Former Democratic National Committee (DNC) official Alex Hoffman said during a Tuesday podcast that he did not find anybody at the DNC’s Winter Meeting on Saturday who believes Vice President Kamala Harris should run for president again in 2028.
Harris spoke virtually at the meeting and received a “rousing applause,” as noted by Puck News reporter Tara Palmeri on her podcast “Somebody’s Gotta Win.”
When she asked Hoffman if the reaction to her speech indicates that Democrats view her as “as the leader of the party and the presumptive frontrunner for 2028,” the former DNC official dismissed that idea, saying the applause was likely due to the makeup of the audience and her status of being the party’s most recent nominee.
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“I think it was definitely that there was a lot of activists and volunteers who were in the audience, and she was our Democratic nominee, and everybody just kind of clapped and was like, ‘Yay, good for her,’” Hoffman said. “I would say that of the people who were actually in the room, whether they’re the DNC members or the operatives or the donors that were there, I don’t think there’s a single one of them who was saying that Kamala Harris is the leader of the party, nor should she run again. I mean, I don’t think I found a single person who thought that was a good idea for us. Myself included, I don’t think that’s a good idea in any way, shape, or form.”
“And also, I think if this election was any kind of indicator about anything about the party, it’s that we’re kind of ready to just move on, go to the next thing. I mean, as much as Ken Martin and some of the other officers that are on the slate are the ‘next thing,’ it’s still moving on. If she wants to run, more power to her,” Hoffman said. “But, I mean, just to remind everyone, in 2020, she didn’t even make it to Iowa. So, just because you were the nominee in 100 days and did whatever they did, doesn’t make you the frontrunner. Doesn’t mean you’re going to win a primary.”
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The DNC elected Ken Martin as their new chair at the meeting, according to the NYT. He has served as the chair of Minnesota’s Democratic Party and campaigned for DNC chair in part on expanding the Democratic Party’s attractiveness to working-class Americans.
Harris aides and allies were split on whether Harris should seek the governorship of California in 2026 or aim for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, with the decision hinging on their evaluation of her odds at securing the nomination, CNN reported in December.
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Political analyst Mark Halperin said in December that Harris would face an uphill battle if she ran for either political office.
“I find it hard to believe that she could build support. The stories — it’s just, it’s so disappointing to see our colleagues, just as they did during the four years of the Biden administration, failing to cover the truth right before our eyes,” Halperin said. “Is her poor performance the only reason she didn’t win? No, but it’s right up there. I think both [former President] Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have escaped a lot of the blame that falls to them, and that’s not just my view, but the view of a lot of Democrats — donors and members of Congress, etc.”
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.