With Trump no longer facing an ideal rival and Harris seeking to seize control of the Democratic nomination race with just over 100 days until the election, the showdown between the two candidates offers a chance for both to realign their campaign stakes as the race enters unchartered territory. Democrats are hoping Harris can refocus the campaign on Trump's shortcomings, while Republicans are eager to quickly define Harris and pin Biden's weaknesses on her.
Biden's withdrawal, triggered by a disastrous performance in the June debate, has given Democrats new hope for November. In a memo Wednesday morning, Harris campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon said the vice president is less well known than Trump and Biden, “which opens up even more voters to persuade,” especially among Democrat-leaning voters. “This race is now more fluid,” she wrote.
Meanwhile, the Trump campaign is preparing for a “Harris honeymoon” that could disrupt Trump's summer of momentum and popularity. Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio wrote in a memo on Tuesday that he predicted Harris' approval rating would start to rise within the next few days, but that it would pass. “The fundamentals of the campaign remain the same,” he wrote, as voters remain upset about inflation, the border and other issues.
Harris is scheduled to arrive in Indianapolis just after noon Wednesday to deliver the keynote address at the Grand Boule, the national conference of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. Zeta Beta Phi is one of the “Divine Nine,” a group of historically Black sororities and sororities that includes Harris' sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha.
Democrats are hoping that Harris, who is Black, Indian American and would be the first woman to run for president, can mobilize key left-leaning constituencies in a way that Biden could not. In interviews, Black women gathered at Grande Boulet said they were excited about Harris' candidacy but also nervous about her chances of winning, worried that voters would use her race and gender to work against her.
“If you close your eyes and judge her based on her qualifications alone, [Trump’s] “If she didn't qualify, sure, she would have won,” said Laura Rice, 55, of Georgia, “but they won't do that,” saying Biden, who is “white,” would have had a better chance of winning.
Democratic leaders and delegates attending next month's nominating convention were quick to endorse Harris. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who made history as the only woman to run for president on a major party ticket, endorsed Harris in an op-ed published in The New York Times on Wednesday.
“I know something about how difficult it is for a strong female candidate to contend with the sexism and double standards in American politics,” wrote Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016. She warned that Harris' “record and character will be distorted and disparaged” as she faces Trump, and said “she and her campaign will have to cut through the noise.”
In the memo, O'Malley Dillon outlined the basis for his confidence in Harris: She has led the charge on abortion rights, an issue on which Democrats clearly have the political advantage. On Tuesday in Milwaukee, she held her biggest rally yet. About $126 million in donations has poured into the campaign since Sunday, when Biden withdrew and endorsed Harris.
O'Malley Dillon said the campaign will continue to focus on the so-called “blue wall” states (Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania) and the “Sun Belt” battlegrounds of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. “We intend to make an offensive in each of these states and have the resources and the campaign platform to do so,” she wrote.
Before his withdrawal, Biden had increasingly turned to the blue wall as a path to victory as other states became increasingly out of reach and Trump threatened to put Democrats on the defensive in traditionally Democratic states. And the Trump campaign is still trying to expand the map. The former president has another rally scheduled for Saturday night in Minnesota, a state Biden won by 7 points in 2020.
As the Trump campaign shifts its focus to attacking Harris, the former president has sought to keep the spotlight on Biden.
“Does liar Kamala Harris think Joe Biden is fit to govern the United States for the next 6 months? She must answer that question,” Trump wrote on his social media site, Truth Social, on Tuesday.
Biden is expected to speak at the White House on Wednesday night about his decision to pull out, following weeks of pressure from other Democratic leaders and after appearing to lose his train of thought at various times during the debate.
Ms. Harris is headed to Houston on Wednesday after the sorority event. The Trump campaign, eager to rile her up on immigration policy, was quick to emphasize that she will be staying close to the southern border.
Trump has several events scheduled for later this week. On Friday night, he is scheduled to speak at an event hosted by conservative group Turning Point Action in West Palm Beach, Florida. On Saturday, he will deliver a keynote speech at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, where he will highlight his renewed interest in cryptocurrencies. Trump was once a crypto skeptic but has embraced them after aggressive lobbying from industry executives.
Sabrina Rodriguez in Indianapolis contributed to this report.
