Kamala Harris is in trouble and she has not even been in the vice president’s mansion for a year.
And because of a tidal wave of press that described working for her and her chief of staff, Tina Flournoy, a group of powerful Democrat women met at a home in the Capitol to discuss how to defend her, Axios reported.
It’s telling that so early in the Biden-Harris administration, such powerful operatives felt compelled to try to right the vice president’s ship.
Her guests included Harris confidant Minyon Moore; two former DNC officials, Donna Brazile and Leah Daughtry; Biden adviser and leader of his outside group, Stephanie Cutter; former Hillary Clinton spokeswomen and Democratic strategists Adrienne Elrod and Karen Finney; and former Obama White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri.
But surprisingly neither Harris nor anyone from her staff was present for the meeting.
“The point of it was how can this group be supportive from the outside,” a person who was familiar with the event said.
“It was less about how do you sort out the infrastructure [of Harris’ operation], and it was more how can this group contribute to make sure that not only is her team making the most of this moment — as the first woman of color in the White House — but how can we help from the outside?” said.
The group wanted to decide if they could use her record as a former Senator and California attorney general to protect her from criticism as vice president and her abysmal answers on what took her so long to visit the border.
And, of course, they believed that some of the coverage of Harris was sexist and they wanted to discuss how to “make sure the press knows this.”
“Many of us lived through the Clinton campaign, and want to help curb some of the gendered dynamics in press coverage that impacted HRC,” the person said. “It was like: ‘We’ve seen this before.’ It’s subtle. But when things aren’t going well for a male politician, we ask very different questions, and they’re not held to account the way a woman leader is.”
When in doubt play the woman card, and if that does not work play the woman of color card.
As Axios said, “2024 is the elephant in the room” as many people do not believe that Joe Biden, who will be 82 in 2024, will not campaign for another term.
The report in July described an office that was a nightmare for workers who had to deal with Harris and her chief of staff.
Two top staffers, Karly Satkowiak and Gabrielle DeFranceschi, quit their positions of Harris’ staff in what officials say were long planned.
DeFranceschi, the deputy director of advance, quitting the job was because of a “difference in opinion on how things should run,” a person who said they have knowledge of the situation said.
“If you have an opinion about how things should run and it’s not listened to, that can be frustrating,” the person said.
And someone who worked with Flourney when she was former President Bill Clinton’ chief of staff after his presidency said that the power can intoxicated her.
“People who Clinton knew for decades all of a sudden couldn’t get through to him because Tina choked off contact,” the person who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. “Because Clinton didn’t use email”—he only used his BlackBerry to communicate with family, close friends and a handful of aides—”she was able to keep many FOBs [friends of Bill] out.”
The person said that Flourney is doing the same in keeping others away from Harris.
“She’s been in public life for 30 years. F—. You don’t just all of a sudden go radio silent,” another aide said.
“She is the most perceptive person on the planet,” they said. “She might not have first-hand knowledge, but it’s hard to imagine she doesn’t have a sense of what’s going on.”
Yikes!!!
And because of a tidal wave of press that described working for her and her chief of staff, Tina Flournoy, a group of powerful Democrat women met at a home in the Capitol to discuss how to defend her, Axios reported.
It’s telling that so early in the Biden-Harris administration, such powerful operatives felt compelled to try to right the vice president’s ship.
Her guests included Harris confidant Minyon Moore; two former DNC officials, Donna Brazile and Leah Daughtry; Biden adviser and leader of his outside group, Stephanie Cutter; former Hillary Clinton spokeswomen and Democratic strategists Adrienne Elrod and Karen Finney; and former Obama White House communications director Jennifer Palmieri.
But surprisingly neither Harris nor anyone from her staff was present for the meeting.
“The point of it was how can this group be supportive from the outside,” a person who was familiar with the event said.
“It was less about how do you sort out the infrastructure [of Harris’ operation], and it was more how can this group contribute to make sure that not only is her team making the most of this moment — as the first woman of color in the White House — but how can we help from the outside?” said.
The group wanted to decide if they could use her record as a former Senator and California attorney general to protect her from criticism as vice president and her abysmal answers on what took her so long to visit the border.
And, of course, they believed that some of the coverage of Harris was sexist and they wanted to discuss how to “make sure the press knows this.”
“Many of us lived through the Clinton campaign, and want to help curb some of the gendered dynamics in press coverage that impacted HRC,” the person said. “It was like: ‘We’ve seen this before.’ It’s subtle. But when things aren’t going well for a male politician, we ask very different questions, and they’re not held to account the way a woman leader is.”
When in doubt play the woman card, and if that does not work play the woman of color card.
As Axios said, “2024 is the elephant in the room” as many people do not believe that Joe Biden, who will be 82 in 2024, will not campaign for another term.
The report in July described an office that was a nightmare for workers who had to deal with Harris and her chief of staff.
Two top staffers, Karly Satkowiak and Gabrielle DeFranceschi, quit their positions of Harris’ staff in what officials say were long planned.
DeFranceschi, the deputy director of advance, quitting the job was because of a “difference in opinion on how things should run,” a person who said they have knowledge of the situation said.
“If you have an opinion about how things should run and it’s not listened to, that can be frustrating,” the person said.
And someone who worked with Flourney when she was former President Bill Clinton’ chief of staff after his presidency said that the power can intoxicated her.
“People who Clinton knew for decades all of a sudden couldn’t get through to him because Tina choked off contact,” the person who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. “Because Clinton didn’t use email”—he only used his BlackBerry to communicate with family, close friends and a handful of aides—”she was able to keep many FOBs [friends of Bill] out.”
The person said that Flourney is doing the same in keeping others away from Harris.
“She’s been in public life for 30 years. F—. You don’t just all of a sudden go radio silent,” another aide said.
“She is the most perceptive person on the planet,” they said. “She might not have first-hand knowledge, but it’s hard to imagine she doesn’t have a sense of what’s going on.”
Yikes!!!
