Vice-President Harris

On Wall Street, a group of early supporters of Harris’s presidential run in the 2020 election say they’re waiting for the process to play out — but are ready to jump in and fundraise aggressively should she be tapped as the nominee.

One such loyalist, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said passing up someone who has already been through the wringer of a presidential primary would be a mistake, and that Republicans would have an opportunity to define a lesser-known governor before they can introduce themselves on a national stage.

“Without question she’s capable of beating Trump,” said Ray McGuire, president of Lazard Inc. and one of the most prominent Wall Street executives to back her run for president several years ago. “She can galvanize the American voter, the woman voter, the Black voter, the religious voter.”…

Harris has helped improve her standing in the White House over the last year with her role speaking out against restrictions on abortion and gun violence, while her staff has stabilized. She has traveled the country to speak to constituencies that Biden is struggling with, including voters of color. Harris is scheduled to address Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., her college sorority that is a predominantly Black women’s organization, later this month.

South Carolina Democratic Representative Jim Clyburn, one of Biden’s most prominent Black allies and a supporter of Harris, said Wednesday on CNN that he would support an open process to decide a replacement if Biden exits the race. But Clyburn expressed confidence that “Kamala Harris would acquit herself well” in that situation…

Harris would have a unique advantage if the incumbent drops out: The vice president would have legal access to most of the $240 million Biden’s political operation has on hand. A new candidate wouldn’t have immediate access to all of Biden’s campaign cash, and could start with a balance of zero. Donors who already gave the maximum amount to Biden under US campaign finance law would be allowed to contribute to a new nominee — which could allow a replacement other than Harris to quickly fill their coffers.

Biden has previously indicated he would be supportive of Harris one day running for the Oval Office. In his May commencement address at the historically Black Morehouse College, Biden referred to Harris’s alma mater, Howard University, and her sorority.

“No doubt that a Morehouse man will be president one day, just after an AKA from Howard,” he said.

===========

If we can replace Biden with Harris ASAP we would have a much easier time pushing the media to focus on Trump’s scandals, his lack of touch with reality, and threats against the country. https://t.co/KND8bM8sSL

— Dean Baker (@DeanBaker13) July 5, 2024

Yes, but as @joshtpm writes today, the only way this works is if Dems of all stripes (and, yes, the left) go all in for Harris. https://t.co/JaVAwMKeY8 https://t.co/waBYdCb3VR

— Clean Observer (@Hammbear2024) July 5, 2024

… One good thing I think we’ve seen over the last 72 hours is an increasing realization that, if Biden does step aside, the new candidate really has to be Kamala Harris. I’ve explained before the risks and challenges of throwing the nomination to what editorial boards now routinely call an as-yet-to-be-explained “process” by which a group of people with no clear legitimacy to make any decision beyond nominating Joe Biden will make this decision on behalf of half of the country over a period of a few weeks.

There’s a different, though related, point that hasn’t been sufficiently aired: legitimacy. Joe Biden ran for President in 2020 and, in selecting him, the American people decided that if anything happened to Joe Biden, Kamala Harris would become President. Joe Biden was just renominated with millions of votes. We’re now talking about simply tossing all that out the window. Of course, if Biden steps down a big part of it will go out the window. What has angered me about a lot of the columnists demanding Biden step aside is their almost unanimously deciding that Kamala Harris simply doesn’t exist. There will be some “process,” a choice will be made and all Democrats will unite and say Kumbaya. If you think you can toss the incumbent President and just go full write-your-own-adventure process, I really doubt you fully appreciate the gravity of the step one of the process you’re calling for.

I’ve already noted that I think that optimistic vision is a pipe dream and that tossing aside the black woman Vice President will split the party. But this process simply has no legitimacy. And what angers me about these columnists is just the lack of humility. What are they talking about? On what basis and with what legitimacy or authority are they coming up with this fantasy process? We’re way, way off the rails of democratic legitimacy here. In a case like this it behooves us, both politically and far more substantively, to search for sources of legitimacy where we can and make our choices accordingly. And the obvious and clear ones all point to Kamala Harris. The American people chose her as Biden’s replacement in 2020. And while she wasn’t technically nominated for VP during this year’s primary process, in effect she was since Democrats chose Biden again fully knowing she was part of the package. Her name is literally in the name of the campaign.

Over recent days others have noted the pretty critical fact that only Harris can inherit the mountain of money the Biden-Harris campaign has raised. Anyone else probably can’t. Or at least the Trump campaign can tie it up in the courts, which is functionally the same thing.

Frankly, if Biden does step aside and Harris replaces him I think he should seriously consider resigning from office altogether. Yes, it’s really hard for me to believe I’m writing those words. But the truth is that everything currently under consideration is simply absurd by any normal reckoning. I’ve seen some argue that if Biden isn’t up to running a campaign then he’s not up to being President either. I’m not sure that’s really factually true, though it does have a certain conceptual unity and coherence. More significantly, we come back to the question of democratic legitimacy. If we’re really going to throw out the votes of millions of people and hot swap the presidential candidate, it can’t just be that we think the new person would run a marginally better campaign or make us more comfortable watching the September debate. It can’t be a close call. And if it isn’t, that’s actually a real reason for him to consider stepping down…

Becoming President makes you the President. And no, it’s not as obvious as it sounds. In the U.S. system, becoming President imbues the occupant with a cloak of power and gravity. That is unquestionably an electoral advantage. But we also know what the campaign against Harris will be: that this black woman is a secret far-left radical and if she becomes President she’ll order the forced castration of all white men over 50 and make Cardi-B Secretary of State. You may think that’s hyperbole or funny. But seriously, who are we kidding? The best way to deflate the bogeyman of what Kamala Harris would do as President is to make it no longer theoretical. Make her President.

===========

And now, for something completely different…

There are a good many Democrats who saw/ see this as an opportunity to derail Kamala Harris before the convention, in hopes she’ll never become president. 1/x

— G O L D I E. (@goldietaylor) July 4, 2024

Fear of a Black president? (Here’s Goldie Taylor’s Wikipedia page, for what that’s worth.)

They’re looking back to Barack Obama, blaming him for the rise in white Christian nationalism. They believe Harris would do the same. These are Democrats, mind you.

Rather than see her as a strong, capable leader who has been thoroughly vetted, they see her as someone who would energize the right.

No matter what they tell you, Trump’s camp believes that too. Even so, should she replace Biden, they will fight like hell to keep her off the ballot.

It isn’t Biden they want to stop. It’s Harris. It’s the racism. That’s the through-line.

A Harris presidency ends their fondest hopes and wishes for the white Christian nationalist nation.

Should the Biden/ Harris ticket win, it will save the republic, preserve rule of law, and walk back this horrific SCOTUS era.

Those are the stakes. /fin

Told y’all. https://t.co/jR56GqHVCr

— G O L D I E. (@goldietaylor) July 4, 2024

Jonathan Martin really misses the glorious media fireworks of the TFG error era…

NEW: Dem governors to congressional Dems: Drop Dead

Last night’s show of support outside at the WH enraged Hill Dems

On the differing messages and incentive structures of the two constituencies

My column on a 4th full of fireworks 🇺🇸🇺🇸https://t.co/qwQazCnZTv

— Jonathan Martin (@jmart) July 4, 2024