Democratic California Senator Kamala Harris knows it’ll be tough to win any red states, but the presidential candidate is not backing down early.
Mark Rom, a political expert at Georgetown University, said there is a strategy to winning the nomination for Democrats.
“Kamala Harris should be able to put together a team that would allow her to do that in Iowa,” said Rom.
He said an elite team for the early caucuses is just the first step.
“If she does well in Iowa, that’s clearly going to vault her toward the top rung of candidates, especially because California comes close behind," Rom said.
Harris spent the weekend in Houston and Atlanta. Rom said candidates, like Harris, need to focus on certain demographics.
“The future of the Democrat party is not in the older white voters who have switched but the younger more African American, more Latino,” said Rom. “Just generally younger voters. It’s not that they voted against Clinton in 2016; they stayed home.”
Hundreds of people from all backgrounds greeted Harris in Houston.
Rom predicts the 2020 big players will be Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, for all parties.
“For Trump to win those states, I think it’s [going to] have to rely on that strategy that worked for him in 2020," Rom said. "Mobilizing older voters, mobilizing white voters, eking out a narrow victory, that’s the best he’s going to hope for and that’s not unreasonable for him to expect.”
Names continue to join the race.
“So many high quality candidates that Democrats have a feast of choices,” said Rom.
Each Democrat will have to decide how they will appeal to their voters.
“Clinton’s failure to campaign in some of the Midwestern states clearly hurt her campaign there,” Rom said. “I think it’s also very risky for the Democrats to ignore some of their likely voters, again younger and less white. If they stay home, that’s really going to hurt the Democratic Party, so don't forget certain states, but don’t forget certain voters either.”