Joe Biden hugs Kamala Harris during a campaign event in Philadelphia. She’s already broken barriers, and now Kamala Harris could become the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to head a major party’s presidential ticket if Democrats nominate her after President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid.

Democrats promise ‘orderly process’ to replace Biden, Harris vows to ‘earn and win’ party nomination

(AP) -- President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 race for the White House on Sunday, ending his bid for reelection following a disastrous debate with Donald Trump that raised doubts about his fitness for office just four months before the election.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris is being thrust into the most scrutinizing of spotlights, suddenly the leading candidate to succeed Biden as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and her party’s main hope of defeating Trump.
The main contours of the presidential race were set with Trump’s announcement in November of 2022. Now, if Democrats choose Harris, those battle lines come into much sharper focus. Harris, as the nation’s first Black woman vice president, and first of South Asian descent, has the potential to generate an overperformance among women, particularly women of color, while Trump will try to do the same among white men.
But Trump isn’t putting all his eggs in a single demographic basket. After performing better than expected with Latinos in 2020 his campaign has been trying to boost his numbers with that ethnicity even more and also targeting Black voters. Meanwhile, Biden’s hold on older white voters — who are more likely to cast ballots — kept him competitive.
Any changes between Harris’ coalition and Biden’s are likely to be small, but this election is likely to be close and turn on tiny shifts in Migrants in Mexico reacted on Sunday to US President Joe Biden’s announcement that he is dropping his reelection bid against Donald Trump.
Biden announced that he is dropping his bid in a social media post that sent political shockwaves around the country and threw an element of turmoil into the election just months before voters go to the polls.
Shortly after Biden announced Sunday that he would drop his reelection campaign, Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison had a message: There would be no automatic coronation for his replacement.
“In the coming days, the party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward,” Harrison said in a statement. “This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people.“
The comment reflected the reality that while Vice President Harris is emerging as the prohibitive favourite to become the party’s nominee — backed already by Biden and many Democrats — it’s not so simple. And for now, the party isn’t offering many details on what happens next.
Harris has to formally secure the nomination from the around 4,700 Democratic convention delegates — including those pledged to Biden, as well as the elected officials, former presidents and other party elders known as superdelegates.
Harris is the first woman, Black person or person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. If she becomes the Democratic nominee and defeats Republican candidate Donald Trump in November, she would be the first woman to serve as president.
A former prosecutor and senator from California, Harris’ own bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination imploded before a single primary vote was cast. She later became Biden’s running mate, but she struggled to find her footing after taking office as vice president. Assigned to work on issues involving migration from Central America, she was repeatedly blamed by Republicans for problems with illegal border crossings.
However, Harris found more prominence as the White House’s most outspoken advocate for abortion rights after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She has also played a key role in reaching out to young people and voters of color.
In addition, Harris’ steady performance after Biden’s debate debacle solidified her standing among Democrats in recent weeks.
Some voters were surprised, others not so much following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will no longer seek reelection. Many say their support waned following his debate performance. Other voters say they would’ve still voted for him.
ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform, announced it had collected US$46.7 million as of 9 pm from small-dollar donations for Vice President Harris’ campaign.
The Biden campaign and affiliated groups previously had about US$96 million in cash on hand. The Republican National Convention, by contrast, reported a campaign fund of US$102 million in June.
It wasn’t until Saturday evening that Biden began to come to the conclusion that he would not run for reelection. He started writing a letter to the American people.
Biden had been off the campaign trail for a few days, isolated because of COVID-19, when it all started to deeply sink in — his worsening chances of being able to defeat Donald Trump with so much of his party in open rebellion, seeking to push him out of the race — not to mention the persistent voter concerns about his age that were only exacerbated by the catastrophic debate.
By Sunday, his decision crystallised. He spoke multiple times with Vice President Kamala Harris, whom he would endorse. He informed White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, and his longtime aide and campaign chairwoman Jen O’Malley Dillon.
A small group of senior advisers from both the campaign and the White House were assembled for the 1:45 pm call to relay Biden’s decision, while his campaign staff released the social media
Rep. Jim Clyburn, one of Biden’s top congressional allies, says he “was not surprised” by Biden’s departure from the race, particularly after the two spent time together recently at various events in Nevada.
“I sensed, in my interactions with him and in watching him, that he was being very contemplative, and so, I was not surprised,” the South Carolina Democrat told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday night.

(Latest Update July 23, 2024)