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Clinton Comms Director: White Men Top Dem Polls Because of 'Biases'

April 24, 2019

Former Hillary Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri said the trio of white males atop the Democratic polls concerned her Wednesday because it showed "biases" about leadership among the party's primary voters.

Praising black women voters, the most loyal demographic in the country to the Democratic Party, Palmieri told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell there were a "lot of great diverse choices" in the large 2020 field but fretted over the consistent lead shown by former Vice President Joe Biden—who is expected to officially announce his candidacy on Thursday—Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), and Mayor Pete Buttigieg.

"It's something to see the top of the polls being led by three white men, though," Palmieri said in a clip flagged by Grabien's Tom Elliott. "I have to say, I am concerned, as somebody who worked for a woman candidate last time, that there's something about the sort of biases we still hold about leadership and what that looks like that makes us gravitate towards men and even white men, and there's something about how these images that we still hold makes it harder for the women candidates who are really great to break through."

Sens. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.), Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), and Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) are among the prominent female candidates that have languished in the middle or back of the early pack.

Clinton only had Sanders as a serious competitor in the 2016 primary fight, and she defeated him in a closer-than-expected battle for the nomination.

Mitchell also asked Gillibrand Tuesday about why she thought "white male" candidates were atop the polls. Gillibrand, who consistently polls at 1 percent or lower, said she didn't know why but called the campaign a "marathon, not a sprint."