The 47 seconds saved her political career

Knowing that Kamala Harris was not a lock to win is the first thing to know about her campaign for California attorney general.

In 2010, at the height of the Tea Party’s influence, Ms. Harris was making her statewide debut and was having difficulty shedding the same liberal stigma from San Francisco that Donald J. Once again, Trump is using as a derogatory term.

Mrs. In the Democratic Party, Harris, who was 45 at the time, was already regarded as a rising star. Last year, Gwen Ifill had dubbed her “the female Barack Obama,” an iconic description. But a lot of rising stars fall from grace too soon, and Ms. Harris faced a strong Republican opponent in Steve Cooley, the well-liked but centrist Los Angeles County district attorney, that year.

Hey, Mr. Much of Cooley’s unusual popularity for a Republican in Los Angeles had helped him establish himself as an impartial, corruption-busting prosecutor heading into October, placing him tied or just ahead of Ms. Harris. In the most Democratic-heavy area in the state, he had won three elections.

Ms. When Harris showed up for their one and only debate on the first Tuesday in October, she was running out of money and time. Then, about 45 minutes into the one-hour argument, Mr. Cooley responded in a direct, fateful, and foolish manner.

That marked a sea change for the campaign. Less than 0.85% of the vote separated Ms. Harris from victory a month later, making it one of the closest statewide wins in contemporary California history. Yet even on election night, Mr. Cooley declared victory because Ms. Harris’s chances had seemed so slim. It was a three-week wait until the race was decided.

“Everyone writes history like it’s all inevitable,” remarked Averell “Ace” Smith, Ms. Harris’s chief strategist during the 2010 election. He said that her first win at the state level was anything but.

Republican strategist Chris Jankowski, who later headed a nationwide G.O.P., said of the event, “That was as close to a near-death experience for a political career as you can get.”. A. O. P. organization that attempted in vain to destroy Ms. Harris’s career before it had a chance to truly begin, spending $1 million. She had no possibility of being the presidential nominee if she had lost that contest. “.

As Ms. Harris prepares to make history this week by attending the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, she is attempting to become the first female president of the United States. s. history, that long-forgotten debate moment from almost 14 years ago sticks out as one of the least well-known but most significant turning points in her political career.

This chronicles those 47 seconds as well as the events that transpired after.

“I worked hard for it.”.

Saying that there was minimal excitement for the sole contest for attorney general in 2010 would be an understatement.

It took place at midday in a mock courtroom at the University of California, Davis law school, some distance away from the state’s largest media markets. Not even a live broadcast on television, as far as anyone can recall. Just earlier that morning, the moderator, Kevin Riggs, a local television political reporter, met with the panelists, three other journalists, at a coffee shop to divide up the topics.

Editor of The Sacramento Bee Dan Morain questioned who would bring up double-dipping, or receiving a public pension in addition to a public salary. John Eastman, Mr. Dot Cooley’s primary opponent, had brought up the matter during the Republican primary. After the 2020 election, Mr. Eastman gained more notoriety for his attempts to keep Mr. Trump in office, which led to an indictment and disbarment.

It is scheduled to begin in August. In Chicago, 19–22.

What to Know: Here are some details about who will be attending the Democratic National Convention, how it will operate, and how to watch.

Getting Ready for Protests: To demand changes to Chicago’s policies regarding Gaza, activists are gathering there. The mayhem that occurred in 1968 is unlikely to happen again, according to city officials.

Migration on Display: Ahead of the election, Democrats are being reminded of a potential liability by the ongoing migrant crisis in Chicago.

JB Pritzker’s Party: The governor of Illinois, a billionaire, was compelled to take the initiative in order to secure the convention for Chicago due to an atypical and volatile set of political circumstances.

A reporter for the Los Angeles Times who covered Mr. Dot Cooley, Jack Leonard, answered, “I’m going to ask that.”.

In addition to prosecuting public corruption in the city of Bell, where local officials were receiving outrageous salaries in a financially struggling municipality, Mr. Cooley was making headlines at the time regarding public pensions.

Within the mock trial, Mr. Leonard explained that Mr. Cooley’s $292,300 salary as the local district attorney was half of the $150,000 that the California attorney general made. More than $400,000. That would be Mr. Cooley’s pay if he double-dipped, taking a taxpayer-funded pension as a former district attorney and a taxpayer-funded salary as the state attorney general.

Mr. Leonard questioned, “Do you intend to double-dip by taking both a pension and your salary as attorney general?”.

Mr. Dot Cooley responded without hesitating, “Yes, I do.”.

He took one look at Ms. Harris. She kept silent.

“I deserved it. “.

However, Mr. Cooley was not finished yet. He continued, “I earned the pension rights I have, and I will definitely rely on that to supplement the extremely low salary that the attorney general receives.”.

Mr. Dot Riggs remarked, “It was tone deaf.”. “It was shocking,” Mr. Leonard remarked. Mr. Dot Morain declared, “It was terrible.”. “It was astounding,” Mr. Smith remarked.

And in a recent interview, Mr. Dot Cooley recalled that it was honest.

Mr. Dot Cooley stated, “The point is I answered honestly.”. “It was an error. You should have avoided that one, Steve, a lot of people said. ‘”.

Top strategist Kevin Spillane, who was coaching Mr. Cooley to improve his evasion, took personal responsibility for his failure. Mr. Dot Spillane praised his client’s integrity, saying, “That’s a credit to his character.”. In politics, though, that is a liability. “.

Ms. Harris had remained silent on her part. Calling it her “Vin Scully moment,” Mr. Morain—who has since penned a book about Ms. Harris’s career—compared it to the way the well-known baseball broadcaster frequently let the sound of the game speak for itself.

“Is there anything more you would like to add to that?” Mr. Dot Riggs asked.

As Ms. Harris let out her now-familiar laugh during the debate, she exclaimed, “Go for it, Steve!”. “You deserve it.”.

Less than a minute separated us from the end. Almost nobody had seen Mr. Dot Cooley’s response, which was good news for him. There was bad news: things were going to change.

the competition to create an effective yet straightforward advertisement.

At the debate site, Mr. Smith, the chief strategist, was seated next to Ms. Harris’s campaign manager, Brian Brokaw. “That was pretty bad, right?” we said to each other after exchanging glances. Mr. Brokaw added, “It’s sometimes hard to tell how something lands in a room.”.

It was bad, they both agreed. After that, they instructed Mark Putnam, the campaign’s ad creator, to view a video of the debate.

Regarding what exactly happened next, there is some disagreement.

Mr. Dot Smith stated, “I think we just won the race. I called up Mark Putnam.”. Can you find this in a commercial?

Hey, Mr. Putnam said he was asked to watch the debate in order to create some social media content and that he was the one who informed the team, “We won the campaign,” after being astounded by what he witnessed. “.

At that time, the average household income in California was $54,280.

Alright, Mr. Without first having the message tested in a poll, Putnam claimed there had been “real reluctance” to air the advertisement during the campaign. Mr. Putnam stated, “It’s important to know that this advertisement almost didn’t get made and almost didn’t air.”. That was referred to as nonsense by Mr. Dot Smith. “We had to act quickly because we lacked the funds to test anything,” he stated. “.

Indeed, the campaign was virtually bankrupt. The bank had less than $850,000 in assets and more than $100,000 in debts, according to the mid-October financial report. For a single week of broadcast time across the state, that was insufficient.

Consequently, they made the decision to spend almost every last dime on running the double-dipping commercial only in Los Angeles in an effort to penetrate Mr. Dot Cooley’s sphere of influence. They lacked the funds to reserve the last three weeks at once. Mr. Dot Brokaw stated, “We were spending it as it came in.”.

Mr. Dot Leonard, who gave up watching television with his spouse in order to avoid sounding too “nasally British,” claimed that the advertisement was nevertheless “everywhere” despite the double-dipping question.

In the end, she approved the whole negative recommendation. Mr. Dot Smith declared, “Kamala Harris deserves all the credit for this.”. She actually agreed to shove all the chips in the center of the table. Rarely will a candidate possess the courage to make such a bold choice. “.

“Killing Hercules in the crib” was the bid.

The mother of a slain San Francisco police officer, who brutally testified against Ms. Harris for not seeking the death penalty for the gang member who killed her son, was part of a last-minute counterattack launched by national Republicans around the same time, sensing the long-term threat Ms. Harris could pose. The $1 million ad buy in Los Angeles featured this testimonial.

Mr. Harris’s strategist, Smith, speculated that their goal was to “murder Hercules in the crib.”. “.

Indeed, he was.

Mr. Jankowski, who was leading the Republican State Leadership Committee at the time, stated, “This was an intentional targeting of someone who was clearly a rising star.”. Donors were buying into that way of thinking back then. “.

Mr. Leonard received a call from Mr. Cooley a few months after the race, inviting him to dinner at the Water Grill in West Hollywood. Mr. Cooley declined to explain the reason.

Mr. Leonard mentioned during the meal that Mr. Cooley had shook his hand and reached across the table to thank him.

Mr. Cooley informed him, “I would have had to be up in Sacramento if you hadn’t asked that question. “.