A look at two of the lower tier Democratic Presidential nomination contestants….
Tulsi Gabbard’s slashing debate performance is giving her presidential campaign a badly-needed pulse — and stoking a flurry of speculation about what her end game is.
Gabbard delivered a piercing, if inaccurate, appraisal of Kamala Harris’ law enforcement record — then turned it into a misleading, yet effective, online ad push. Adding to the intrigue, she had a hushed sideline conversation with Joe Biden — with whom she seems to have little in common politically — after the debate.
It’s all triggered a parlor game back in Hawaii, where the four-term congresswoman is at risk of losing a primary for her House seat as she’s stuck at 1 percent in the crowded race for the Democratic presidential nomination. Among the theories: That she’s angling for vice president or a Cabinet post; that she’s weighing a third-party run; or, perhaps, that she’s looking to land a contract as a TV talking head while plotting her next move.
“People are concerned that even if she drops out of the [presidential] race and runs for her seat again, the second something else comes up she’ll abandon it and abandon us again. In other words, that her run for president is the precursor to her run for whatever,” said former Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who is backing her primary challenger — and isn’t the only one wondering what Gabbard’s objective is.
He added, “People think she’s going to get a media job, that CNN or MSNBC of Fox will want her to become a commentator.”….
Image…NYPost
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The entrepreneur and former tech executive Andrew Yang became the ninth Democratic presidential candidate to qualify for the next debates after a new poll of Iowa voters released Thursday showed him earning 2 percent support.
Mr. Yang had already met the Democratic National Committee’s other debate-qualification threshold by having drawn donations from more than 130,000 people. The new poll of likely Democratic caucusgoers in Iowa, conducted by Monmouth University, was the fourth qualifying poll to show him with 2 percent support….
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Mr. Yang’s debate performance last week appeared to give his campaign a fund-raising boost. A campaign spokesman said that in the four days after he debated, he raised more than $1 million from about 38,000 people, the vast majority of them new donors. By comparison, the Yang campaign raised $2.8 million over the three months ending June 30.
“The country heard my message and is ready to talk about real solutions to gun violence, the new realities of the American economy, and how we measure our health and success as a nation,” Mr. Yang said in a statement on Thursday. “I’m excited to have those conversations in Houston and throughout the 2020 election.”…
image….The Hill
RRH….
Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D) will be taking two weeks off the campaign trail of her long-shot Presidential campaign, as she has been called up for National Guard duty. Gabbard will take part in a training exercise in Indonesia….
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