On Black Friday, the New York Times ran its political obituary of the 2020 Kamala Harris primary campaign and talking heads across he cable news channels have been continuously running with the story ever since.
A closer examination of the timing of this NYTimes reporting raises pertinent questions.
Follow The Calendar
On Friday, November 29, 2020, the New York Times published: How Kamala Harris’s Campaign Unraveled.
Readers are not required to purchase a subscription to read this article. They don’t even have to sign up for the limited-access “free” account to consume the hit piece.
Written by no less than three men, the article bases its campaign death notice on a leaked resignation letter written and signed by Kelly Mehlenbacher, the former State Operations Director for the Kamala Harris campaign.
The article also includes a link to a PDF of the Mehlenbacher letter which opens with the following statement:
“It is with a heavy heart that I submit my resignation as State Operations Director at Kamala Harris for the People, effective November 30, 2019.”
For the Kamala Harris Campaign, the letter goes downhill from there with comments like: “I no longer have confidence in our campaign or its leadership …. Morale has never been lower ….”
And, ironically: “… it certainly does not help the team to read about campaign discord in Politico (or various other publications) ….”
Yet, all three of the article’s writers failed to disclose what was reported on Wednesday, November 27, 2020, by Politico, two days before:
“Kelly Mehlenbacher, who worked on operations for Kamala Harris’ presidential bid and recently informed colleagues of her plans to resign over frustrations with the organization, has accepted a job with Michael Bloomberg, sources said Wednesday.”
Later on the same Wednesday, Associated Press confirms the Politico report with a statement from the Bloomberg campaign:
“Michael Bloomberg has hired a top staff member from a rival Democratic campaign for his nascent presidential bid.
His campaign spokespeople said Wednesday that Kelly Mehlenbacher has joined as deputy chief operating officer. … The hire was first reported by Politico.”
Let’s recap in date order:
- On Wednesday, Politico reports Mehlenbacher has accepted a job with the Bloomberg campaign and the Associated Press confirms the hire with Bloomberg spokespeople.
- Two days later, on Friday, the NYTimes publishes Mehlenbacher’s leaked resignation letter.
- Mehlenbacher’s letter states her resignation is effective as of Saturday, the day after the NYTimes publishes her letter.
Are we to believe …
The writers of NYTimes article — along with all of the cable talking heads citing the piece and their research staff — were completely unaware of two reports published two days prior, confirming Mehlenbacher was hired by the Bloomberg campaign?
Are we to believe …
Someone other than Kelly Mehlenbacher and/or her new boss, Mike Bloomberg, leaked her resignation letter to the NYTimes after she started working for Bloomberg?
Are we to believe …
It’s pure coincidence that Mehlenbacher became a paid Bloomberg staffer three days (or likely more) before her resignation from the Harris campaign was effective, as per her letter?
OR …
Is it possible this was a strategic move by Mike Bloomberg to push a “Kamala is done” narrative into the holiday weekend by leaking his new employee’s resignation letter condemning the Harris campaign?
Of course it’s possible. It’s likely probable.
Keep in mind — as the founder and majority owner of the international Bloomberg News Agency, Mike Bloomberg can easily utilize back channels in the news media to “leak” the Mehlenbacher resignation letter to writers at the NYTimes.
By now you may be thinking, “But why would Bloomberg want to tank the Harris campaign?
If Kamala Harris does better than expected in South Carolina picking up momentum into Super Tuesday, she may be able to attract a wide number of Democratic voter segments, much like President Obama did in 2008:
- White women and women of color.
- Latinix/Hispanic voters (Harris secured a fourth endorsement from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus on November 22).
- Unions (Harris recently secured the United Farm Workers Union endorsement).
- Plus Democratic voters who are not firmly in the ideological center or left yet somewhere in between.
All of which would make Harris a potential speed bump for Bloomberg as he attempts to buy his way into the top four to five contenders on Super Tuesday.
Add to this, it’s entirely possible (probable), when interviewing with her new boss, Kelly Mehlenbacher shared internal polling from the Harris campaign leading Bloomberg to believe he has to pick off Harris, first, before Super Tuesday.
And that’s why the “leaked resignation letter” piece in the NYTimes appears two days after Bloomberg admits he has hired Mehlenbacher .
Think about it — would Bloomberg poach Mehlenbacher from the Harris campaign and not ask her for inside information about her former employer?
Of course he asked her. And when you follow the calendar, this is not a farfetched take on what’s happened since Wednesday.
Is Bloomberg Buying The Primary?
It looks that way according to CNBC:
The former New York City mayor entered the presidential race with a splash on Sunday, spending more than $30 million on ads that will air from Nov. 25 through Dec. 3, the most any candidate has ever spent in a single week, according to Advertising Analytics, a firm that tracks election ad buys.
A CNBC analysis of data provided by Advertising Analytics found that Bloomberg has put $13.2 million of those dollars to work on television ads across the 14 Super Tuesday states. That sum is more than any other candidate’s total spend for the primary so far, and is nearly as much as the rest of the field combined.
Bloomberg’s spending spree is separate from a $100 million digital ad buy where he intends to focus solely on attacking President Donald Trump.
Bloomberg, along with his $50-billion-plus piggy bank, can easily and methodically pick off his Democratic opponents in various ways by buying the airwaves and using his press connections to plant stories that bulldoze other contenders out of his way.
This week it was Kamala Harris — who will be next?
A Few Words About Stop & Frisk
We all know that police officers across the nation profile PoC.
However, with Stop & Frisk, Mayor Bloomberg encouraged NYPD to profile PoC.
At its height, over 600,000 people were stopped, the vast majority were Black and Hispanic men.
Worse, Bloomberg continued to defend Stop & Frisk for years despite proof of its disproportionate impact on communities of color.
In 2013, federal court Judge Shira Scheindlin issued an opinion and order ruling that NYPD’s Stop & Frisk practices violated the 4th amendment and the 14th amendment of the US Constitution.
***
Sources:
NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/29/us/politics/kamala-harris-2020.html
Resignation Letter PDF: https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/6541-mehlenbacher-harris-resignation-letter/f0475e62906e5d2056f8/optimized/full.pdf#page=1
Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/27/kamala-harris-aide-bloomberg-campaign-074243
Associated Press: https://apnews.com/edc5efb0b1304877970ea2eb61b9388e
CNBC: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/27/bloomberg-crushes-2020-competition-with-super-tuesday-ad-blitz.html
Judge Shira Scheindlin ruling: s3.documentcloud.org/...