Kamala Harris fires her campaign team amid fund crunch, Tulsi emerges stronger

Kamala Harris the Democratic nominee for president has fired many of her campaign staff amid reports of ranking lower than two other contestants, indicating a desperate bid to cut down cost and still remain in the fray for the US Presidential elections.

However, she is not the only candidate facing a cash crunch with more staffers but but these layoffs are not a good sign for someone polling among the top five, said experts. She has raised $11.8 million last quarter but ended up spending $14.5 million.

The USA Today/Suffolk poll predicted Harris at 3 percent with assured vote by Democrats in their primaries. Another Indian American Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii), who called out Harris’s criminal justice record, now surpassed her standing at 4 percent.

It means, if Gabbard wins one more poll, she may be among the speakers vying for nomination at the November’s Democratic debate. Moreover, Gabbard is halfway through the polling threshold for December, which Harris hasn’t qualified for still.

Joe Biden is on top among the Democratic nominees at 26 percent, followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren (17 percent), Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (13 percent), and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg (10 percent).

Harris had remained a top contender for the 2020 Democratic nomination since her July 2018 when she announced that she would publish a memoir, another sign of a possible run. In January, she officially announced her candidacy for President of the United States in the 2020 United States presidential election.

Within 24 hours, she matched the record set by Bernie Sanders in 2016 for the most donations raised in the day following announcement. More than 20,000 people attended her formal campaign launch event in her hometown of Oakland, California and her support rose by between 6–9 points in polls following the first Democratic presidential debate.

However, in the second debate, Harris was confronted by Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard over her record as Attorney General, notably her past positions on marijuana, cash bail, and parole reform. The current cash crunch may further fuel to her woes in the electioneering.