Despite a strong record and tons of campaign cash, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has struggled to gain traction and is now in serious danger of missing next month's primary debate.

In the five months since Senator Kirsten Gillibrand officially kicked off her run for president, she's kept up a furious campaign schedule – making 10 trips to Iowa alone – and burned through millions of dollars in campaign funds.

And yet, her candidacy now faces a bleak reality: she needs a miracle to even qualify for next month's primary debates.

"I need help,” Gillibrand told the audience at a Washington Post Live event this week. “So I have to ask your viewers to help, to go to kirstengillibrand.com."

Candidates must register two percent in at least four qualifying polls to make the debate stage. New York’s junior senator has reached that mark just once, which means she’ll need to score two percent in three more polls before next Wednesday's qualifying deadline.

She's also short of the required 130,000 donors, though her campaign says she's closing in on that target fast. "I am hoping that everyone here sends a dollar so I can make the debate stage,” she told the audience.

It's difficult to know why Gillibrand has failed to gain traction. She's long been at the forefront of women's issues, including sexual harassment, years before the #MeToo movement. She's been an effective fundraiser and legislator, and won landslide election victories.

But on the campaign trail, she's been repeatedly dogged by questions over her demand for Senator Al Franken's resignation over sexual misconduct allegations. And some argue she's been hurt by the glut of other female senators in the race.

Now, she's making an aggressive push ahead of next week's debate deadline, including a million-dollar ad buy in Iowa and New Hampshire.

In that same interview earlier this week she was asked her thoughts on being vice president.

"If you were not the nominee, would you be open to serving on the ticket?” Washington Post reporter Bob Costa asked. “

“Of course,” Gillibrand said. “I will do public service in all its forms."