“All the to-ing and fro-ing she did about health care and other issues confused people,” he said. “What folks in our world was looking for was a steadying of her narrative around a central theme — and she can still do that.”
In a memo to the staff Wednesday, Ms. Harris’s campaign manager, Juan Rodriguez, said the campaign needed to “reduce expenditures” to keep up with top rivals. He outlined several steps the campaign was taking, including pay cuts for top campaign staff members — Mr. Rodriguez said he would be among them — and letting go aides in its Baltimore office.
Mr. Rodriguez also wrote that the field staff from New Hampshire, Nevada and California would be redeployed to Iowa in the coming weeks. The campaign’s operation in South Carolina will remain “at full force,” Mr. Rodriguez said, as Ms. Harris seeks to position herself as the alternative to Mr. Biden for moderate black voters in South Carolina, who make up a majority of the Democratic electorate.
“These decisions are difficult but will ensure the campaign is positioned to execute a robust Iowa ground game and a minimum seven-figure paid media campaign in the weeks leading up to the caucus,” Mr. Rodriguez said.
He began the memo with a note of optimism. “Plenty of winning primary campaigns, like John Kerry’s in 2004 and John McCain’s in 2008, have had to make tough choices on their way to the nomination, and this is no different,” he wrote.
But Ms. Harris’s problems are twofold: remaining financially viable, and overcoming the perception among voters that she is not delivering a clear message.
Last Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California headlined a major fund-raiser for her in Los Angeles, with co-chairs that included Hollywood heavyweights like J.J. Abrams, Donna Langley and Brian Weinstein. On Monday, she was back in New York for another event, with a second fund-raiser scheduled in the city a week later.