On Sunday, Joe Biden dropped out of his party’s nomination race and quickly endorsed his vice presidential running mate Kamala Harris. In just over 24 hours, she consolidated the party around her candidacy, according to the Brookings.
Harris was chosen for several reasons. First, of all the Democrats mentioned as Biden’s successors, none of them passed the presidential test. First of all, to become vice president, Harris passed a vetting test, and four years in the White House was enough time to vet her.
Many well-meaning Democrats, from James Carville to Nancy Pelosi to Jim Clyburn, have suggested the party hold a mini primary to replace Biden if he decides to leave. The “mini primary” would not require any formal rule changes, but could consist of town hall meetings, question and answer sessions with delegates and possibly even debates.
No one seems to want to run against Harris. Many Democratic stars have been mentioned as possible successors over the past three weeks, but none of them have done what could be done to mount a national campaign. For example, no one has asked for their votes.
Moreover, Kamala was in the White House for almost four full years, she led delegations overseas, listened to classified briefings, and negotiated with Congress. Delegates also like her.
From vice to president
Vice presidents traditionally do a lot of political work, and Harris was no exception. Of all the people mentioned as Biden’s successors, Harris actually met with the most delegates. This will allow the Democratic National Committee to conduct a virtual roll call vote and thus guarantee the party a spot on several November ballots across the country.
Democrats have already endured weeks of uncertainty in which they lost the opportunity to make a strong argument against the Republican Party at its convention. They want to move to the general election as quickly as possible and avoid more chaos and uncertainty.
Harris also received $250 million in small and large donor contributions to the campaign.
The so-called “superdelegates” – governors, senators, and representatives – were elected by millions of people. The other delegates were elected in their constituencies at public meetings. Elected delegates can, of course, vote to replace their party’s candidate.
