MILWAUKEE: Vice President Kamala Harris attacked Donald Trump on Tuesday in her first campaign rally since replacing President Joe Biden as the Democratic presidential nominee, as a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed her with a narrow lead over Republican nominee Trump.
“In this campaign, I can assure you that I would proudly compare my record to his any day of the week,” she told a cheering crowd of thousands 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 one filled with chaos, fear and hatred?” she asked.
Harris leads Trump at 44 percent to 42 percent among registered voters in a Reuters/Ipsos national poll conducted Monday and Tuesday, after Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday and endorsed Harris as his successor.
A previous poll before Biden left office found Harris and Trump tied at 44 percent last week, and Trump was one percentage point ahead of her earlier this month.
In all three cases, the differences were within the polls' three-point margin of error, but the results could signal limited movement in the Democratic direction and suggest that Harris' climb to the top of the ballot is eroding any momentum Trump gained from last week's Republican National Convention, also in Milwaukee.
Harris quickly garnered support in the party after Biden, 81, dropped out of the re-election campaign under pressure from party members concerned about his ability to defeat Trump or secure another four-year term.
She wrapped up her bid Monday night with a pledge from a majority of delegates, who will decide the nominee at next month's party convention, the campaign said.
Most Democrats in Congress have stood by her nomination, including Senate and House leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries, who endorsed Harris at a joint news conference Tuesday.
An unofficial AP poll of delegates showed Harris had more than 2,500 delegates, well above the 1,976 needed for the nomination. Delegates could still change their minds, but none received votes, according to the AP poll. Fifty-four delegates said they were undecided.
Harris' rise has led to a major shift in this election, with many voters unhappy with their choice.
With concerns over his health and persistently high consumer prices weighing on Americans' household finances, Biden has lost ground to Trump in polls, particularly in hotly contested states that are likely to decide the election, including Wisconsin and Sun Belt states like Arizona and Nevada.
Reset campaign
The Wisconsin event gives Harris, the first black and Asian-American woman to serve as vice president, another chance to kickstart a new Democratic campaign.
Harris has received a flurry of campaign donations, with her campaign revealing Monday that she had donated $100 million since Sunday, more than the $95 million Biden's campaign had in the bank at the end of June.
As a number of senior Democrats lined up to support Harris, the Black Lives Matter group for racial justice challenged the party’s swift move Tuesday.
Calls for a virtual national primary election ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 19-22, where the party will formally nominate candidates.
“We urge the Rules Committee to create a process that allows for public participation in the nomination process, not just party nominations,” Black Lives Matter said in a statement to Reuters.
Anti-rust belt
Biden said on Show X that he would deliver a speech Wednesday night from the Oval Office explaining his decision to end his campaign. He will return to Washington on Tuesday after spending several days in isolation at home due to COVID-19. The White House physician said in a letter Tuesday that the president had tested negative and was no longer experiencing symptoms.
Biden's resignation comes after Trump survived a July 13 assassination attempt, raising questions about security failures at US intelligence agencies. The agency's director, Kimberly Cheatle, resigned on Tuesday after several members of Congress called for her resignation.
Trump and his allies have tried to link Harris to some of Biden's unpopular policies, including his administration's handling of the surge in migrants at the southern border with Mexico.
“Kamala Harris’s dismal record is a complete failure and total incompetence. Her policies are Biden’s policies and vice versa,” Trump spokesman Steven Chiang said.
Wisconsin is one of three Rust Belt states, along with Michigan and Pennsylvania, that are critical to Democrats’ chances of defeating Trump.
“There are independents and young people who don’t like their choices, and Harris has a good chance of winning those choices,” said Paul Kendrick, executive director of the Rust Belt Rising, a Democratic group.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Democrat, said Harris could also help bring back key black voters.
“A lot of them didn’t come because they were so focused on his (Biden’s) age and his appearance,” he said.
Democratic National Committee Chair Jamie Harrison said in an interview on NBC's “Today” show that the party needs to move quickly to get its candidates on the ballot in all 50 states and decide on its vice president by Aug. 7.
“This process will be fair, transparent, open, but it will be quick,” Harrison said.
Possible presidential running mates include Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, according to people familiar with domestic policy discussions.
