In the latest (final?) blow to Kamala Harris’ failing campaign, her top aide has just resigned.
Not only that, but the aide, Kelly Mehlenbacher, dished on all the dirt going on underneath the surface of the campaign in a cutting resignation letter.
“This is my third presidential campaign and I have never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly,” said Mehlenbacher, explaining that the tumultous campaign was ridden with lay-offs, lack of organization, and poor treatment of employees.
The full letter can be read here.
Reportedly, Mehlenbacher left the Harris campaign to work for Michael Bloomberg.
The New York Times has more on the details:
In early November, a few days after Senator Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign announced widespread layoffs and an intensified focus on Iowa, her senior aides gathered for a staff meeting at their Baltimore headquarters and pelted the campaign manager, Juan Rodriguez, with questions.
What exactly was Ms. Harris’s new strategy? How much money and manpower could they put into Iowa? What would their presence be like in other early voting states?
Mr. Rodriguez offered general, tentative answers that didn’t satisfy the room, according to two campaign officials directly familiar with the conversation. Some Harris aides sitting at the table could barely suppress their fury about what they saw as the undoing of a once-promising campaign. Their feelings were reflected days later by Kelly Mehlenbacher, the state operations director, in a blistering resignation letter obtained by The Times.
“This is my third presidential campaign and I have never seen an organization treat its staff so poorly,” Ms. Mehlenbacher wrote, assailing Mr. Rodriguez and Ms. Harris’s sister, Maya, the campaign chairwoman, for laying off aides with no notice. “With less than 90 days until Iowa we still do not have a real plan to win.”
The 2020 Democratic field has been defined by its turbulence, with some contenders rising, others dropping out and two more jumping in just this month. Yet there is only one candidate who rocketed to the top tier and then plummeted in early state polls to the low single digits: Ms. Harris.
Market Watch also said:
Michael Bloomberg has hired a top staff member from a rival Democratic campaign for his nascent presidential bid.
His campaign representatives said Wednesday that Kelly Mehlenbacher has joined as deputy chief operating officer. She had been working for California Sen. Kamala Harris’s 2020 presidential campaign. She previously worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid.
The Harris campaign did not respond to an emailed question about Mehlenbacher’s departure. It follows a recent staff shakeup that included layoffs amid a renewed focus on Iowa.
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