Washington, D.C. An Associated Press poll done after President Joe Biden dropped his bid for reelection found that Vice President Kamala Harris has the support of enough Democratic delegates to become her party’s nominee against Republican Donald Trump.
Biden backed Harris right after he said he wouldn’t run for the Democratic nomination, and she worked quickly to get the support of her party’s donors, lawmakers, and other leaders.
The Associated Press, on the other hand, does not call Harris the new likely nominee. That’s because the convention delegates can still choose which candidate to support at the August convention or in a virtual roll call held before the August convention in Chicago.
The AP poll only shows that she has the support of more than the 1,976 delegates she needs to win on the first vote. but it also finds that she is the clear favourite of her party to replace Biden at the top of the ticket; when AP asked a delegate, they didn’t name anyone else.
The AP count showed that by Monday night, Harris had the support of at least 2,214 delegates, which was enough to win the nomination on the first vote.
Harris told her campaign staff in Wilmington, Del., that the last few weeks have been “rollercoaster,” but she was confident in her new campaign team.
She said, “My plan is to go out and earn this nomination and win.” She said she would “bring our Democratic party together, bring our country together, and win this election.”
See also: Harris’s campaign says it has raised $81 million since Biden dropped out of the race for president.
She quickly jumped into the main points of her campaign against Trump over the next 100 days. She compared her time as a prosecutor to Trump’s felony convictions, saying, “I know Donald Trump’s type,” and she framed herself as a supporter of economic opportunity and access to abortion.
She said, “Our fight for today is also a fight for tomorrow.” “We have the baton.”
The president called in from his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., where he is getting better from COVID-19, to show his support for Harris. This week, he was going to give an address to the country where he would talk about his decision to step down.
Biden said in his first public comments since announcing his decision to step down, “The name has changed at the top of the ticket, but the mission hasn’t changed at all.” He also promised that he was “not going anywhere” and would continue to campaign for Harris.
“It was the right thing to do,” Biden said of his choice to step down.
Biden said to Harris, “I’m watching you kid,” as he gave her the leadership torch. “I love you.”
After Biden left, his delegates could vote for anyone they wanted at the convention next month. And Harris, whom Biden backed after he dropped out of the race, was working quickly to get support from most people.
Monday’s endorsements of Harris by well-known politicians, such as Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, made it clear that Harris has no real opponents.
Nancy Pelosi, the former Speaker of the House and a well-known holdout who initially pushed for a primary to make the eventual nominee stronger, said she was “enthusiastically supporting” Harris’s bid to lead the party.
After Biden dropped out of the race, which she learnt about on a call with the president on Sunday morning, she has a huge list of political things she needs to do. Winning the nomination is just the first thing on that list. She also needs to choose a running mate and change the focus of a huge political operation to support her campaign instead of Biden’s. There are just over 100 days left until the election.
Biden’s campaign officially changed its name to Harris for President on Sunday afternoon. This shows that she will be taking over his political operation, which has more than 1,000 staff members and a war chest worth almost $96 million as of the end of June. Her campaign said that more than 888,000 donors gave her an extra $81 million in the 24 hours after Biden’s endorsement, which was a record for presidential fundraising.
After Harris took over, the campaign also got a lot more attention. Since the announcement, more than 28,000 new volunteers have signed up, which is more than 100 times the average day during the Biden reelection campaign. This shows how passionate people are about Harris.
Harris has spent a lot of time calling more than 100 Democratic officials to get them to support her candidacy, according to a person who knows about the situation but asked to remain anonymous to talk about the effort. She wants to get her party past the ugly public fights that have been going on for weeks now, ever since Biden’s terrible debate with Trump on June 27.
The person said that Harris told party leaders that she was grateful for Biden’s support but insisted that she was still trying to get the nomination on her own.
Harris quickly got support from the leaders of several important political groups and caucuses, such as the AAPI Victory Fund (which focusses on Asian American and Pacific Islander voters), The Collective PAC (which builds Black political power), and the Latino Victory Fund. She also got support from the chairs of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the entire Congressional Black Caucus. This showed that the Democratic Party was moving to unite behind her. She would be the first woman and person of South Asian descent to be president if she wins.
Notably, several men who had already been talked about as possible running mates for Harris—including Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona—quickly spoke out in support of her. It was confirmed by people who work for Shapiro and Cooper that Harris talked to them on Sunday afternoon. An official for Cooper said that during Harris’s short call with him, the governor of North Carolina told her that he supported her as the Democratic nominee.
But former President Barack Obama didn’t give his immediate support to Harris because some in the party were worried that the quick switch to her would look like a coronation. Instead, he promised his support for the eventual party nominee.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin told CBS News on Monday that he would not be running for president. Manchin left the party earlier this year but thought about re-registering as a Democrat to run against the vice president for the Democratic nomination.
Harris’s first public appearance was Monday morning at the White House, where she spoke to National Collegiate Athletic Association championship teams. She praised Biden’s “unmatched” legacy and said she was “deeply grateful for his service to our nation.” This shows how she will have to balance her day job with her new role as a candidate.
Harris was filling in for Biden at the event while he was home getting better after getting COVID-19 last week.
The Democratic National Convention is set to take place in Chicago from August 19th to 22nd, but the party is still going ahead with a virtual roll call so that delegates can choose a presidential nominee before they meet in Chicago next month.
The convention rules committee will meet on Wednesday to decide how the virtual roll call will work. On Monday, the Associated Press got a copy of the plan they are going to approve. The proposal doesn’t say when the virtual roll call will start, but Jaime Harrison, Chair of the Democratic National Committee, said the process would be over by August 7.
Congressional Hispanic Caucus chairwoman Nanette Barragan said she was “all in” behind the vice president. She said she talked to Harris on Sunday and heard that Harris wanted to avoid a virtual roll call for the nomination process and instead have one that follows normal order.
In a statement, Jaime Harrison, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said that the party would choose “a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November” through “a transparent and orderly process.”
In a call with reporters, Harrison said, “We can and will be both quick and fair as we carry out this nomination.”
