President Joe Biden insists on staying in the race, and Vice President Kamala Harris stands by him. But that didn’t stop the first signs of a pro-Harris shadow campaign from taking shape, with or without her blessing. Democrats debate the future their presidential ticket.
A handful of alumni from the 2016 presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders came together. Combined for Harristhe first public-facing effort to date for Harris to promote a potential 2024 presidential campaign, news of which was first shared by NBC News.
Organizers compare efforts Ready for HillaryThe group, which was formed months before the former secretary of state, officially entered the contest in 2016, attracting volunteers who pledged support while waiting for the official campaign to begin.
“We just want to make it known that if Joe Biden steps aside, there are people who want to rally around the vice president,” he said. Matt Ortega, a Democratic digital strategist who served as digital director of communications for the Clinton campaign. “The idea is to focus on some people who want Harris at the top of the ticket.”
Ortega said the group’s goals are relatively modest: Give Harris supporters “something to do” as they wait for the succession crisis to unfold. And putting forward Harris’ potential nomination would be a strong show of support for the vice president in what they hope will be.
Ortega said the group does not plan to store the data it collects or live in any form beyond this unique moment.
Those efforts are not sanctioned by Harris or his team, who strictly avoids doing anything that could be interpreted as disloyalty to Biden.
A spokesman for Harris declined to comment.
This comes as Democrats begin to split into three camps: those who want to keep Biden, those who want to replace him with Harris, and a third group who want an open nomination process in which more than one candidate can compete in next month’s Democratic National Assembly. Convention in Chicago.
The pro-Harris camp argues that he represents enough change to re-energize Democratic voters and revive the presidential race, while maintaining enough continuity from Biden to avoid a potential split in the presidential primary.
“Having worked on the 2016 primary and looking at the 2020 primary, I think reducing the process to a few days leaves room for chaos,” Ortega said. “And in fact, Harris has already been voted in by the primary voters, so he has democratic legitimacy.”
Harris supporters say Democrats can still get an open convention excitement through a vice presidential race, which would have to be filled if Biden steps aside and Harris replaces him at the top of the ticket.
By showing questionnaires Biden is currently behind Supporters of former President Donald Trump say it’s better to give Harris a chance than stick with a candidate they see as doomed.
“It’s a risk, it’s unprecedented,” United argue for Harris website. “But with seconds left in the third quarter, we know Kamala Harris is going to make us proud.”
Harris struggled during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, entering with momentum and money before a disappointing early run.
He had particular problems with progressives that year, and now some of Biden’s most vocal defenders come from the left, among others. Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezDN.Y.
But other progressives have reassessed Harris, and a pseudo-campaign sprung up on his behalf got a big boost Saturday from progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who is running against both Biden and Harris in the 2020 Democratic primary.
“What gives me so much hope right now is that if President Biden decides to step back, we have Vice President Kamala Harris who is ready to step up to unify the party, take on Donald Trump and win,” he said. In an interview with MSNBC’s “The Weekend” program.
“I’ve known Kamala for nearly 15 years, when I created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and when Kamala was California’s attorney general,” Warren added. “We worked side by side to fight against the giant banks that cheat people. Kamala has led the charge to fight back against Republicans who want a nationwide abortion ban.
The Democratic Party rules making it virtually impossible Biden will replace him if he doesn’t step aside. And it’s a party is still on track to officially run for office In the virtual voting in the first week of August. His campaign says he will return to stumps from next week after recovering from Covid.