Harris campaign leaders blame abbreviated campaign and headwinds for loss

A brief campaign born in a political firestorm weeks before the party’s national convention. A political press that held Kamala Harris to a higher standard than Donald Trump. A hurricane that “f**ked up” two weeks of campaigning.

A brief campaign born in a political firestorm weeks before the party’s national convention. A political press that held Kamala Harris to a higher standard than Donald Trump. A hurricane that “f**ked up” two weeks of campaigning. The leaders of Harris’ presidential campaign in an interview released Tuesday defended their decisions and blamed a variety of external factors for the Democrat’s defeat three weeks ago. “There was a price to be paid for the short campaign,” said David Plouffe, a senior adviser to Harris, who became the Democratic presidential nominee over the summer after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Three weeks after the election, Plouffe and three other Harris advisers spoke out for the first time on the liberal podcast, “Pod Save America.” They said a 107-day campaign did not give Harris time to distinguish herself from Biden and craft a message that could warm up a cold political climate for Democrats. Harris’ top aides did not reveal any notable regrets and suggested that, with more time, the vice president might have fared better. “In a 107-day race, it was difficult to do what we had to do,” said Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, the campaign chair, who pushed back against critics’ claims that they spent too much time attacking Trump and warning voters about what his second term might bring, and not enough making a positive case for Harris. “This idea that people have a well-constructed, already baked-in idea about Trump and don’t need to learn anymore,” Dillon said, “it’s a complete fallacy.”