Kamala Harris’s Withdrawal Shows That Winnowing Works
She apparently decided it’s better to leave gracefully now than to risk embarrassment next year.
Better luck next time.
Photographer: Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images
If a few candidates entering late raised the possibility that winnowing wasn’t working properly in the Democratic presidential contest, the end of Kamala Harris’s campaign on Tuesday shows that the pressure to end losing campaigns is, if anything, stronger than ever.
Harris is the first candidate to quit despite having considerable support from Democratic Party actors. She is also the first to quit without being nudged out by failing to qualify for debates. She wasn’t even without some financial resources; she had canceled a big fundraiser in New York scheduled for Monday night, and was about to receive support from a new super PAC. Yet she apparently decided it was better to leave gracefully now rather than risk being an asterisk in the Iowa caucuses on Feb. 3, 2020.