaign was to insist that “If you have a problem figuring out........