Did Harris’ debate showing win her California’s primary?
One of the biggest losers in the Democratic debates was probably the California primary. Sen. Kamala Harris’ breakthrough performance may have made it a non-contest.
The real losers may be California’s Democratic voters. If it weren’t for Harris’ strong debate showing, many of the 19 other candidates may have waged vigorous campaigns here. California voters would’ve been courted, crucial state issues addressed and promises made.
But now her rivals may be scared out of her home state.
California offers the most convention delegates — 495. At stake in the March 3 primary will be 416 — 21% of what’s needed to win the nomination.
But March 3 is Super Tuesday. There’ll be Democratic contests in many other states as well, offering more than twice California’s delegates — nearly half needed to be nominated at the July convention in Milwaukee. The nomination may be practically wrapped up that day.
And running in California is costly and tricky. There’s a history of candidates skipping California, even when it held early primaries aimed at making the state a national player. In 2008, Hillary Clinton fought Barack Obama here and won, keeping her campaign alive for a while. But she went broke in California.
It would be a tremendous coup for Harris if she could capture most of California’s delegates without spending lots of money and time here. Only three days before our contest will be the potentially pivotal South Carolina primary, in which Harris, who’s black, hopes to reap votes among African Americans.
Before that, she must focus on three key states: Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada.
Where she finishes in those four states will shape how California voters view her March 3. They’ll want to side with someone who can beat President Trump.
Harris drew 20,000 people to a kickoff in her hometown, Oakland. Then she stalled. But Harris showed again in the debate that she’s capable of starring on a big stage. She risked alienating Joe Biden’s supporters and appearing too negative by attacking the respected former vice president on the volatile issue of race.
“I do not believe you are a racist,” Harris told Biden. Then she attacked him for his recent recollections of working with segregationist senators early in his career, and for his opposition to busing for school integration.
Biden accused Harris of “a mischaracterization of my position across the board.”
“I did not oppose busing in America,” he said. “What I opposed is busing ordered by the Department of Education.”
Harris said that as a little girl she was bused to help integrate Berkeley schools.
“Because your City Council made that decision,” Biden said. “It was a local decision.”
Wrong answer. It was local governments that segregated Southern schools, imposing Jim Crow laws for generations until the federal government stepped in and forced integration in the 1960s.
Busing was very unpopular in California. It wasn’t the busing of black students to their local schools that really upset white parents. It was the hourlong busing of their children away from their neighborhoods. In 1979, Californians voted overwhelmingly to ban mandatory busing.
It’s way too early to predict election winners. There’ll be five more debates, the next one July 30. There are lots more holes to step in, including for Harris.
But it’s a good guess that Harris won the California primary in the first debate. Voters would be better off with a spirited contest March 3.