Stunning Harris rollercoaster reaches new apex at DNC
by Amie Parnes - 08/22/24 6:00 AM ET
CHICAGO — Doubts surrounded Vice President Kamala Harris two months ago when Democrats, stunned by President Biden’s shaky performance during a debate against former President Trump, started to panic about November.
Harris was clearly the most logical choice to replace an aging Biden at the top of the ticket. But her run as vice president had not always been sparkling, and many Democrats privately wondered if the party would be better off with an open competition at its convention to pick a successor to Biden.
“Let’s not forget, amid all the pomp and circumstance at the convention, that very few people thought she could actually do well,” said one Democratic bundler, recalling conversations just more than a month ago about the possibility of an open convention.
“No one I spoke to a month ago felt that way. People thought, well, at least she’s not old and she’ll be able to put two sentences together,” the bundler said.
The doubts about Harris largely have been left in the trash-can after a head spinning month that has seen her energize her party, narrow a polling gap with Trump — at times taking the lead— and renew hope in the party, as former first lady Michelle Obama put it from the convention stage this week.
What seems clear now was completely foggy in July, however.
Democrats then worried about Biden and running short on hope of defeating Trump.
Many Americans in poll after poll were signaling unhappiness with a rematch between two aging white men in Trump and Biden.
Harris is now riding that desire for change, building momentum day after day, even though she is actually the closest thing to an incumbent in the race against Trump.
Even those who worked for Harris, say they could never have predicted the momentum surrounding the vice president today.
“I was not prepared for how rapidly the broader public would embrace her and turnout in these massive ways,” said Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, who served as Harris’s communications director until last year. “From the Black Women for Harris groups to the rallies. The pent-up excitement that was unleashed was more than I thought would exist so quickly.”
Some Democrats say part of the excitement revolves around a feeling of relief following Biden’s departure.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4840777-kamala-harris-doubts-disappear/
