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, as a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed her with a marginal lead over Trump, the Republican nominee.
“In this campaign, I promise you that I will proudly put my case against him any day of the week,” she told a cheering crowd of several thousand at West Allis Central High School in a suburb of Milwaukee in the Wisconsin state crucial battle in the November 5 Election.
“Do we want to live in a country of freedom, compassion and the rule of law or a country of chaos, fear and hatred?” she asked.
Harris led Trump 44 percent to 42 percent of registered voters in the Reuters/Ipsos national poll conducted on Monday and Tuesday after Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday and endorsed Harris as his successor.
Previous polls taken before Biden's exit found Harris and Trump tied at 44 percent a week ago, and Trump ahead of her by one percentage point earlier this month.
In all three cases, the difference was within the poll's 3-point margin of error, but the results could signal limited movement in the Democratic direction — and suggest Harris' rise to the top of the ticket has blunted any momentum Trump might have . won from last week's Republican National Convention, also in Milwaukee.
Harris quickly built up his party's support after Biden, 81, abandoned his re-election campaign under pressure from members of his own party who worried about his ability to defeat Trump or serve for a another four-year term.
She wrapped up nominations Monday night by winning pledges from a majority of delegates who will determine the nominee at the party's convention next month, the campaign said.
Most Democratic lawmakers have lined up behind her candidacy, including the party's Senate and House leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Harris at a joint press conference on Tuesday.
An unofficial poll of delegates by the Associated Press showed Harris with more than 2,500 delegates, well over the 1,976 needed for the nomination. Delegates could still change their minds, but no one else received a single vote in the AP poll; 54 delegates said they were undecided.
Harris' rise dramatically reshapes an election in which many voters were unhappy with their options.
Beset by concerns that included his health and persistently high prices straining American household finances, Biden has been losing ground against Trump in opinion polls, particularly in competitive states that are likely to decide the election, including Wisconsin and the Sun Belt states of Arizona. and Nevada.
CAMPAIGN RESET
The Wisconsin event provided another opportunity for Harris, the first black and Asian-American woman to serve as vice president, to reset the Democratic campaign.
Harris collected the campaign contributions. Her campaign said Monday it had raised $100 million as of Sunday, surpassing the $95 million the Biden campaign had in the bank at the end of June.
As a wave of senior Democrats lined up behind Harris, the racial justice group Black Lives Matter on Tuesday took issue with the party's swift move.
She called for a quick virtual national primary before the Aug. 19-22 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the party will officially nominate its nominee.
“We are asking the Rules Committee to create a process that allows for public participation in the nominating process, not just a nomination by party delegates,” Black Lives Matter said in a statement to Reuters.
RUST BELT PUSH
Biden told X that he will give a speech Wednesday night from the Oval Office explaining his decision to end his campaign. He was returning to Washington on Tuesday after spending several days in isolation at home with COVID-19. The president tested negative and no longer has symptoms, the White House physician said in a letter Tuesday.
Biden's dramatic exit followed Trump's narrow survival of an assassination attempt on July 13 that raised questions about security failures at the US 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 tie Harris to some of Biden's more unpopular policies, including his administration's handling of the surge in migrants at the southern border with Mexico.
“Kamala Harris' dismal record is one of total failure and total incompetence. Her policies are Biden's policies and vice versa,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said.
Wisconsin is part of a trio of 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 election, and Harris has a chance to win them over,” said Paul Kendrick, executive director of the Democratic group Rust Belt Rising.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Democrat, said Harris could also help bring back crucial black voters.
“A lot of them didn't come because they were distracted by his (Biden's) age, distracted by his looks,” he said.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison, in an interview on NBC's “Today” program, said the party must move quickly to get on the ballot in all 50 states and that the vice presidential pick must be made by the 7 August.
“This process will be fair, transparent, open, but it will be fast,” Harrison said.
Potential running mates include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to people familiar with the discussions of internal politics.
