What could be in the way of Kamala Harris' candidacy
Kamala Harris' Presidential Campaign Seems Secure, But Wild Rumors of a "Palace Coup" Persist in the U.S.
Can anything still go wrong for Kamala Harris in the race for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency? The incumbent U.S. President Joe Biden has endorsed Harris publicly, and most other leading politicians of the Democratic Party have also publicly supported the current Vice President. By mid-August, the final decision will be made at the Nominating Convention in Chicago. Currently, Harris is set to be nominated there as the Presidential candidate and thus as Trump's opponent.
This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Harris. "It was not surprising that she immediately agreed. She had not even reached the first primary in Iowa, let alone the final round," says political scientist Thomas Jaeger in an ntv-Interview. "We have already seen her run for the Presidency before. She didn't even make it to the first primary in Iowa, but had dropped out beforehand," Jaeger recalls of Harris' unsuccessful campaign for the Presidency in 2020.
Harris' chances of success, at least of winning the nomination, look rosy. Harris took less than two days to secure the necessary support of Democratic delegates. She needs at least 1975 of the total 3949 delegate votes at the August convention. According to an AP survey, Harris already has 2538 delegate votes.
No candidate receives more than half of the votes, triggering a second round, in which an additional 749 super-delegates can vote, including former presidents, sitting governors, and congressional representatives. The voting would continue until a candidate secures more than 50% of the delegate votes.
"TV Debate was a fixed game"
Delegates can freely decide and theoretically even support another candidate. However, a historic reversal would have to occur in the next four weeks for delegates who currently support Harris to switch to another candidate. This sounds absurd, but at least the "New York Post" considers such a conspiracy against Harris a possibility.
The newspaper cites an alleged insider from the Democratic Party, who claims that at the Nominating Convention, Mark Kelly, the Senator from Arizona, and not Kamala Harris, could be nominated as the Presidential candidate. According to the source, this would be a grand "Palace Coup": First, Biden was allegedly manipulated into dropping out. The turning point was the disastrous TV debate against Trump. "This debate was a fixed game, to convince the Democrats that he could not run for the Presidency," quotes the "New York Post" its source. Biden could not withstand the pressure for another four weeks, and he left the Presidential race with a signed and sealed letter.
In the next step, the Democratic delegates were reportedly "strongly encouraged" to vote for Mark Kelly, the Senator from Arizona, instead of Kamala Harris at the convention.
Stripes Barack Obama in the Background? [
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As an indicator for a possible revolt against Harris, it is mentioned that the behavior of Barack Obama is cited. The former president is one of the few Democratic heavyweights who has not yet publicly endorsed Harris. Instead, he wants a "process, from which an excellent candidate will emerge."
Obama and Joe Biden have not been as close lately as during their time as president and vice president in the White House.
The wild "Palace Coup" story is still extremely unlikely, however. Kelly is currently under consideration as the Vice Presidential candidate and has already declared her support for Harris in a statement on X. "I couldn't be more confident that Vice President Kamala Harris is the right person to defeat Donald Trump and lead our country into the future."
Laura von Daniels of the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP) also says in an ntv interview that Harris' presidential candidacy is no longer an option in normal circumstances. Everything else is "hardly imaginable," says the political scientist. "If there were some kind of palace revolution against Kamala Harris in the Democratic Party, that would be very damaging for the party."
Competition against Harris in the Race
There are theoretically alternatives to Harris, but they have all dropped out of the race because they publicly pledged their support to the sitting Vice President. For example, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. California Governor Gavin Newsom made a recommendation for Kamala Harris shortly after Biden's withdrawal, as did the Governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. Gretchen Whitmer, Governor of Michigan, also will not run. And Michelle Obama is reportedly not pursuing any political ambitions for the highest office.
Kamala Harris can only encounter a wild "Palace Coup" on the way to the presidential campaign at most - which is very unlikely. In normal circumstances, she will receive the most delegate votes at the party convention or even a few weeks earlier if the candidate selection process is accelerated. If she wins the election on November 5, she would be sworn in as the first US President in history in January.
Despite Michelle Obama's reported lack of political ambitions for the highest office, she remains a prominent figure within the Democratic Party. In fact, some have suggested that she could play a significant role in the upcoming United States Presidency Election 2024, potentially endorsing a candidate like Joe Biden or Kamala Harris.
The wild rumors of a "Palace Coup" against Vice President Kamala Harris have gained traction in certain circles, but her nomination as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate seems secure. Donald Trump, the incumbent president, will likely be her main opposition in the race.
The allegations of a fixed TV debate against Biden during the previous election have also been raised, but there is no concrete evidence to support this claim. Kamala Harris, who has secured a significant number of delegate votes, remains the front-runner in the race. With Joe Biden's endorsement and the support of other leading Democrats, her chances of achieving the necessary votes at the August convention are strong.
