David Axelrod, former President Barack Obama's chief campaign strategist, said Wednesday that it would be wise for Vice President Kamala Harris not to campaign to become the first Black woman president of the United States.
Voters have suggested that Harris' race and gender are part of her VP appeal as a presidential candidate, but CNN News Central's Axelrod said Harris is on the right strategy by focusing on her qualities rather than her identity. (Related: Exclusive: Biden news prompts leading Republicans at RNC to simulate Kamala scenario)
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David Axelrod says he would be wise not to run because Kamala Harris would be the first black woman president pic.twitter.com/AcSRHOUvPJ
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) July 24, 2024
“I've heard Congresswoman Schakowsky, who's a really close friend of mine, say things like, 'I'm so excited. This is historic. A Black woman.' I've never heard Kamala Harris say that, and she's wise not to,” Axelrod said. “She's not trying to be the first Black woman president. She's trying to be president of the United States, and she believes she is the best qualified person to do it, and she believes she best represents this country as a whole. And that's how she should run.”
“And that's how people should be talking about her. In fact, her supporters should be talking about why she's the strongest candidate ever, not that she's a historic candidate,” he added. “Everybody gets that, but that's not enough to attract the voters they should be supporting.”
Media pundits and some Democrats have characterized the criticism of Harris as racist and sexist, particularly when Republican Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett called her a “DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] Fox News host Lawrence Jones on Wednesday warned Republicans to criticize Harris' policies rather than her race or gender because that “could anger voters.”
CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said Wednesday that Harris is failing to win back young voters that President Joe Biden lost to former President Donald Trump.
“So let's look at the margin between Trump and the Democrats. Remember where we were at the end of the 2020 campaign? Joe Biden won voters under 35 by 21 points,” Enten told host John Berman. “What about Kamala Harris? She's still leading, but her margin here is significantly smaller than it was for Joe Biden in 2020. She's only trailing by nine points.”
“One could argue that Biden is doing better than she did before she dropped out of the race, but her approval rating is much lower compared to the Democratic Party's benchmark, which has seen Democrats win at least 20 percent of the young vote in presidential elections for at least this century,” he added.
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