US Vice-President Kamala Harris has quickly consolidated support from powerful Democrats for her nascent presidential bid, with an effort to end the turmoil that has consumed her party and alter an election that has become Donald Trump’s to lose.
Less than 24 hours after US President Joe Biden’s stunning exit from the race, Kamala Harris appeared to have a clear path to the nomination. No other prominent Democrats said they would challenge her. She picked up endorsements from top party figures, including Democratic governors rumoured to be possible candidates: California’s Gavin Newsom, Illinois’ JB Pritzker and Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who helped nudge Biden toward the exit, on Monday endorsed Harris, joining the Democratic groundswell behind the vice president’s bid.
By Sunday’s end, Harris had contacted more than 100 party officials, labour leaders, activist groups, senior Democratic lawmakers and state legislators to ask for their support, according to a person familiar with the matter. That outreach included two former presidents — Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — as well as former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
The vice-president took over Biden’s campaign, which was renamed “Harris for President,” giving her access to its $96 million war chest. She’s set to travel to the campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware later Monday to rally staff.
Harris paid tribute to Biden at an event for college athletes at the White House, her first public appearance since he dropped out, saying he had “already surpassed the legacy of most presidents who have served two terms in office.”
“I am first-hand witness that every day our president, Joe Biden, fights for the American people, and we are deeply grateful for his service to our nation,” Harris said. Biden had originally planned to speak at the event, but remained in Delaware recovering from Covid.
Harris will headline her debut rally as a presidential candidate on Tuesday in battleground Wisconsin, an opportunity to mount an offensive against Trump and move past the controversies over Biden’s age that divided her party.
Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a former Democratic National Committee chairwoman, on Monday predicted Harris would secure the majority of pledged delegates “in short order.” As of Monday midday, Harris had close to half the delegates she needed to become the party’s presumptive nominee.
“She’s earned this moment and this nomination,” Wasserman Schultz told reporters on a conference call. “She’s worked for and earned our party’s support.”
The events of the last month have thrust the nation into uncharted political waters and Harris faces numerous challenges in the weeks ahead. Republicans hammered Biden’s decision to step aside weeks before the Democrats’ nominating convention as a subversion of primary voters’ will. Some of Harris’ own party members have called for a competitive nomination process as well.
Harris must also choose a running mate, win back voters who drifted from Biden before early voting begins in September and gird for attacks from Trump that are poised to be highly personal.
The vice president’s ascension to become her party’s standard bearer is a momentous twist of fate. Her political future seemed bleak just one month ago: Harris’ 2020 presidential run flamed out before a single vote was cast and her early tenure as vice president was marked by repeated missteps. Republicans have already used her assignment to address the root causes of migration as early fodder for attacks.
VP options
Still, the fact she was able to so rapidly amass backing from top Democrats speaks to the support she has built among influential figures, from civil-rights leaders to deep-pocketed donors. It also reflects another reality: Passing over the first Black, Asian and female vice-president has the potential to alienate voters of colour and suburban women — two groups that Democrats need to win.
Harris’ first major choice will be her vice presidential nominee. Speculation has swirled around a group of White, male elected officials, many of whom are from battleground states. That included a cavalcade of governors — Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, North Carolina’s Roy Cooper, Kentucky’s Andy Beshear and Minnesota’s Tim Walz — as well as Arizona Senator Mark Kelly. Whitmer told CBS’s Lansing affiliate she was not interested in the post.
Biden endorsed Harris on Sunday less than a half hour after announcing he was dropping out, and other senior Democrats quickly followed, including Bill and Hillary Clinton and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, a progressive icon. They were joined by heavy hitters from Wall Street and Silicon Valley, including, George and Alex Soros, Roger Altman of Evercore Inc. and Reid Hoffman of Greylock Partners, a promising sign for the party after donors abandoned Biden’s bid en masse.
Notable omissions in the early hours included Obama, who does not plan to endorse a candidate until they secure the nomination, as well as Schumer and Jeffries.
“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” Obama said in a Sunday statement.
Race renewed
Democratic voters seemed to relish the transformed dynamics of the race after weeks of doom-saying, as polls showing the gap between Trump and Biden widening. Democrats raised more than US$50 million online on Sunday after Biden announced his withdrawal, according to ActBlue, the party’s donation platform.
A recent CBS News/YouGov poll showed Harris trailing Trump by a smaller margin than Biden nationally. Harris also performed two percentage points better than Biden in the battlegrounds of Pennsylvania and Virginia, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll.
Harris, 59, poses a fresh challenge to Trump, 78, as a younger, more energetic nominee who is well versed on Democrats’ strongest issue — abortion rights — and is unafraid to throw a punch. Her most memorable moment during the 2020 race was her debate-stage attack on Biden’s record on school integration.
Yet Harris has vulnerabilities, including a tenure marked by frequent staff turnover and persistent doubts about her aptitude for retail politics. Questions also remain about her domestic and foreign policy agenda, a gap that Republicans could exploit.
– TIMES/BLOOMBERG
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