WaPo: Who's rising, who's falling and who's invisible

Who’s rising, who’s falling and who’s invisible

By Jennifer Rubin

The first round of Democratic debates on Wednesday and Thursday provides an opportunity for candidates to reintroduce — or in many cases, introduce — themselves to the Democratic electorate. Each candidate will have different goals, depending on his or her recent performance.

The one candidate with momentum, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), has the benefit of appearing with very congenial contenders unlikely to attack her (e.g. Beto O’Rourke, Sen. Amy Klobuchar). Without another top-tier contender on the stage, Warren can dominate the debate, outshining the rest in a low-stress environment. Her biggest challenge is to explain how her panoply of policy plans is financially and politically feasible. What if her proposed wealth tax doesn’t bring in enough money? What if all Republicans and a few conservative Democrats shoot down her domestic agenda?...

Finally, there is a woman with her own category: Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.). She had arguably the best kickoff of any candidate and possesses raw political talent second to none. Nevertheless, she has not broken into the top tier. Too cautious? Lacking specificity? No one has exactly put his or her finger on the issue, but Harris took it up a notch this weekend with excellent performances at the Friday fish fry hosted by Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), at her speech and then MSNBC interview at the South Carolina Democratic Party convention and then at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund forum. She was fiery. (“I know how to take on predators. I took on the big banks and won over 20 billion dollars, I took on for-profit colleges and put them out of business, I took on oil companies who were polluting our environment, I took on transnational criminal organizations who were praying on women and children. I know how to get that job done. ... So, let me tell you, we need somebody on our stage when it comes time for the general election who knows how to recognize a rap sheet when they see it and prosecute the case, so let’s read that rap sheet, shall we?”) She was inspirational. She was empathetic and personally revealing. She was herself. If she can do that in the debates — the only woman in the block of four center-stage contenders that night — she can shake up the race.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/06/24/rising-fallen-invisible-candidates/?utm_term=.820912893944