Philadelphia’s Democratic chair ripped Kamala Harris’ campaign on Wednesday as being disrespectful and incompetent.
Robert Brady told the Philadelphia Inquirer he thinks Democrats “probably” should have kept Joe Biden as the party’s nominee or chosen a “better candidate” than the sitting vice president.
The 79-year-old ex-lawmaker, who’s led Philly’s Democratic Party since 1988, also criticized Harris for her lack of relationship with party leaders in the city—the largest in what was overwhelmingly viewed as the election’s most-important swing state.
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“They never dealt with us,” Brady told the Inquirer of Harris’ campaign. “They didn’t show us any respect. I never talked to the lady and she’s the candidate.”
Brady said both Joe Biden and Barack Obama met with him and other local ward leaders when they campaigned in previous elections, which he said “means something.” This time around, he said his organizers didn’t even get asked to join Harris on stage at rallies.
“Not that I got an ego,” Brady said, “but it shows the lack of respect.”
Brady said Harris’ campaign invited him to a 4 p.m. meeting of Democratic leaders in Washington on Wednesday—an invite he reportedly declined and suggested was too little, too late.
The local leader also said Democrats made the wrong call in selecting Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be Harris’ running mate. Instead, Brady said the campaign should have called on Josh Shapiro—Pennsylvania’s own popular governor—to join her ticket.
The Inquirer reported that Harris’ performance in Philadelphia was the lowest by a Democratic presidential candidate in the city in the last two decades.
Issues in Philly—where Democratic voter turnout was a flop—went beyond just the candidates themselves, however. Brady told his local paper that spending was a problem, too, with Harris’ team shelling out about “half” of what previous get-out-to-vote campaigns in the city did.
From the outside, it appeared Harris and her campaign were all in on Pennsylvania and on Philadelphia. She visited the state more than any other during her campaign and held 16 rallies there. It was also where she flocked to for her key campaign moments, like her final rally Monday night and to announce Walz as her running mate.
Harris had a number of campaign offices in Philadelphia, the Inquirer reported, but she was still unable to receive enough turnout there to keep up with the state’s red suburban and rural areas.
Brady told the Inquirer he doesn’t take any personal responsibility for the damning loss for Democrats. When asked, he reportedly gave a blunt assessment of Tuesday’s election results.
“We did everything we could with limited resources we had and people just rejected her and voted for him,” he told the paper.
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