Kamala Harris doesn’t waste a second. From the moment President Biden turns the country upside down on Sunday afternoon, she’s on her phone. Dressed in a hoodie with the university logo, surrounded by aides and pizza boxes, Harris calls every Democrat in Washington, D.C. Congressmen, governors, donors—she’s already spoken to more than a hundred that day. Harris even gets on the phone with her pastor—for a quick prayer over the phone.
The US vice president has been given a golden opportunity. And she will take it too.
About the Author
Thomas Rueb is a correspondent in the United States of of Volkskrant. He lives in New York.
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it’s true feat. The result makes no difference. By Monday evening, Harris had already won the support of a majority of Democratic delegates. Meanwhile, potential competitors are falling like dominoes: Governors Newsom, Shapiro, Whitmer, Beshear, Moore, one by one declaring themselves Team Harris. Nothing and no one stands in the way anymore.
Kamala Harris (59) is almost certain to become the new Democratic presidential candidate. In just a day and a half, she has transformed Joe Biden’s party into her own. It is a triumphal procession for a politician whose wit has long been questioned. And an unexpected show of unity and confidence, from a party that seemed torn by panic.
Beginning of flight
Joe Biden made this strong start possible. Though the president is still recovering from the coronavirus and has yet to appear publicly, Biden is overseeing the changing of the guard remotely. “Hug her,” the president told his former campaign workers on Monday. “She’s top-notch.”
From his home in Delaware, Biden thanked the team over speakerphone. He stressed their “difficult but correct decision.” But above all, he made a request to those present: please do for her what you did for me.
Then Harris appears before the group. She, too, receives applause. And, indeed, Team Biden immediately goes to work for her. In one fell swoop, the vice president inherited her staff, her infrastructure, and a considerable war chest.
Harris herself adds a lot more to this. On Monday evening, the candidate announced that she had already received $81 million in donations since Biden’s decision. This is an all-time record.
Paradoxical
There is lightning on the other side. The Republican campaign is built around Joe Biden’s perceived weakness. Too old for a second term, was the main argument against the Democrats. Now Biden himself has proven them right.
Republicans are scrambling these days to condemn Biden’s decision. Sometimes their message is downright paradoxical. In a press release, House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote that Biden “must resign immediately” now that he is no longer a candidate. But in a television interview, Johnson says resigning is not an option: “It is simply not possible to replace a candidate who has been elected in the democratic process.”
A swift response is lacking. Some Republicans view the change as undemocratic, including members of Congress who were involved in Trump’s bid to stay in power in 2020. Others are threatening toothless lawsuits to keep Harris off the ballot.
Trump was especially surprisingly honest on his own Truth Social platform. “Now we can start over,” he lamented about the consequences for his campaign.
‘We are not going back’
Democrats feared chaos after Biden’s departure. That’s out of the question. The party has coalesced around a candidate faster than anyone had anticipated. Now all that remains to be done is to clear up the last uncertainty: the formal nomination.
The board is in a hurry. Instead of nominating its candidate at the party convention in Chicago in just under a month, delegates will do so on August 7 during a virtual vote. That process will be “fast, transparent and fair,” Chairman Jaime Harrison promised on Monday.
Harris isn’t waiting for that. The new Harris Campaign even appeared to unveil a draft slogan on Monday: “We are not going back.” It’s a phrase Harris keeps repeating to the Delaware team. “Donald Trump wants to take our country back to a time before many of our fellow Americans knew rights and freedom,” the candidate said. “We are not going back, we are not going back.”
As Harris finishes her story, she suddenly asks if Biden is still on the line. That appears to be the case. Once again the president’s voice echoes through the room. “You’re the best, kid,” he says.