7 takeaways as Kamala Harris clears path to Democratic nomination
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Vice President Kamala Harris effectively locked up the Democratic nomination for president just one day after President Joe Biden's stunning exit from the 2024 election upended the race for the White House.
For three weeks, Biden had remained defiant amid a chorus of Democratic detractors calling for him to step aside following his disastrous June 27 debate performance against former President Donald Trump.
But Biden finally gave in over the weekend, issuing a letter Sunday addressed to Americans saying "it is in the best interest of my party and my country for me to stand down." Harris moved quickly over the next 24 hours to take the torch, securing support across the Democratic Party that makes her nomination close to inevitable.
Here are seven takeaways on Biden's dramatic withdrawal and Harris' quick rise, with now just 106 days until Election Day.
Why Biden bowed out ? no explanation necessary
Biden did not explicitly say in his letter why he ended his campaign, but an explanation wasn't necessary.
His decision followed intense pressure from Democratic leaders ? Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ? sounding the alarm privately to him that his path to beat Trump in the general election had vanished and his candidacy threatened to doom Democratic chances in House and Senate races
Biden has long dismissed polls that showed him losing to Trump. Had Biden dug in further, he would have risked inviting Pelosi and others to go public with concerns they had kept private, adding to the 35 congressional Democrats who had already called for Biden to step aside.
While self-isolating at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del. with COVID-19, Biden huddled Saturday night with two of his top White House advisers, Steve Ricchetti and Mike Donilon, who supplied the president with his campaign's own polls showing Biden's chances to beat Trump were gone, according to reporting by Politico.
Biden made his decision to exit that night, notified a larger number of top White House aides early Sunday afternoon, and posted his withdrawal letter on X, formerly Twitter, at 1:46 p.m. ET. Biden is expected to give an address later this week to provide more detail on his decision.
VP Harris quickly clears field for Dem nomination
By Monday morning, Harris quickly coalesced support of the majority of the Democratic Party, likely ending the possibility of a contested Democratic Convention next month.
Biden endorsed Harris minutes after announcing his exit, clearing the way for his pledged delegates in states across the country to shift their support to Harris. Tennessee's 77 Democratic National Committee delegates became the first state to pledge support to Harris, with other states following suit.
All 50 Democratic state party chairs announced support for Harris. More than 180 Democratic members of Congress did the same ? from Biden ally Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., to influential progressive Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton endorsed Harris as well, along with all 23 Democratic governors.
More: Inside KamalaHQ: How Harris quickly began plotting campaign after Biden's shocking exit
The list includes several Democratic governors whose names were once speculated as possible nominees to replace Biden ? including Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania ? pledged their support for Harris, effectively clearing the field for Harris' nomination.
Some Democrats had pushed for an open convention to pick their new nominee should Biden exit, but Democrats ultimately opted for unity over chaos and uncertainty.
The Democratic National Convention's Rules Committee meets Wednesday to outline a framework to nominate a presidential candidate. The DNC convention is set to begin Aug. 19 in Chicago, but DNC leaders had previously discussed confirming their nominee virtually before Aug. 7 to meet ballot deadlines of various states.
Harris takes over Biden campaign funds, staff
Shortly after Harris confirmed her intention to seek the Democratic nomination, the Biden campaign morphed into the Harris campaign.
What was previously known as the Biden for President campaign filed a notice with the Federal Election Commission changing its name to Harris for President, making Harris' presidential bid official.
This procedural transition was significant because it enabled the Harris campaign to take over Biden's campaign account and the $240 million it reported having in the bank at the end of June.
The ability to seamlessly transition campaigns is one strategic advantage Harris held over other potential Democratic nominees.
In addition to the transfer of campaign funds, Harris was able to inherit the Biden campaign's organization. Many former Biden campaign staffers immediately assumed the same roles working now for Harris. Biden's former campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez held an all-staff campaign call Sunday to inform them they were all now working for Harris, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
VP search begins in earnest
With Harris on the verge of securing the Democratic nomination, she will quickly need to find a running-mate before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, set to begin in Aug. 19.
And a decision could come even sooner. That's because the Democratic National Committee has said it intends to confirm their presidential nominee and vice presidential nominee through a virtual roll-call vote before Aug. 7 to satisfy ballot deadlines in several states.
The speculation begins with Democrats crop of governors ? particularly Whitmer and Shapiro, who both hail from battlegrounds states that Harris will almost certainly need to win to defeat Trump in November.
More: Democrats to hold off on early virtual nomination of President Biden amid party outcry
More: Q-and-A: Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's candid conversation with USA TODAY
An all-female ticket of Harris and Whitmer would be especially intriguing, with the possibility of further energizing the Democratic base and driving home abortion access as a defining issue in the campaign.
Others in the hunt could include North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who is also from a swing state, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, and U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., also from a battleground state Another possibility is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Each was among the Democrats to quickly back Harris' presidential bid.
Harris lifted by historic fundraising haul after Biden exit
After Biden dropped out, Harris raised massive amounts of campaign cash online to make up for fundraising that slowed precipitously after Biden's disastrous debate performance.
In all, the Harris campaign announced it raised $81 million in its first 24 hours from 880,000 individual donors ? 60% of whom made their first donations of the election cycle.
The fundraising haul marked "the highest 24-hour raise of any candidate in history," the campaign said.
Democrats appear to be clearly motivated by a fresh face. The deluge of donations reflects a reenergized base of Democratic voters, who have indicated in poll after poll they had deeps concerns with Biden's age and ability to effectively serve another four years.
The rush of financial contributions was desperately needed after Biden's fundraising dropped significantly while he faced growing calls from Democrats to end his campaign bid.
Harris nomination could change electoral strategy against Trump
With Biden as the nominee, Democrats' path to 270 electoral votes to beat Trump started to narrow: It appeared increasingly likely that Biden would have to rely on sweeping the three so-called "blue wall" states of Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
But Harris could be positioned to make stronger plays in southern and western battleground states where Biden was struggling.
Polling had showed Biden losing considerable ground in three other battlegrounds states he won in 2020 ? Georgia, Arizona and Nevada ? as well as a fourth state that Democrats hope to flip blue, North Carolina.
Biden's slide in these states was in part from underperforming among Black, Latino and young voters ? three key constituencies in the Democratic coalition ? compared to the 2020 election.
Many observers believe Harris has a chance to improve on Biden's performance with all three of these demographics, expanding the paths to victory and changing the electoral strategy against Trump.
"All year, Biden’s least implausible path to 270 ran through the Rust Belt trio rather than the Sun Belt trio," Dave Wasserman, election analysts with the nonpartisan Cook Political Reporter, wrote on X: "I suspect Harris’s path is more evenly distributed across the 'core six' (battleground states) owing to more upside than Biden among young/nonwhite voters."
Trump starts as the favorite against Harris
If eventually nominated as the Democratic nominee, Harris still heads into the general election the underdog against Trump, at least for now.
While Biden's approval rating in office has typically hovered around 40%, Harris' job performance has often polled even worse. According to a 538 average of polls, Harris has a disapproval rating of 50.4% in her job as vice president and an approval rating of 38.6%.
Hypothetical polling in a Harris-Trump election has been a mixed bag, with Harris still something of a wild card.
More: As President Joe Biden steps aside, is America ready for President Kamala Harris?
A Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted between July 5 and 9 found that 49% of registered voters would choose Harris while 47% would choose Trump in an election matchup. The same poll found Biden and Trump tied at 46% apiece.
But a recent poll from NBC News found Trump leading Harris 47%-45% in a possible matchup, while a recent Fox News poll found Trump leading Harris 49%-48%.
Harris will have to overcome potential bias among some voters about electing the first woman president ? who would also be the first Black female president and president with South Asian descent.
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And she has some obvious liabilities the Trump campaign has already sought to exploit. Harris has a reputation of being more liberal and hails from San Francisco. She served as Biden's czar overseeing the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, an issue the Trump campaign has attacked relentlessly. And her previous run for the Democratic nomination in 2020 was a flop, with Harris dropping out of the race before voting got underway.
Republicans have also signaled they will accuse Harris of helping to "cover up" Biden's mental decline over the past four years.
"Not only would Harris be a disaster in the White House, but she also helped Biden cover up his declining health while in office, which destroys her credibility," Michael Whatley and Lara Trump, co-chairs of the Republican National Committee, said in a statement.
Reach Joey Garrison on X, formerly Twitter, @joeygarrison.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kamala Harris v Trump: 7 things to know as she takes Biden's torch
