Sounding more like a feminist fan than a "correspondent," Kasie Hunt has enthused over the proliferation of women candidates in the 2020 Dem field.
Appearing on today's Morning Joe, MSNBC correspondent Hunt said it was a "real victory" that the fact that Harris is the third woman [along with Elizabeth Warren and Tulsi Gabbard] to have announced her candidacy is "unremarkable." Sounds like "correspondent" Hunt is cheering for Team Woman.
As for Harris's campaign strategy, if you're a man in the Midwest, don't hold your breath waiting for Kamala to come knocking at your door. Hunt said that Harris is basically writing off that demographic, in favor of appealing to the "coalition of the ascendant."
Note also that Hunt claims that it's a sign of "real progress" that Harris is embracing the fact that she is African-American. True, to the extent that it reflects a less race-conscious America. But not progress at all in the sense that Harris is overtly making her campaign about identity politics, which is what the "coalition of the ascendant" is about. Harris claims that she wants to unite America. But identity politics is really about dividing America into little camps.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
1/28/19
7:19 am ET
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And Kasie, they are strong campaigns out of the box, and the fact that they are women are not even part of the bumper sticker. It's beside the point: which I love!
KASIE HUNT: We have just blown through so many -- it's unremarkable that she's the third woman to run for this nomination, which I think is a real victory.
I also think, Yamiche kind of raised this, you're seeing her embrace being African-American in a way that political consultants years ago would have told you is a terrible idea, and that's also a sign of real progress. Kamala Harris is really staking out one side of what has been a little bit of a divide in the Democratic party. And that is, she is looking to the coalition of the ascendant as she pushes forward.
She is not looking at the map and saying, well, we lost in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania among white, working-class male voters and therefore we need to bend over backwards to appeal to those people in order to win. She is making a bet on the other side of this spectrum. It's going to be an interesting test.
I think she does potentially have a clear path to the nomination. African-American women are the single most important constituency in the Democratic nominating process, and that could really work in her favor.
