- Harris is securing his presidential bid.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has secured the necessary majority of delegate votes for the presidential nomination of her party in an online vote of the Democrats. Several U.S. media outlets, including the "Washington Post" and CNN, reported this, citing the top of the Democratic Party. Harris will therefore run against former Republican President Donald Trump in the November election. The Democrats had brought forward their candidate selection due to deadlines for printing ballots in certain states - before the start of a major party convention in Chicago in mid-August.
The vote via the party's online platform began yesterday, allowing party delegates from all states to cast their votes. The vote is still technically running until Monday evening (local time). However, Harris has already secured the necessary majority of votes. She was the only candidate in the digital vote - her nomination was therefore a formality.
Unusual candidate selection
The party assembly in the metropolis of the state of Illinois is scheduled from August 19 to 22. The nomination of the Democratic presidential candidate was originally supposed to take place there - just like the Republicans had officially nominated Trump at a party convention in Milwaukee in July.
However, the top of the Democratic Party had already set the procedure in motion months ago to bring forward the candidate selection and handle it digitally. This has to do with the deadlines in the states by which the parties had to confirm their candidates to appear on the ballot. In particular, a deadline in the state of Ohio, which expired before the party convention, was behind this.
Dramatic turnaround
Harris became the front-runner of the Democrats in a dramatic turnaround after U.S. President Joe Biden withdrew from the campaign. The 81-year-old came under pressure within his own ranks due to his age and doubts about his mental fitness and eventually announced his withdrawal from the presidential race. Biden directly proposed his running mate as a replacement candidate upon his exit, and the party quickly rallied behind her.
Harris is now going into the further campaign against Trump with tailwind. She has already collected millions in donations and is performing better than Biden in recent polls. However, how Harris will fare with U.S. voters in the coming weeks remains to be seen.
For example, the 59-year-old Harris could appeal to younger people who were less enthusiastic about the 81-year-old incumbent Biden. And women and people of color could feel more addressed by the daughter of a Jamaican and an Indian than by Biden or Trump - who is now the only "old white man" in the race.
Dirty campaign
Meanwhile, Trump and his Republicans have begun to portray Harris as a "quota candidate" due to her gender and skin color and to verbally attack her in a racist or sexist manner. Harris, in turn, emphasizes her contrast to the conservatives and puts her support for the liberal right to abortion in the foreground.
On a substantive level, Harris must above all defend herself against the accusations of the opposing side that she is responsible for the migration policy of the Biden administration. Biden had assigned her the task of "combating the root causes of migration" as vice president.
While the numbers of illegal border crossings into the U.S. have recently decreased, they did so from a record high. This contentious issue is a central topic in the U.S. election campaign, particularly in swing states, where it's used to attack opponents on billboards and in TV ads. Due to the U.S. electoral system, the outcome in November will ultimately depend on relatively few votes from these states.
The President of the United States, who typically runs as the nominee from the party winning the majority of votes, will be former Vice President Donald Trump or Kamala Harris, as she has secured the necessary majority to represent the Democrats in the November election. With the Democratic Party bringing forward their candidate selection due to state deadlines, the Presidential race now solely features a woman of color, Kamala Harris, and the previous Republican President, Donald Trump.
