Why Gillibrand is crushed and burned

On Tuesday night, Kirsten Gillibrand reunited her family and campaign manager, Jess Fassler, at her home in Troy, New York, for a confrontation with reality.

The New York senator had barely registered in the polls all year, when he had lost $ 10 million. This meant that she was about to withdraw from future debates of the Democratic National Committee. If she did not reach at least 2% of the vote in both polls Wednesday, Gillibrand could not continue in the race, they decided.

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In August, Gillibrand went to great lengths to stay on the scene, spending $ 1.5 million on television and digital advertising, sifting through the early states and touring cable news. But the big spending plan gave a unique survey of 2%. His campaign account, which was once powerful, dropped to about $ 800,000, according to a familiar assistant of the total.

The polls released Wednesday, the deadline to qualify for the next debate, did not help. Gillibrand therefore filmed a stall video that morning and relayed the news to her staff at headquarters in the middle of the afternoon.

"It's important to know when it's not your time," Gillibrand said in a hastily filmed video.

At one point, Gillibrand appeared on paper as a legitimate, if not formidable, candidate for the presidency – a candidate with flaws, but also the strengths of a perfect election record and a distinct feminist message. which once seemed like a convincing counter-power to Donald Trump's presidency. . But Gillibrand, pursued by fierce critics for pushing for the former Sen. The resignation of Al Franken has never fled.

This is a cautionary tale for the remaining candidates who have trouble competing against the four or five leaders in the field.

"Gillibrand has been drowned by the high-end, just as the rest of the remaining candidates who are not in the top five are drowned," said Patti Solis Doyle, a Democratic strategist who led Hillary Clinton. 2008 Presidential Race. "It's a sign for everyone that they're probably not going to burst either."

One person familiar with the Gillibrand campaign, who was granted anonymity to speak frankly, compared the 2020 Democratic primary to the equally overcrowded 2016 Republican primary. "The wheel kept spinning. Everyone had a moment, "said the person, citing the cycles of prosperity and bursting of media attention and polls that saw Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson impregnate them with Sun.

"But this race, for some reason, the wheel did not turn," continued the person.

The only exception is Pete Buttigieg, who burst onto the national scene with a series of viral moments earlier this year and led the pack in the second quarter fundraiser. But so far, he's the only underdog to have this chance, as renowned governors, senators, mayors and congressmen languished almost to zero in national polls in 2019. In recent weeks , Washington governor Jay Inslee, former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper and representatives Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) and Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) have dropped out of school.

Gillibrand, who championed women and families, relied on a series of restrictive anti-abortion laws in Republican states, which made it a rallying cry. But that still has not attracted attention: Gillibrand held a public meeting to draw attention to this new anti-abortion law in Missouri at the end of August, but no national news organization 'is present.

"She could never have enough oxygen. None of the candidates, other than a few, really can, "said Jeff Link, an Iowa-based Democratic consultant not affiliated with the primary school. "She's just never seen – a real look – anyone outside of the people she's personally met. But the qualifications of the DNC limited the time that each of these candidates could do. "

The challenges of Gillibrand were not limited to stand out in an overcrowded area. From the beginning, he was often asked about his political transformation, passing from a conservative member of the Northern New York State House to a resolutely liberal Senator. She has been repeatedly urged to be the first Democratic senator to call for the resignation of Minnesota Senator Al Franken. Gillibrand defended the move, noting that eight women accused Franken of sexual misconduct, but acknowledged: "If some Democratic donors are angry because I supported eight women, it's on them."

A few hours after Gillibrand's announcement Wednesday night, Franken and she tended together on Twitter, seemingly inextricably linked.

"Franken was definitely a problem in terms of fundraising," said the person familiar with the Gillibrand campaign. "He just kept going up again and again."

Jen Palmieri, former director of communications for Hillary Clinton, said there was "no doubt" that Franken had "a huge and disproportionate impact on her."

"The undercurrent of his entire candidacy was Franken's resignation, and people were abusing him unfairly," Palmieri said. "It's a crowded and difficult field for all the candidates, but it really hindered it."

Gillibrand, along with several other candidates, also cited the DNC's discussion criteria as an insurmountable hurdle for their campaigns. The voting and donation thresholds "caused a seismic change" in the race and "that's what Gillibrand did, and frankly," he'll do the same for the other candidates, said Jess Morales Rocketto, Democratic strategist.

It was not for lack of trying. But Gillibrand seemed to suffer particularly bad luck and bad timing.

Gillibrand, one of Trump's most vocal critics, did not have the president's ability to capture media attention. She launched her presidential bid at Trump's doorstep in Manhattan, hoping to provoke a tweet with the president. The maneuver failed dramatically, overwhelmed by a tsunami in the media cycle when Attorney General William Barr published his much-maligned summary of the Mueller report that same afternoon.

His first major policy deployment, on clean elections, came up against the letter of Mueller's letter, which disapproved of Barr's assessment of the report. And during the July debate, Gillibrand attacked Joe Biden after commenting on the women working outside the home, but she presented her line of attack the previous weekend, and Biden was ready to do so, accusing Gillibrand opportunism.

She has yet landed a few memorable lines, promising to "Clorox" the Oval Office during a debate and firing a "not very polite" warning from Fox News host Chris Wallace. She also led a creative campaign by picking up whiskey in a gay bar in Iowa and college kids in tussle.

But his most viral moment happened in an Iowa restaurant, and it was not particularly flattering. While Gillibrand was giving a speech, a woman tried to move near her, but not to listen or ask a question. "Sorry, I'm just trying to get a ranch," she says.

Gillibrand finally had a Trump tweet a few hours after announcing his departure from the race, claiming it was "a sad day for the Democrats".

"I'm glad they never discovered that she was the one I was really scared of!" Trump tweeted, taking a shot at Gillibrand.

A Gillibrand advisor confirmed that the senator was considering supporting a 2020 primary candidate. On Wednesday evening, she answered the calls of nearly half a dozen candidates congratulating her on a well-organized race. But she is in no hurry to weigh for the moment.

Instead, Gillibrand plans to focus on the election of women at the polls, relaunching "Off The Sidelines", her now dormant political group, determined to support the women candidates. In October, Gillibrand will host the Annie's List event in Texas.

Gillibrand relied on her promise to be a champion for women and families during the election campaign, closely following the beginning of her sentence in CBS's The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, when & # 39; She has identified herself as a "young mother". But the female message was ultimately too narrow, some strategists said.

"I do not think that the fact that she talks about equal pay, sexual assault in the military or reproductive rights would deter Democratic voters. I just think that no candidate can be focused on one gender, "said Solis Doyle.

So, on Wednesday night, alongside her staff, Gillibrand closed her campaign with a whiskey toast.