One day after US President Joe Biden announced his decision to quit the US presidential race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, Harris on Monday secured enough support to become the Democratic nominee for the upcoming presidential election, US media reported.
Harris quickly locked up the support of her party’s donors, elected officials and other leaders, the AP reported. No other candidate was named by a delegate in the survey and Harris now appears to have the backing of more than the 1,976 delegates she needs to claim the nomination.
In hitting out at Republican nominee, former president Donald Trump, Harris said “I know Donald Trump’s type” in a meeting with campaign staffers on Monday, Politico reported. “I’m a prosecutor, and he’s a convicted felon,” she said.
In a Washington Post average of 11 post-debate polls, Trump edged out Harris by 1.5 percentage points, only slightly less than his 1.9-point lead over Biden in the same polls.
And CNN’s polling in late June tested Biden’s support against Trump in the wake of the presidential debate, and it also looked at how Harris would fare in a hypothetical matchup with the former president.
Overall, Harris held 45 percent support to Trump’s 47 percent among registered voters nationwide, a result with no clear leader, within the poll’s margin of sampling error. Biden trailed Trump by 6 points in the same poll.
CNN pointed out that Harris outperformed Biden against Trump among women – notably among women of color and suburban women – and political independents, and she held an advantage over Trump among voters who said they were not fully locked into their presidential choices.
“Harris does not possess the same level of leadership ability as Biden to unite party members. Some people doubt her leadership capabilities, believing that Harris lacks sufficient experience and achievements to serve as president,” Sun Chenghao, a fellow and head of the US-EU program at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.
Moreover, her overall record as vice president has not been particularly impressive, and she has not delivered satisfactory results, Sun said.
“Looking back at the 2020 Democratic primary, Harris’ performance was mediocre, and she withdrew from the primary at an early stage, indicating that her influence within the party is relatively limited,” the expert added.
After Biden endorsed Harris, it is highly likely that the Democratic Party will prioritize the bigger picture and support Harris as the Democratic candidate, Chinese observers said.
“From Sunday through the entirety of Monday, no one within the Democratic Party has challenged Harris. If no one challenges Harris in the next two to three days, she will undoubtedly be the sole [Democratic] candidate,” Diao Daming, a professor from Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.
“I think there might be a slight suspense, but it’s highly unlikely that anyone will openly challenge Harris within the party. It’s hard to imagine because this election is indeed difficult to win,” Diao said.
After Biden withdrew, his successor involves issues such as those related to the Federal Election Commission, including campaign finances and other matters, Diao noted.
“Previously, it was Biden and Harris, so now it’s easier for Harris to take over. Therefore, I think that in terms of difficulty and procedure, the likelihood of another candidate emerging from within the party is relatively small,” Diao said.
Some Chinese observers said that those backing Harris do not do so because she is the greatest common denominator within the party.
“It’s not that Harris has been chosen through normal channels and is accepted by everyone. Instead, it’s that everyone is accepting her as Biden’s replacement, not that she is universally seen as the most suitable candidate to represent the Democratic Party in the election,” Diao said.
After the Democratic Party changed its nominee, it is time for it to determine a better strategy to face Trump head-on and to prepare for the potential second presidential debate. Still, the Democrats are facing several challenges, some observers said.
“The first challenge is whether Harris can quickly establish her authority and recognition among party members and the electorate, and the second is whether the Democratic Party can develop a better strategy to attack Trump after the leadership change,” Sun said.
The analyst noted that Democratic Party has been heavily criticizing Trump during the campaign, accusing him of being a “criminal” and “undermining democracy.”
However, after the assassination attempt on Trump, some Republicans claimed that Biden’s campaign rhetoric led to the shooting, which has significantly hindered the effectiveness of the Democratic Party’s campaign strategy in the short term, Sun said.
Some US media such as Politico forecast that in most areas, Harris would likely continue many of Biden’s foreign policy objectives.
A Harris administration would probably offer strong support for Ukraine’s war effort and continue initiatives to deepen alliances in Asia and the Pacific “in the face of China’s geopolitical ascendance,” US media said.
And she would likely still see the US providing robust support to Israel and other allies in the Middle East, Politico said.
Some Chinese observers said they have limited understanding about Harris’ foreign policy beliefs.
“Even though she participated in many activities on behalf of the president during her vice presidency, her own statements and public stance do not significantly deviate from Biden’s agenda,” Diao said, noting that it’s still difficult now to make a clear judgment about how she would handle foreign affairs if she were elected.
Global Times
