With only weeks to go before the Democratic National Convention, party activists and donors must decide whether Vice President Kamala Harris can beat former President Donald Trump in November.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Biden announced he was stepping aside and ending his reelection campaign in a letter posted to his X account Sunday afternoon, noting it was “in the best of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term.”
He subsequently endorsed Harris in a tweet:
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump.”
Harris issued a statement confirming her intention to become the party’s nominee.
“I am honored to have the President’s endorsement, and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,” she said, according to CNN.
While many have expressed that Harris would be the logical successor, high-profile Democrats like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and California Gov. Gavin Newsom were allegedly being considered to replace the 81-year-old commander-in-chief on the ticket.
“Ron Klain and … Obama are having a sit down with the President today. Jill Biden is insistent that Joe runs. Kamala is furious that she is not being considered as a replacement (Whitmer and Newsom are),” tweeted longtime party donor Doug Kass the day after Biden’s disastrous showing at last month’s presidential debate.
For his part, former President Barack Obama opted not to endorse anyone following Biden’s Sunday announcement.
“We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges,” he said in a statement, per CNN.
Harris may have her work cut for her. Unable to secure any real measure of support during the 2020 Democratic primary, she ended her campaign for the presidency before the Iowa caucuses.
Recent polling indicates that only 38.6% of Americans approve of her performance, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Still, the vice president beat out other possible Democratic contenders in a Yahoo! News/YouGov poll earlier this month. When asked who they would like to see as the Democratic nominee if Biden dropped out, 31% of respondents said Harris, 17% said Newsom, 8% said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, 7% said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and 6% said Whitmer. Other Democrats clocked less than 5%, and 20% of those surveyed said they were unsure.
Newsom has been attracting national attention in recent years, putting himself out there as an anti-Trump mouthpiece and, in a move reminiscent of Obama before the 2008 election, recently announcing a forthcoming book.
However, a few hours after Biden’s announcement, Newsom endorsed Harris. Even still, if delegates mobilized at the convention and the California governor comes out on top, it is unclear whether the left-wing firebrand can garner enough support outside solidly blue states.
Even before the infamous debate, polls showed Trump ahead of Biden in virtually every battleground state, and a Michigan poll published by Detroit Free Press on Sunday had Trump ahead by seven percentage points. The former president led Biden in every region, even the Detroit metropolitan area, which has been the definitive Democratic stronghold in Michigan.
The fact that Whitmer is governor of that state could play into Democrats’ calculations at the convention. She won her election in 2022 by a comfortable margin; however, she has considerably less national profile than Harris and Newsom despite enjoying double-digit net approval from her constituents.
Given Biden’s unprecedented decision to drop out so close to the convention, it is not entirely out of the realm of possibility (however unlikely) that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s name will be mentioned in the coming days in an effort to get her to run.
The Hill recently published a piece by opinion contributor Pablo O’Hana, who called her “one of the most qualified people ever to run for office.”
Such hopes, however, may have been dashed by Clinton herself, when former President Bill Clinton posted on X that he and his wife were joining Biden in his endorsement of Harris.
Nevertheless, any Democrat who decides to enter the race will likely face an uphill climb as the party works to rally around a candidate as quickly as possible.
Influential Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) endorsed Harris just hours after Biden’s announcement.
“One of President Biden’s first decisions as the nominee was to select a running mate that he believed possessed the values and vision necessary to continue this country’s pursuit toward a ‘more perfect Union.’ I echo the good judgment he demonstrated in selecting Vice President Harris to lead this nation alongside him, and I am proud to follow his lead in support of her candidacy to succeed him as the Democratic Party’s 2024 nominee for President,” Clyburn said in a statement, per WSPA.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also threw his support behind Harris.
“The best path forward for the Democratic Party is to quickly unite behind Vice President Harris and refocus on winning the presidency,” he said in a statement, WGAL 8 reported.
A number of other Democratic governors and officials from around the country also put their chips in for Harris in the hours following Biden’s announcement. Many more are likely to follow.