Why Democrats are quickly rallying around Harris

Democrats are rapidly coalescing around Vice President Harris following news that she would replace President Biden as the party’s standard-bearer in November, ending weeks of bitter division over Biden’s candidacy. 

Scores of major Democratic figures including the Clintons, lawmakers and governors have backed Harris in the less than 24 hours since Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris. Additionally, Harris’s newly minted presidential campaign has seen a massive $81 million surge in donations and big-name donors coalescing around her. 

According to The Associated Press, more than half of the delegates needed to win the nomination at the convention have already backed Harris, making way for a smoother-than-expected convention next month. 

The sudden show of unity underscores how little time Democrats feel they have heading into November after spending the last month grappling with internal divisions over Biden. It also demonstrates that the party took notice of the Republican National Convention held last week in Milwaukee, where Republicans sought to smooth over their differences and reaffirm former President Trump’s hold on the party.

Now, Democrats are the ones unifying.

“I think Chicago is going to be amazing,” said Jamal Simmons, Harris’s former communications director, referring to the Democrats’ upcoming convention. “The level of unity will be off the charts. Judging by the reaction in the last two days, Democrats are as excited as I’ve seen them since 2008.” 

The endorsements and money in support of Harris continued to flow in Monday, with Harris landing major endorsements from former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) as well as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who will serve as a co-chair for Harris’s presidential campaign. 

On top of that, major Democratic groups are also lining up behind Harris. Politico reported Monday that the Biden-allied Future Forward PAC received $150 million in new commitments from Democratic donors. But one of the most eye-popping figures demonstrating the energy felt around Harris in the hours following Biden’s exit from the ticket was the 40,000 people who joined a Win With Black Women call Sunday, where the group endorsed Harris. 

“It was so crowded that I couldn’t even get on the call, but the enthusiasm in our group chats where I was talking to friends and family who were on the call is overwhelming,” said Florida House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell during a call with reporters on Monday. 

State- and local-level Democrats also came out in droves to support Harris. The Democratic Mayors Association said Monday that more than 250 of the party’s mayors across the country came out in support of Harris, while the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association also backed the vice president. 

“President Biden’s very quick endorsement went a long way to make sure the Democratic mayors and other local elected officials across the country united around the vice president,” Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb told The Hill. 

“I’m glad that it did happen fast,” Bibb continued, referring to Biden backing Harris. “This is a unique opportunity to be united as a party, because this is going to be a hard election.”

The excitement for Harris was also evident among Democratic-allied groups, including the American Federation of Teachers, which held their convention Monday. The union’s president, Randi Weingarten, noted that the convention’s order of business was changed Monday to formally endorse Harris. Weingarten said the endorsement was “overwhelming.” 

“You’re seeing Democrats from all of the Democratic ideologies; you’re seeing them all come home,” Weingarten said. 

The massive energy shift for Democrats represents a 180-degree turn from where the party was as recently as Sunday morning. The Biden campaign was grappling with growing Democratic calls for the president to drop out of the race, and leaks to the press were creating a headache for the incumbent and the party’s campaign apparatus.

“We’re in a much better place than we were even yesterday,” one Democratic operative said, calling the show of unity “a pleasant surprise.” 

The operative said Democrats were concerned about a replay of the infamously chaotic 1968 Democratic National Convention after former President Lyndon Johnson decided not to seek the party’s nomination.

“There was a realization of, ‘Get on the train or there’s going to be issues,’” the operative added. 

Other Democrats said they were already set on Harris in the case that Biden stepped down. 

“We were all pretty much together in those conversations that it needed to be the vice president,” Michigan Democratic Party Chair Lavora Barnes said, referring to other Democrats she was in contact with. “There really isn’t time to move on to anyone else. It is time for this vice president to step up.” 

The same sentiment has also been shared by Democratic delegates, who say that it’s crunch time. 

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next hundred days. We better start now,” said Joe Caiazzo, a Democratic delegate and strategist.