HARRIS BRINGING ENERGY, DOLLARS TO BIDEN CAMPAIGN
WILMINGTON, Del. — In her first two days as Joe Biden’s running mate, Kamala Harris has fired off the campaign’s sharpest criticism of President Donald Trump’s shortcomings. She has vouched for Biden’s character on race and more. And the enthusiasm surrounding her historic candidacy has brought in a record $36 million, including contributions from 150,000 new donors. The campaign hopes it is just the beginning. With less than three months before the election, Harris is rapidly embracing her new role. Democratic operatives and Harris allies believe she’ll energize what has been a relatively quiet campaign that has often preferred to keep the attention on the turbulence of Trump’s White House. She’s already making a vigorous case for Trump’s defeat, allowing Biden to focus more on his own policy prescriptions and less on direct attacks.
“We always look for surrogates and validators that help close the deal and can speak to voters who needed another reason to say, ‘Yes, I’m gonna support Joe Biden,’” said Donna Brazile, a former Democratic National Committee chair who also ran Al Gore’s 2000 campaign. “She fills in the gap.”
Harris was known during the Democratic presidential primary for wearing Converse sneakers and dancing with staff and supporters in unscripted moments. Biden allies expect her to deliver enthusiasm among some Democrats who oppose Trump but aren’t yet energized to vote by a candidate they feel may be out of touch with their concerns.
Harris’ “ability to connect” is part of what California Rep. Barbara Lee, who served as one of her campaign chairs, believes will help her deliver the campaign message to voters who may be otherwise tuned out.
“She loves to dance, she loves to cook. She’s a person who does normal things that everybody does. They can relate to her,” Lee said.
Still, Harris, the first Black woman selected for a national ticket, has faced her own criticism from young voters and progressives in the past, namely over her record on police misconduct as a district attorney and later California’s attorney general. Critics say she opposed key criminal justice reform measures and didn’t address a number of wrongful convictions on her watch.
Biden’s allies believe a main Harris advantage is demonstrated by the Republicans’ struggle to settle on a line of attack against her. In the short time since she was announced, Trump has called her everything from “extraordinarily nasty” to “a madwoman,” from “phony” to “radical left.” On Thursday, he said he had “heard” rumors that she is ineligible to run for national office because her parents are immigrants. She was born in Oakland, and there is no doubt she is eligible.
Harris is already delivering for the campaign in a tangible way: With a record-breaking fundraising haul.
Michel Kraut, a Los Angeles lawyer and major Harris contributor, said he’s already had donors asking him about putting together events in the area.
“It allows Kamala’s nationwide fundraising machine to get reinvigorated,” said Kraut, who has already been raising money for Biden.
“There’s this new energy, that the person we wanted to be president and now is on the presidential ticket has created. It’s not just, “I’ll raise money,’ but, ‘I’ll be dedicated to do this.’”