Members of the Democratic National Committee are imploring delegates to the DNC’s August convention to get behind Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s new presidential nominee.
President Joe Biden endorsed Harris for president on Sunday shortly after announcing he was withdrawing his reelection candidacy. Soon after, DNC members began circulating a letter asking delegates to all get on the same page.
“We believe our strongest candidate for President, who can best offer a clear, unifying vision for the future of the United States, is Vice President Kamala Harris,” the letter states. It was signed by at least 60 current and former DNC members.
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The letter touts the Biden-Harris administration’s accomplishments and notes the vice president is the “only person that can credibly claim the torch” of those successes and carry on Biden’s legacy, which they lauded.
The DNC members also sought to contrast Harris with Trump, using her background as a prosecutor and his recent brushes with the law, which the former president has decried as politically motivated.
“As a former prosecutor, there is no one better to make the case for American democracy and against convicted felon Donald Trump than Kamala Harris,” the letter states, before pointing to a major reason a lot of congressional Democrats wanted Biden to withdraw from the top of the ticket: down ballot races.
“We also firmly believe that Vice President Harris and her Vice Presidential selection will help Democratic candidates for U.S. House, Senate, and in the states we need to win in November, enabling us to enact laws that truly benefit the American people,” the Democrats wrote.
In order for Harris to be named as a nominee at next month’s convention, a petition must be submitted with signatures from at least 300 delegates (no more than 50 of which can be from one state) with the candidate’s consent, FrontloadingHQ political scientist Joshua Putnam told the Washington Examiner.
“The inherent advantage the vice president has is that President Biden endorsed her today,” Putnam added. “Joe Biden won 98.7 percent of the pledged delegates during primary season and while he cannot transfer them directly to her, the method in which those nearly 4000 delegates were chosen means that they are highly likely to take the president’s endorsement into consideration.”
The selection process would include a “review process” to allow the campaign to vet the delegate candidates who are pledged to their presidential candidate, essentially meaning the delegates who were loyal to Biden are likely to follow his lead.
“She will also have a money advantage,” Putnam continued. “Biden can transfer the money they have raised for the reelection effort over to Harris more easily under campaign finance law than would be the case if anyone else was newly at the top of the ticket.”
While many Democratic heavyweights, such as Bill and Hillary Clinton, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) immediately endorsed Harris, others, such as former President Barack Obama, did not, instead emphasizing a “process” that will come next.
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DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison also made no mention of Harris in his first comments on Biden’s Sunday decision. “In short order, the American people will hear from the Democratic Party on next steps and the path forward for the nomination process,” he said.
The DNC convention will take place from Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, where the party’s official presidential nominee will be selected.
