In the five weeks since US President Joe Biden abandoned his hard-fought bid for re-election, the fortunes of the Democratic Party have changed dramatically, and this week the change will be on full display at the Democratic National Convention to formally confirm the candidacy. his vice-president for the presidential elections.
Vice President Kamala Harris, 59, came to Chicago for the four-day Democratic National Convention, which begins Monday, with her campaign in full swing — she has broken fundraising records, packed rallies and flipped polls in some states. events that are considered crucial for the November 5 elections – in favor of the Democrats.
She spent Sunday on a bus tour in western Pennsylvania with vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. In her speeches, she suggested that Donald Trump is a coward and his election strategy is aimed at destroying his rivals.
Harris and her vice-presidential running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, made “joy” a key word. which is promoted in the campaign, as a succinct reminder of the grief the party felt just a few weeks ago.
The two will publicly accept the party’s nomination at the convention in Chicago on Thursday.
“This was a historic transformation,” said Joseph Foster, a 71-year-old former Democratic Party chairman in suburban Philadelphia who remains active in the party.
“People are delighted, young people are engaged. I have never seen anything like it.”
With less than 80 days until election day, the party hopes that this wave of enthusiasm will lead to victory.
This would make Harris, the first person of black and Asian descent to hold the position of US vice president, the first woman to hold the highest office in the country.
Strategists call for caution, warn of problems
But pollsters and strategists from both major parties warn that her candidacy’s momentum will falter, leaving smoldering divisions among Democrats over issues such as the economy and the war between Israel and Hamas, along with a looming battle against the Republican nominee. Donald Trump.
Kamala Harris’s personal history as a story is “lovely and nice, but the issues are what will ultimately decide this election. Those issues include inflation, security, leadership and the world stage,” the Republican pollster predicted. Adam Geller.
Harris gave her first major economic speech on Friday and outlined proposals for tax cuts for most Americans, a federal ban on price gouging by grocers, and a boost to affordable housing, all in response to demands from the progressive wing. parties.
He will face increased public pressure to provide more details on the policy in the coming weeks.
Aides have signaled that she is unlikely to provide much detail on some areas such as energy to avoid alienating moderate and progressive groups in her party.
Harris will also have to navigate domestic disputes over US support for Israel’s war against Hamas and the well-known divisions between progressives and moderates over a range of policy issues such as energy, health care and immigration.
Opponents of Biden’s policies plan to impose the Gaza issue
About 200 social justice organizations are planning rallies ahead of the Democratic National Convention to protest Biden’s continued support for Israel in a war that has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
Dozens of Muslim Democratic delegates, angered by U.S. support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza, are demanding changes to the Democratic platform and plan to press for an arms embargo this week, raising fears in the party about the risk of disrupting key speeches at the national convention. convention in Chicago.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to speak on Monday and Harris on čThursday.
Calling themselves “delegates against genocide,” the pro-Palestinian group says it will exercise its free speech rights during key events at the nearly four-day Democratic National Convention.
The draft of the party’s platform published in mid-July calls for an “immediate and permanent ceasefire” and the release of the remaining Israeli hostages, but does not mention the more than 40,000 killed in the Israeli offensive, and there is no mention of any plan for an arms embargo.
The United States approved $20 billion in additional arms sales to Israel on Tuesday.
The war between Israel and Hamas, now in its 11th month, has eroded support for Democrats among Muslim and Arab-American voters, who represent key votes in swing states like Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Kamala Harris, after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month, told reporters not only that Israel has the right to defend itself, butć and that “we cannot allow ourselves to become numb to suffering” and that “we will not be silent.”
Change in public mood
Harris enters the week buoyed by a series of polls showing she has reversed the distribution of the vote in states that strongly favored Trump in the final weeks of Biden’s bid.
Harris leads or is tied with Trump in six of the seven states expected to decide the Nov. 5 election, according to the latest analysis by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Arizona, Georgia and Nevada have now ‘swinged’ according to Harris.
“I think what we have is a reset race where the Democratic candidate has flipped the Democratic campaign, not completely, but it’s a lot more complicated than it was when Biden was at the top of the ticket,” said Amy Walter, editor of Cook.
Biden won the White House in 2020 with the strong support of black, Hispanic, and young American votes, but their enthusiasm for him this time was significantly lower.
He resigned on July 21, under pressure from longtime allies and Democratic leaders amid growing concerns about his mental acuity and his prospects of defeating Trump.
Biden endorsed Harris and she quickly gained the support of the party.
The change quickly reshaped the race, giving Democrats a boost and forcing Trump’s campaign team to shift strategy.
A Monmouth University poll released Wednesday showed a significant jump in enthusiasm among registered Democratic voters and a significant jump among independent voters.
In June, only 46 percent of registered Democrats said they were enthusiastic about a Biden-Trump rematch, which jumped to 85 percent in the latest survey conducted earlier this month.
The jump in enthusiasm among independent candidates rose from 34 percent in June to 53 percent in the latest poll.
Still, Walter said concerns about immigration and the economy are helping Trump this time after he lost the 2020 election to Biden.
“It’s like a toss up,” she said of the race between Harris and Trump.