Axios: Tensions within Harris’ campaign team
According to Axios website, the campaign of US Vice President Kamala Harris is witnessing internal tensions between the different factions that make up her team, despite the positive appearances that appear on the surface.
Some have described Harris’s team as a “Frankenstein team,” a group of Harris loyalists and Obama administration alumni working together on a complex, rushed campaign.
These tensions pose a major challenge to the campaign as the election approaches, with some team members concerned about the campaign’s cohesion in the face of potential challenges, according to six people familiar with the campaign who spoke to Axios.
While President Joe Biden’s campaign was limited and centered around a small group of experienced aides making the big decisions, Harris’s campaign appears more complex and comprised of multiple competing power centers.
Although most of the Biden team members remained in their positions within the Harris campaign, the main architect of Biden’s campaign strategy, Mike Donilon, left the campaign and returned to the White House, creating a gap in leadership and direction.
In addition to the lack of clarity in roles and responsibilities between members of Harris’s team and Biden’s team, this gap has led to some internal confusion about who bears primary responsibility.
The friction between the different factions within the campaign is not new.
Some members of Biden’s team have reported that senior Obama aides have long questioned their decisions and are considered part of the effort that pushed Biden toward ending his electoral career, which has further complicated the internal situation of the campaign.
With just 68 days to go until the election, campaigners hope the tight timetable will ease tensions and the team will get through this delicate phase.
Although Harris’ campaign appears incoherent in some respects, the belief in the possibility of winning may be the force that holds this diverse team together until the end.
