How Kamala Harris locked up the nomination in 48 hours
livemint.comWASHINGTON—Kamala Harris completed her takeover of the Democratic Party within 48 hours. And there was little standing in her way. Fearful of chaos and losing to former President Donald Trump, Democrats quickly fell in line behind the vice president following President Biden’s Sunday afternoon letter declaring he would not stand for re-election.
Potential challengers to Harris backed her, and party leaders who could have stood in her way chose not to. Harris was well-positioned as Biden’s No. 2—she received the president’s endorsement within 30 minutes of his announcement.
The vice president quickly built on that advantage, burning up the phone lines with calls to party leaders and activists from her home at the Naval Observatory. Behind the scenes, lawmakers and activist groups coalesced around her. “I understand people are skeptical these days, but this was truly organic," said Sen.
Chris Murphy (D., Conn.). “I mean, we learned about it when everybody else did. I didn’t check in with anybody else before I endorsed her about 60 minutes later." “She has a lot of people who have been rooting for her.
There obviously was a sense that it would be better for the party to pick someone early rather than late," Murphy said. By Monday, an array of Democratic future stars who had been rumored as potential 2024 candidates in the event of a Biden withdrawal—her home state Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore—had all offered endorsements. Supporters were lining up slates of convention delegates to shift from Biden over to Harris.
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