‘Harris for President’ campaign gathers momentum

A string of endorsements by influential Democrat leaders, including Nancy Pelosi, and an ‘unofficial survey’ by the Associated Press indicate that US vice president Kamala Harris has enough support to become the official presidential nominee.

They certainly boost her chances ahead of the Democrats' convention on 19 August, where she will require the support of 1,976 of the approximately 4,600 delegates to win the nomination, now that President Joe Biden has dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris instead.

The convention rules committee has, however, decided to conduct a ‘virtual roll call’ of the delegates by 7 August — and to give them a chance to name their choice of nominee. While technically the delegates are now free to vote for anyone at the convention, a survey by the Associated Press indicates that Harris remains the overwhelming favourite and has the support of over 2,500 delegates.

The Biden–Harris campaign committee moved swiftly on Monday, 22 July, to formally apprise the Federal Election Commission about the change of nominee for the Democratic Party. In fresh filings with the Commission, the committee indicated that it would be Harris who would bid for the presidential election and renamed itself ‘Harris for President’.

Another booster came for Harris when she helped raise US$ 46 million for the campaign within the first 24 hours following her endorsement by President Biden. When Biden announced he was dropping out of the race, the campaign committee had US$ 96 million by way of 'cash in hand’, compared the US$ 128 million that the Trump re-election committee is holding.

Now, this is a bit of a grey area. Some have questioned whether campaign donations can be 'transferred' in this way, and suggested the Biden campaign should return the money to its donors and then encourage them to give it to Harris, rather than assuming their support. It has also been suggested that the Biden committee could transfer the funds to the Democratic National Committee, allowing Harris to start a new campaign account.

The Republicans, meanwhile, are questioning President Biden’s continuance as president — and plan to challenge it. If he is not fit to run for president, they argue, he cannot continue as president either.

They have also sharpened their attack on Harris, questioning her role as the vice president and highlighting her failure to stop the flow of immigrants. With the US Supreme Court dominated by Conservative judges appointed by Donald Trump, observers are keeping their fingers crossed.

The initial reaction from Harris, saying that she planned to ‘earn’ and ‘win’ the nomination, has resonated favourably with most Democrats, however.

However, many of Harris supporters, especially among Black women, seem apprehensive as well. They worry that the US is still not prepared to have a Black woman as president.

Their fears have been compounded by a Republican senator who was quoted as saying that if the Republicans lost the election in November, only a civil war would "save the country". He later apologised for his comment.

Harris, then, has an uphill task by all accounts.

While most experts believe that Harris would have no difficulty in accessing the funds raised by the campaign committee for Biden’s re-election — no matter how the committee and the party work with donors — the Republicans are moving in to try and block it.

First and foremost, however, she has to pick a vice-presidential nominee well before the convention. She herself was declared by Biden as his running mate on 11 August 2020. Now, Harris is left with little time herself to vet the nominees to partner with, though several observers believe she could hold off till the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

And, yes, there's a lot riding on that convention itself.