Kamala Harris' presidential campaign is reportedly rife with “internal concerns about cohesion” as loyalists to the vice president and former staffers from former President Barack Obama come together to form a “sometimes unwieldy” team working on what was until recently President Biden's reelection campaign.
While Mike Donilon, the architect of Biden's campaign messaging, has returned to the White House, Harris has retained most of Biden's other campaign staff, Axios reported, citing six people who worked on the campaign. Harris has also tapped her own staff and prominent aides from former President Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign, creating a “Frankenstein” team with competing power centers.
That's in contrast to Biden's insular campaign team. Harris's efforts to avoid alienating Biden's staff have led to confusion about who will be in charge, the Post reported. “There's not a lot of tension at the top, but more questions of, 'Who is the vice president's equal?'” one person told Axios.
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Vice President Kamala Harris and running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, on the final day of the Democratic National Convention. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“The web of all these different groups has left a lot of people feeling like there's a lack of clarity about roles,” another person involved in the campaign told Axios, noting that there's even more confusion “two or three levels down.”
The Biden campaign parted ways with prominent election lawyer Marc Elias last year over strategy, but Harris brought Elias, a close friend of Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder, back to help pick his running mate and is now focused on the Democratic Party's recount strategy.
The short schedule, with just 68 days until Election Day, likely prevented any major tensions from developing, the report said.
Kamala Harris and running mate Tim Walz disembark from the campaign bus in Savannah on Aug. 28, 2024, during a two-day campaign bus tour across Georgia. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
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“It's just a mad dash,” one person told Axios. “There are occasional clashes, but there's no ill will.”
Some Biden campaign staffers told Axios they believed Obama administration officials had regretted their actions for months, some of whom were involved in efforts to remove Biden from the election.
Some in the Biden camp believe Harris' performance against former President Trump in the June debates makes her more electable than the president and have welcomed the “burst of enthusiasm,” but others are frustrated that she now has to defend her past progressive positions on Medicare for All and a ban on fracking. Her positions on those issues, along with those of other Democrats, helped partially secure Biden the nomination in 2020.
Kamala Harris greets guests at Sandfly Barbecue restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, on August 28, 2024. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Axios noted that instead of changing the makeup of the Biden campaign, the vice president has shifted his messaging from Biden's emphasis on “democracy” to Harris' new push for “freedom” and “the future.”
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Harris' campaign for comment.
