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, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed her with a narrow lead over Trump, the Republican nominee.
“In this campaign, I promise you that I will proudly put my record against him any day of the week,” she told a cheering crowd of several thousand at West Allis Central High School in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a key battleground state in the Nov. 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.
In a national Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on Monday and Tuesday after Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday and endorsed Harris as his successor, Harris led Trump 44% to 42% among registered voters.
Preliminary polls conducted before Biden left showed Harris and Trump tied at 44 percent a week ago, with Trump ahead of her by a percentage point earlier in the month.
In all three cases, the margin was within 3 points of the poll's margin of error, but the results may have signaled some limited movement in the Democratic direction — and could indicate that Harris' rise to the top of the ticket blunted any momentum Trump might have gained from the Republican national convention last week, also in Milwaukee.
Harris quickly secured her 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 another four-year term.
She completed the nomination on Monday night, securing pledges from a majority of delegates who will decide the candidate at the party's convention next month, the campaign said.
Most Democratic lawmakers have come out in support of her nomination, 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 delegate poll conducted 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 votes in the AP poll; 54 delegates said they were undecided.
The rise of Harris dramatically changed an election in which many voters were unhappy with their choices.
Hampered by concerns that have included his health and persistently high prices straining American household finances, Biden has trailed Trump in opinion polls, particularly in competitive swing states that are likely to decide the election, including Wisconsin and the Sun Belt state of Arizona. and Nevada.
RESET COMPANY
The event in Wisconsin gave Harris, the first black and Asian-American vice president, another opportunity to reboot the Democratic campaign.
Harris raked in campaign contributions. On Monday, her campaign said it had raised $100 million since Sunday, surpassing the $95 million the Biden campaign had in the bank at the end of June.
While a wave of high-ranking Democrats lined up behind Harris, the racial justice group Black Lives Matter on Tuesday challenged the party's swift move.
He called for a national virtual primary ahead of the Aug. 19-22 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where the party will officially nominate its nominee.
“We urge the Rules Committee to create a process that involves public participation in the nomination process, not just party delegate nominations,” Black Lives Matter said in a statement to Reuters.
RUSTY PUSH BELT
Biden said on X that he would 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 is no longer symptomatic, the White House doctor said in a letter Tuesday.
Biden's dramatic departure came after Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt on July 13, raising questions about security lapses at the US Secret Service. The agency's director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned Tuesday after numerous lawmakers called for her resignation.
Trump and his allies have tried to tie Harris to some of Biden's more unpopular policies, including his administration's handling of the migrant influx at the southern border with Mexico.
“Kamala Harris' brutal story is a complete failure and complete incompetence. Her policy is Biden's policy, and vice versa,” said Trump's press secretary Stephen Cheng.
Wisconsin is among 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 choice, 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 win back important black voters.
“A lot of them didn't come because they were put off by (Biden's) age, his appearance,” he said.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison told NBC's “Today” program that the party must act quickly to get the ticket on the ballot in all 50 states and that the vice presidential selection must be made by Aug. 7.
“This process will be fair, transparent, open, but expeditious,” Harrison said.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to people familiar with the domestic policy discussions. .
