Democrats rally around Harris as her campaign takes shape: From the Politics Desk

Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the campaign trail, the White House and Capitol Hill.

In today’s edition, we report on how the Democratic Party has quickly coalesced around Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden ended his campaign. Plus, senior political editor Mark Murray breaks down the dynamics that have and haven’t changed in the 2024 race following Biden’s exit.

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Democrats rally around Harris as her campaign takes shape

Vice President Kamala Harris isn’t wasting any time. 

She has quickly consolidated support for her bid for the Democratic nomination, with seemingly all of her major potential rivals rallying around her after President Joe Biden announced he was bowing out, Alex Seitz-Wald writes.  

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer formally endorsed Harris in statements Monday morning, joining a long list of other Democrats known to harbor national ambitions who backed Harris on Sunday, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 

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 And Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced he would not be seeking the nomination, which he had been considering just a day earlier. 

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — who played a critical role in delicately nudging Biden to the exits — also endorsed Harris on Monday, a strong signal to members of her party that Democrats should coalesce around her. 

All 50 state Democratic Party chairs have endorsed Harris, as have a slew of state delegations to the Democratic National Convention after party officials scrambled to hold emergency meetings and internal votes in the hours after Biden dropped out.

On the money front, Harris’ campaign announced it raised an astounding $81 million in the 24 hours after Biden dropped out, while leading Democratic super PAC Future Forward said it secured $150 million in new commitments from donors over the same period.  

It’s now unclear if anyone will even challenge Harris for the Democratic nomination ahead of next month’s convention in Chicago, let alone pose a real threat to her. 

Building out the campaign: Harris and her allies have spent hours calling Democratic leaders, donors and officials who may end up on the shortlist to become her running mate, Yamiche Alcindor reports. Her most ardent supporters — many of them Black women — held organizing calls Sunday night to solicit donations, recruit volunteers and pray. 

The next weeks could be the most crucial for Harris, not just to unify her party and gather the support needed to officially lock in the nomination but also to raise enough cash to power a campaign and map out a path to beating former President Donald Trump in November. 

Her first big decision could be naming a running mate. A number of names were being floated by allies, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona.

In the spotlight: In her first public remarks since Biden dropped out and endorsed her — at a White House event celebrating NCAA athletes who won championships in the 2023-24 season — Harris said the president’s “legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern history,” Rebecca Shabad reports. But Harris did not directly address her campaign.  

Harris also paid a visit to campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, on Monday. 

Trump world’s strategy: Trump’s political team had already been preparing to run against Harris for weeks, Matt Dixon, Allan Smith and Henry J. Gomez report. Early signs point to a three-pronged attack: accuse Harris of helping shield the public from Biden’s aging, attack her as the “border czar” of the administration, and argue Democrats trampled on the voices of primary voters by making a switch at this point in the race.

Behind the scenes: Jonathan Allen, Carol E. Lee, Monica Alba, Mike Memoli and Natasha Korecki take you inside Biden’s historic move this weekend to drop out of the race. The decision was tightly held, with one integral member of Biden’s re-election team finding out after a family member read a news alert.

Follow along with the latest 2024 election developments on our live blog →

What changes — and what might not — in the 2024 race after Biden’s exit

By Mark Murray

Biden’s withdrawal from the Democratic ticket and endorsement of Harris has rocked the 2024 election — the latest event in the past 3 1/2 weeks to do that. 

The move has already changed several key aspects of the campaign. 

Democratic money pours in: Against the backdrop of reports that Democratic donations had dried up after Biden’s poor debate performance, the Harris campaign said it raised more than $80 million in a 24-hour period. That wouldn’t have been the case if Biden had remained in the contest. 

Democratic enthusiasm builds: The stretch after Biden’s debate performance was a gloomy time for Democrats, but Sunday’s news injects badly needed enthusiasm for the party. As Chuck Todd recently mused, it’s very possible that turnout in November becomes much higher with Biden out of the race. 

The third-party vote probably gets smaller: Relatedly, don’t be surprised if polls start reflecting a smaller share for the third-party vote. That’s what our national NBC News poll showed in a hypothetical matchup between Harris and Trump that became much less hypothetical Sunday. The survey showed Trump at 45% and Biden at 43%, with 12% saying they were voting for a different candidate, undecided or not voting. With the vice president in the mix, Trump was at 47% and Harris was at 45%, with 8% voting for a different candidate, undecided or not voting. 

Veepstakes becomes one of the biggest stories heading into the Democratic convention: Who will be Harris’ running mate — a governor from a battleground state (like Shapiro of Pennsylvania or Cooper of North Carolina), a red-state governor (like Beshear of Kentucky), a blue-state governor (like Newsom of California or Pritzker of Illinois), or a Biden Cabinet secretary (like Buttigieg)?

But here’s what might not change: the overall 2024 presidential race.  

While it’s possible that the polling numbers could move, the national and battleground surveys before Biden dropped out showed Harris performing the same as the president — or just a point or two better — against Trump.

What’s more, voter perceptions of Harris are similar to perceptions of Biden — with both holding net-negative views among all voters, independents and persuadable voters, according to the most recent national NBC News poll. 

And beyond concerns about Biden’s age, Democrats have struggled against Trump when it comes to memories of the former president’s four years in office. In a recent national New York Times/Siena College poll, 47% of registered voters said Trump left the country better than when he first took office, versus 46% who said he made it worse. 

Yet for Biden, just 34% said he has made the country better since taking office, while 58% said he made it worse. 

Again, it’s certainly possible that Harris as the Democratic Party’s likely standard-bearer could change those numbers and impressions over the next 3 1/2 months. 

But it’s also possible that she doesn’t.

That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at [email protected]

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