Analysis: To Kamala Harris, black voters’ views on 'electability' are being shaped by the pundits
By Eugene Scott Eugene Scott Reporter covering identity politics for The Fix Email Bio Follow May 7 at 7:00 AM The conversation about electability — who is and who is not viewed as capable of unseating President Trump — is a daily one among liberal voters. Voters and pundits alike often debate whether a candidate who is popular with the base can win enough moderate Democrats to defeat Trump.
Harris’s message was clear to the largely black audience at the event: Stop believing the pundits’ take on who can win — and instead get behind the candidates you align with personally. While Harris is popular with many among the left — especially for her takedowns of Trump surrogates during Senate hearings — according to the most recent Quinnipiac survey, only 2 percent of voters think she can beat Trump. The number is the same when controlled for voters of color.
“P.R. and buzz go along way,” she said. “Folks are busy. People don’t have time to get into the devil of the details every single conversation. And the truth is folks hear buzz about a person or a thing and then that elevates that candidate for them. If we hear the media talking points are ‘Biden this’ and ‘Bernie that,' then certainly the people who are getting the buzz are the ones we’re going to assume are the most viable.
“We underestimate how deeply embedded racism and patriarchy is in America and particularly in the political discourse. So, regardless of how progressive-leaning we are on policy, we see over and over again that we think of political leadership in this very narrow context of white males. . . . Consciously and unconsciously we go back to that default position.”
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