Senator Kamala Harris, who was once seen as a top tier contender for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, dropped out of the race on Tuesday.
"I've taken stock and looked at this from every angle, and over the last few days have come to one of the hardest decisions of my life," the California senator wrote in a note to supporters. "My campaign for president simply doesn't have the financial resources we need to continue."
Harris spent the early days of her campaign as a promising candidate, rising as high as second place in the Real Clear Politics poll average in July, but has struggled with finances as well as reports of staff disorganization and infighting, according to the New York Times.
By November, she was polling in the low single digits and laid off her New Hampshire field team to increase her focus on Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses on February 3.
Though she had shifted focus to the Hawkeye State, she lacked the cash to run TV ads in Iowa, a state in which Harris had not run an ad in three months. Only recently, support for a super PAC made up of former aides to pay for advertising began to gain traction within the campaign.
Harris was one of seven candidates who had already qualified for the sixth debate, which will be held in her home state of California, before today's announcement.
The senator had started her campaign in front of a crowd of20,000 in Oakland, according to her campaign, and said she is withdrawing "with deep regret — but also with deep gratitude."
As the partial government shutdown enters its sixth week, it's up to moderates on both sides of the aisle to compromise on a solution to reopen the government, even if it means giving President Trump a partial victory on border funds, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) told Cheddar. "Let me be clear, I'm willing to support more border security," the Virginia Democrat told Cheddar's J.D. Durkin on Wednesday. "But we ought to do it without these lives being held in hostage. Let's get the government open, even if it's for a few weeks, to let us negotiate."
It was an urgent warning from a group of professionals not known for a proclivity to scare the public. "In our risk averse industry, we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break. It is unprecedented," the statement read in part. It was issued jointly on Wednesday, from the unions representing America's air-traffic controllers, pilots, and flight attendants.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019.
He's known as the "Trump of the Tropics." Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro, may grab headlines for his far-right, populist rhetoric and positions ー he's staunchly anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-affirmative action, and anti-drug decriminalization ーbut he differs from President Trump in one major respect, which is currently on display at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Now that Kamala Harris, a freshman Sen. and recent entrant to national politics, has joined the already-crowded 2020 race for president, spectators are eager for clues about her ability to maneuver a high-stakes election. But Sen. Harris has minimal experience on the national stage ー so her track record in California as an Attorney General will be essential evidence to Democratic voters. "Her list of legislative accomplishments is rather thin," said Joe Garofoli, senior political writer at the San Francisco Chronicle.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday Jan. 23, 2019.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2019.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
As the government shutdown enters a historic 28th day, one group has emerged as one of the hardest hit by the political conflict: the often-maligned face of airport security, Transportation Security Administration officers. “It’s unfortunate that it had to take something like this for people to respect what we do, but it is what it is right now, unfortunately,” Frank Del Valle told Cheddar.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, Jan. 18, 2019.
