Kamala Harris assails Trump and pledges unity in debut rally

Milwaukee — US vice-president Kamala Harris assailed Donald Trump on Tuesday at her first campaign rally since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential candidate, while a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll showed her taking a marginal lead over Trump, the Republican nominee.

“In this campaign, I promise you I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week,” she told a cheering crowd of several thousands at West Allis Central High School in a Milwaukee suburb in Wisconsin, a crucial battleground state in the November 5 election.

“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law, or a country of chaos, fear and hate?” she asked.

Trump “wants to take our country backward”, she said.

“Before I was elected vice-president, before I was elected United States senator, I was elected attorney-general of the state of California. And in those roles, I took on perpetrators of all kinds: predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.”

Harris led Trump 44% to 42% among registered voters in the national Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted on Monday and Tuesday after Biden dropped out of the contest on Sunday and endorsed Harris as his successor.

Previous surveys taken before Biden’s exit found Harris and Trump tied at 44% a week ago and Trump ahead of her by a percentage point at the beginning of the month.

In all three cases, the difference was within the poll’s three-point margin of error, but the results could signal some limited movement in Democrats’ direction — and may suggest that Harris’ elevation to the top of the ticket blunted whatever momentum Trump may have gained from last week’s Republican National Convention, also in Milwaukee.

Harris swiftly consolidated her party’s support after Biden, 81, abandoned his re-election campaign under pressure from members of his party who worried about his ability to beat Trump or to serve for another four-year term.

She wrapped up the nomination on Monday night by winning pledges from a majority of the delegates who at next month’s party convention will determine the nominee, the campaign said.

Most Democratic legislators have lined up behind her candidacy, including the party’s leaders in the Senate and House, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Harris on Tuesday at a joint press conference.

An unofficial survey of delegates by the Associated Press showed Harris with more than 2,500 delegates, well over the 1,976 needed for the nomination. Delegates could still change their minds, but no-one else received any votes in the AP survey; 54 delegates said they were undecided.

Harris’ rise reshapes an election in which many voters were unhappy with their options.

Saddled with concerns that included his health and persistent high prices crimping Americans’ household finances, Biden had been losing ground against 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.

Reset

The Wisconsin event offered another opportunity for Harris to reset the Democrats’ campaign.

Harris has been raking in campaign contributions. Her campaign said on Monday she had raised $100m since Sunday, topping the $95m that the Biden campaign had in the bank at the end of June.

While a wave of senior Democrats have lined up behind Harris, the racial justice group Black Lives Matter on Tuesday challenged the party’s swift move.

It called for a national virtual snap primary ahead of the August 19-22 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the party will formally nominate its candidate.

“We call for the Rules Committee to create a process that allows for public participation in the nomination process, not just a nomination by party delegates,” Black Lives Matter said in a statement.

Rust belt push

Biden said on X that he would deliver a speech on Wednesday night from the Oval Office explaining his decision to end his campaign. He was returning 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, the White House doctor said in a letter on Tuesday.

Biden’s dramatic exit followed Trump’s narrow survival of a July 13 assassination attempt that raised questions about security failures in the US Secret Service. The agency director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned on Tuesday after numerous legislators called for her to step down.

Trump and his allies have tried to tether Harris to some of Biden’s more unpopular policies, including his administration’s handling of the surge of migrants at the southern border with Mexico.

“Kamala Harris’ dismal record is one of complete failure and utter incompetence. Her policies are Biden’s policies, and vice versa,” Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said.

Wisconsin is among a trio of Rust Belt states, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, that are critical for Democrats’ chances of defeating Trump.

“There are independents and young people who did not like their choices, and Harris has a chance to win them,” said Paul Kendrick, executive director of the Democratic group Rust Belt Rising.

Democratic National Committee chair Jaime Harrison told NBC the party had to move quickly to get the ticket on ballots in all 50 states, and that the vice-presidential pick needed to be made by August 7.

“This process is going to be fair, transparent, open but it’s going to be fast,” Harrison said.

Potential running mates include Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, US secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina governor Roy Cooper, Arizona senator Mark Kelly, Illinois governor JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, according to people familiar with internal policy discussions.

Reuters