Harris attacks Trump, vows sympathy amid chaos at debut rally

MILWAUKEE >> Vice President Kamala Harris attacked Donald Trump on Tuesday at her first campaign rally since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee. A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed her with a marginal lead over Trump, the Republican presidential nominee.

“I promise you that in this campaign I will proudly pit my record against his every day of the week,” she told a cheering crowd of several thousand people at West Allis Central High School in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a crucial state in the Nov. 5 election.

“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and the rule of law, or in a country of chaos, fear and hate?” she asked.

Harris held a 44% lead to Trump’s 42% among registered voters in the Reuters/Ipsos national poll, conducted Monday and Tuesday after Biden withdrew from the race on Sunday and endorsed Harris as his successor.

Previous polls conducted before Biden left office showed Harris and Trump tied at 44% a week ago, with Trump leading her by one percentage point earlier this month.

In all three cases, the difference was within the poll’s three-point margin of error, but the results could indicate limited movement toward the Democrats. They could also suggest that Harris’s rise to the top of the ticket offset the momentum Trump gained at last week’s Republican Party convention, also in Milwaukee.

Harris quickly solidified her party’s support after Biden, 81, suspended his re-election campaign amid pressure from members of his own party who feared he would be unable to defeat Trump or serve another four-year term.

On Monday night, she finalized the nomination by winning commitments from a majority of delegates, who will decide who will be the nominee at next month’s party congress, the campaign said.

Most Democratic lawmakers have thrown their support behind her candidacy, including Senate and House leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Harris during a joint news conference on Tuesday.

An unofficial poll of delegates by the Associated Press showed Harris with more than 2,500 delegates, well above the 1,976 needed for the nomination. Delegates could still change their minds, but no one else received votes in the AP poll; 54 delegates said they were undecided.

Harris’s rise dramatically changed the election, with many voters dissatisfied with their options.

Biden, struggling with health concerns and persistently high prices that are straining American household finances, is losing ground to Trump in the polls, especially in likely key states, including Wisconsin and the Sun Belt states of Arizona and Nevada.

CAMPAIGN RESET

The Wisconsin event offered Harris, the first Black woman and Asian American to become vice president, a new opportunity to reinvigorate the Democratic campaign.

Harris has been racking up campaign contributions. Her campaign said Monday that she had raised $100 million since Sunday, more than the $95 million the Biden campaign had in the bank at the end of June.

As a wave of leading Democrats rallied behind Harris, the racial justice group Black Lives Matter on Tuesday challenged the party’s quick decision.

There have been calls for a national virtual primary ahead of the Democratic National Convention Aug. 19-22 in Chicago, where the party will formally nominate its candidate.

“We call on the Rules Committee to create a process that allows for public participation in the nomination process, not just nomination by party delegates,” Black Lives Matter said in a statement to Reuters.

RUST BAND PUSH

Biden said on X that he would deliver a speech from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening explaining his decision to end his campaign. He returned to Washington on Tuesday after spending several days in isolation at home with COVID-19. The president has tested negative and is no longer experiencing symptoms, the White House physician said in a letter on Tuesday.

Biden’s dramatic departure follows Trump’s narrow survival of an assassination attempt on July 13, which raised questions about security failures at the U.S. Secret Service. The agency’s director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned Tuesday after numerous lawmakers called for her to step down.

Trump and his allies have tried to rope Harris into some of Biden’s unpopular policies, including his administration’s handling of the influx of migrants at the southern border with Mexico.

“Kamala Harris’ dismal record is one of complete failure and utter incompetence. Her policies are Biden’s policies, and vice versa,” said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung.

Wisconsin is one of three Rust Belt states, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, that are critical to Democrats’ chances of defeating Trump.

“There are independents and young people who didn’t like their choices, and Harris has a chance to win them over,” said Paul Kendrick, executive director of the Democratic group Rust Belt Rising.

David Crowley, a Democrat and Milwaukee County executive, said Harris could also bring back crucial black voters.

“Many of them didn’t show up because they were distracted by his (Biden’s) age, distracted by his appearance,” he said.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said in an interview on NBC’s Today program that the party had to move quickly to get the ticket on the ballots in all 50 states and that the vice presidential pick had to be made by Aug. 7.

“This process will be fair, transparent and open, but it will also move quickly,” Harrison said.

Potential running mates include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to people familiar with internal policy discussions.