US Vice President Kamala Harris secured the Democratic presidential nomination by being the only candidate on the ballot for the five-day electronic vote of nearly 4,000 delegates to the party’s convention, so she will face Republican Donald Trump in a November face-off.
Harris, 59, who received the nomination from a major party, will be formally crowned at the convention in Chicago later this month. She said she was “honoured” to have gathered the necessary support for the second day of the virtual voting marathon.
She stated: “We are going to win this election. And it is going to take all of us… We are going to talk with people about the fact that we are all in this together, and we stand together. And so, let’s let folks know that our campaign is about the future. And it’s about an expansion of rights and freedoms, and for the opportunity of everyone to not just get by, but to get ahead.”
On 21 July, when the 81-year-old Biden, facing growing concerns about his age and lagging poll numbers, withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Harris, giving her full control of the party. She consequently broke fundraising records, filling arenas and becoming a better opponent for Trump in the presidency race in the context of opinion polls.
In a further step, Harris is preparing to begin campaigning in seven key states next week with his yet-to-be-named running mate. The roll call, which is online due to changed state registration rules, marks the official start of the 2024 convention, while the traditional festivities will begin in Chicago on 19 August.
The Vice President has gotten off to a fast start, raising $310 million in July, with more than double that of Trump, according to her campaign. On Tuesday, both she and her running mate are set to hold a rally in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state. Notably, Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro is on the short list of challengers to Harris’ campaign. In 2020, Biden defeated Trump in Pennsylvania by about 80,000 votes.
Aside from Pennsylvania, the Keystone State is also part of the so-called “blue wall” that led Biden to victory in 2020, along with Michigan and Wisconsin – two states where Harris expects to draw crowds of voters on Wednesday. She will tour the southern states of Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and North Carolina, seeking to solidify the votes of black and Hispanic voters who have been alienating themselves from Democrats.
Kamala Harris also differs from Biden in her focus on the future, making hard-won voter “freedom” a touchstone of her campaign. In addition, her allies mocked Trump for reneging on his promise to hold a September debate and characterised the convicted felon as an elderly con man and a “weird” person.
However, Republican US presidential candidate Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday night that he had agreed to Fox News’ offer to debate Democratic US Vice President Harris on 4 September.
