Senator Kamala Harris has had a quick start compared to her Democrat colleagues who have entered the 2020 presidential race, The Hill reported, citing party strategists and experts who are closely following the polls.
Senator Harris has fallen behind Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as ex-VP Joe Biden in a number of polls, but has advanced well ahead of Democratic candidates Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Harris has not been on the national stage nearly as long. She was elected to the Senate in 2016 in a campaign that first brought her to national attention.
Democrats attribute her strong standing to a relatively seamless launch last month.
They say Harris largely beat her competitors to the punch in announcing a full-blown presidential campaign and capitalizing on the momentum which followed.
“There’s always been this motto, ‘You have one day to launch and you have to get it right’, and Kamala crushed it,” said Robert Wolf, a prominent Democratic donor. “It’s the day that you have all the media buzz, the grass-roots excitement and to tell your story. That is the one day all eyes are on you and she hit out of the ballpark.”
Maria Cardona, a Democratic strategist, added: “She differentiates herself with her impeccable timing.”
“The others, unfair as it might seem, look like followers and like they are saying to themselves, ‘Oh, I better get in now before she gets all the attention’,” Cardona said. “It doesn’t mean that the others had bad launches, but it just means that she still stands out.”
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