A little more than a week after she both-sidesed the government shutdown, Tulsi Gabbard appears to be circling the drain like leftover Spam and poi.
According to Politico, her campaign manager, Rania Batrice, and her consulting firm, Revolution Messaging, are both getting ready to fly the coop, and Gabbard’s sister is preparing to take the reins.
Meanwhile, the congresswoman is under fire back home after picking a fight with Sen. Mazie Hirono, and a prominent Democratic state lawmaker is already challenging Gabbard in next year’s congressional primary. That means she faces the possibility of losing the presidential race and her House seat as well.
Of course, progressives know that Gabbard is not a real liberal, which is why Daily Kos is endorsing her primary House opponent, Hawaii state Sen. Kai Kahele.
Politico reported that three people familiar with Gabbard’s presidential ambitions said she was initially indecisive about running, having come close to announcing her run more than once before retreating. And when she did finally pull the trigger, her staffers were left flat-footed:
When Gabbard did finally announce that she would make a 2020 run, her team was blindsided. "I have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement within the next week," she told CNN on a Friday night in a pre-taped interview for “The Van Jones Show.”
The Gabbard campaign website was not fully set to go live. Social media posts weren’t ready to be sent out. And Gabbard hadn’t signed off on the launch video.
The surprise announcement left Gabbard's aides working frantically on a Friday night to get everything up online.
Anything can happen, but if you have Tulsi Gabbard in your presidential primary death pool, you appear to be in pretty good shape.