MILWAUKEE: Vice President Kamala Harris attacked Donald Trump on Tuesday at her first campaign rally since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed her taking a marginal lead over Trump, the Republican nominee.
“In this campaign, I promise you that I will proudly put my record against his every day of the week,” she told a cheering crowd of several thousand at West Allis Central High School in the Milwaukee suburb of Wisconsin, a swing state on the battlefield in the November 5 election.
“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and the rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hatred?” she asked.
Harris led Trump 44 percent to 42 percent among registered voters in the national Reuters/Ipsos poll, which was conducted on Monday and Tuesday after Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday and endorsed Harris as his successor.
Previous polls conducted before Biden's exit found Harris and Trump tied at 44 percent a week ago and Trump ahead of her by one percentage point at the start of the month.
In all three cases, the difference was within the poll's 3-point margin of error, but the results may signal some limited movement in the Democrats' direction — and may indicate that Harris' rise to the top of the ticket blunted whatever momentum Trump may have from last week's Republican National Convention. also in Milwaukee.
Harris quickly consolidated his party's support after Biden, 81, abandoned his re-election campaign under pressure from members of his party worried about his ability to beat Trump or serve another four-year term.
She wrapped up the nomination Monday night by winning the pledges of a majority of delegates who will decide the nominee at next month's party convention, the campaign said.
Most Democratic lawmakers have backed her candidacy, including the party's Senate and House leaders, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Harris on Tuesday at a joint news conference.
An unofficial poll of delegates by the Associated Press showed Harris with more than 2,500 delegates, well above the 1,976 needed for the nomination. Delegates could still change their minds, but no one else received any votes in the AP poll; 54 delegates said they were unsure.
Harris' rise dramatically reshapes an election in which many voters were unhappy with their options.
Plagued by concerns that included his health and persistently high prices squeezing Americans' household finances, Biden had been losing ground to Trump in opinion polls, particularly in the competitive states that are likely to decide the election, including Wisconsin and the Sun Belt states of Arizona and Nevada.
PROMOTION RESTORATION
The event in Wisconsin offered another opportunity for Harris, the first black woman and Asian American to serve as vice president, to reset the Democratic campaign.
Harris has received campaign contributions. Her campaign said Monday that she had raised $100 million since Sunday, surpassing the $95 million the Biden campaign had in the bank at the end of June.
While a wave of senior Democrats has rallied behind Harris, the racial rights group Black Lives Matter on Tuesday challenged the party's swift move.
That called for a national virtual snap primary ahead of the Aug. 19-22 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the party will formally nominate its candidate.
“We urge the Rules Committee to create a process that allows for public participation in the nominating process, not just a nomination by party delegates,” Black Lives Matter said in a statement to Reuters.
RUST BELT GUARD
Biden said on X that he would give a speech Wednesday night from the Oval Office explaining his decision to end his campaign. He returned to Washington on Tuesday after spending several days in isolation at home with COVID-19. The president has tested negative and no longer has symptoms, White House doctors said in a letter Tuesday.
Biden's dramatic exit followed Trump's narrow survival of an assassination attempt on July 13 that raised questions about security failures in US intelligence. The agency's director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned Tuesday after many lawmakers called for her resignation.
Trump and his allies have tried to tie Harris to some of Biden's more unpopular policies, including his administration's handling of the surge in migrants at the southern border with Mexico.
“Kamala Harris' dismal record is one of total failure and total incompetence. Her politics are Biden's politics and vice versa,” said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung.
Wisconsin is among a trio of Rust Belt states, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, that are critical to Democrats' chances of defeating Trump.
“There are independents and young people who didn't like their election, and Harris has a chance to win them over,” said Paul Kendrick, executive director of the Democratic group Rust Belt Rising.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Democrat, said Harris could also help win back key black voters.
“A lot of them didn't follow because they were distracted by his (Biden's) age, distracted by his looks,” he said.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said in an interview on NBC's “Today” show that the party must move quickly to get the ticket on the ballots in all 50 states, and that the vice presidential election must be held by Aug. 7.
“This process will be fair, transparent, open but it will be fast,” Harrison said.
Potential candidates include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to people familiar with internal policy discussions. .
