This changes everything: Harris at the head of the Democratic ticket switches sides against Trump

Ruffles and Flourishes was played at the start of a White House event Monday, but in a musical reminder of the transformed presidential race, the blaring horns were not followed by Hail to the Chief.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is not the still-recovering Joe Biden, took the South Lawn stage a day after the president ended his bid for a second term and threw his support behind her. Democrats continued to rally behind Harris with donations and endorsements to be the party’s presidential nominee, upending a race in which Biden was losing ground to former President Donald Trump.

This changes everything in the campaign. It’s a whole new day, Ivan Zapien, a former Democratic National Committee staffer and Senate aide, said in an email Monday. “It’s a boxing match atop the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars, as Chewbacca reaches the speed of light.”

Later Monday, during a stop at her campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, Harris took direct aim at Trump as she used what amounted to her first speech as the party's likely nominee to allude to her time as a prosecutor in California.

“I’ve taken on abusers of all kinds. Predators who have taken advantage of women. Fraudsters who have ripped off consumers. Cheaters who have broken the rules for their own gain,” she said to cheers from staffers. “So hear me when I say that I know Donald Trump’s type. And in this campaign, I will proudly compare my record to his.”

The election campaign is based on two different visions of the future of our country, she said. One is focused on the future, the other on the past. Donald Trump wants to take our country back to a time when many of our fellow Americans lacked freedoms or rights.

She promised to strengthen the middle class, implement stricter gun background checks and fight for reproductive freedom, saying Trump would sign a national abortion ban. When Congress passes legislation to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the United States, I will sign it, she said.

The vice president has been making calls since Biden announced his decision to step down, calling more than 100 party figures, lawmakers, governors, union leaders and civil rights advocates on Sunday alone, according to a person familiar with her efforts. Those contacts continued Monday, and Harris made her first public appearances since becoming the Democratic frontrunner.

“Joe Biden’s legacy over the last three years is unparalleled in modern history,” she said at an event honoring the NCAA champions at the White House. “In one term, he has already surpassed the legacy of most two-term presidents.”

Before the athletes gathered on the South Lawn, she delivered a message that could also serve as advice for her own campaign against Trump, once again the Republican nominee: “I know it wasn’t easy to get to this moment. Each of you faced challenges and obstacles, and you endured. In doing so, you demonstrated that true greatness requires more than skill. It requires courage and determination.”

The vice president replaced Joe Biden, who has completed his COVID-19 antiviral treatment at his home in Delaware, according to his doctor. Hours earlier, three potential rivals for the nomination, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and retiring West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin III, said they would not run. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat who has reportedly begged Biden in recent days to consider stepping down, also backed Harris on Monday, offering her enthusiastic support.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, both of New York, have not formally endorsed Harris. But in a joint statement released Monday afternoon, the two men said she is off to a good start with her promise to pursue the presidential nomination in a manner consistent with the grassroots and transparent process established by the Democratic National Committee. They added that they plan to meet with her soon as we collectively work to unite the Democratic Party and the country.

According to an Associated Press poll as of 9:45 p.m. Monday, Harris had garnered enough delegate support to clinch the Democratic nomination. She won a majority of the 3,649 delegates after the Georgia delegation announced its support.

Georgia Democrats know that Vice President Harris is the right candidate to defeat convicted felon Donald Trump. We are united, our eyes are on the prize, and we are ready to send her back to the White House, as the chairwoman, Representative Nikema Williams, who serves as chair of the Georgia Democratic Party, said in a statement.

Additionally, Harris’ campaign said it has raised $81 million since Biden withdrew, thanks to 880,000 grassroots donors. Sixty percent of those donations are from individuals making their first contributions of the 2024 election cycle, the campaign added.

Some potential rivals appeared to be auditioning to become his second.

“I am thrilled to fully endorse Vice President Harris for the next presidency of the United States. The vice president is smart and strong, which will make her a good president,” Beshear said in a televised interview, before lashing out at Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio. “But she is also kind and empathetic, which can make her a great president. And the contrast between her and those running on the other side could not be clearer.”

An average of several national and regional polls by RealClearPolitics showed Harris ahead of Trump, but only by a few points each. Still, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Biden and Harris’ opponent in the 2020 Democratic primary, told MSNBC that there was enthusiasm within her party like she’d never experienced.

A Harris victory at the top of the Democratic ticket would immediately change the tone of the race, as well as the tactics that both sides would employ. Here’s a look at how the campaign would likely differ from a Biden-Trump rematch.

Access to abortion

A number of influential Democrats have cited abortion access and Harris's leadership role in the campaign and the White House as an issue that will likely play a larger role if she is the likely nominee.

“Officially, I have seen Kamala Harris’ strength and courage as a champion of working families, including fighting for women’s right to choose,” Pelosi said in a statement. “Politically, make no mistake, Kamala Harris is brilliantly astute as a politician, and I have every confidence she will lead us to victory in November.”

Mini Timmaraju, president and CEO of Reproductive Freedom for All, called Harris the Democrats’ most effective messenger on abortion in a May interview. She said Harris could appeal to independent voters in key swing states that are expected to decide the outcome of the election.

We know that independent voters are mobile, Timmaraju added. She is reaching out to that audience very effectively.

Oldest Nominee

When Biden posted his departure letter on social media, Trump, 78, instantly became the oldest political party nominee in U.S. history. Biden’s verbal blunders, particularly during the disastrous June 27 debate against Trump, have been more widely publicized. But in recent months, Trump has also slurred, frozen on stage and mixed up the names of prominent figures.

Harris' rise could allow Democrats to argue that Trump is too old to serve a four-year term.

Harris' presence on the ticket could reinvigorate support among young and nonwhite voters, and her pro-choice advocacy could cause moderate suburban women to reconsider their presidential choice, said William Galston, a former Clinton White House aide.

He added, however, that Harris will have to defend the Biden-Harris administration, some important aspects of which voters do not like.

Harris was full of energy at Monday's event, smiling as she congratulated the student-athletes and not appearing to make any gaffes while delivering her speech.

Criminal vs. Prosecutor

Biden has repeatedly tried to score political points on Trump's criminal conviction after a trial in New York on 34 counts of falsifying business records.

As a prosecutor, as attorney general like I was, she prosecuted rapists, domestic abusers, defended victims and put abusers in jail. Now look at the other side, where J.D. Vance calls pregnancy from rape an embarrassment, Beshear told MSNBC. No, that's just wrong. He's suggesting that women should stay in abusive relationships.

“Listen, a domestic abuser is not a man, he’s a monster,” the Kentucky chief executive added. And no one should support someone who has to stay in that kind of relationship.

By handing the baton to Harris, Biden is not only plunging the Democratic Party but also the presidential race into political uncertainty, Zapien said. But that could be an advantage for the vice president.

Bookmakers don't really have much to base their predictions on, he said. It's a safe bet that Democrats will be enthusiastic.

Democrats have made it clear they see a better match on paper. But like sports, elections are played out in the real world, and a lot can happen in four months.

Biden, who visited campaign headquarters when Harris was there, said he plans to campaign for her.

“I won't be on the ticket, but I will be fully, fully engaged,” the outgoing president said.

After two weeks of Democratic infighting, Harris and Biden also had a warmer moment, with Biden listening to her on an open phone line at the beginning of her speech and saying, “I’m watching you, child. I’m watching you. I love you.”

Harris, smiling, clutched his suit jacket and returned the affection. She told the staff: “We are a team, we are a fight. We have a lot of work to do.”

Niels Lesniewski contributed to this report.

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