Kamala Harris, a Tenacious Attorney, Comes to Protect Against Anti-Gay Policy in the Town of P-town, Massachusetts
PROVINCETOWN, Mass./REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — Vice President Harris was back on the campaign trail this weekend, raising money for the Biden-Harris ticket on Cape Cod while President Biden remained sidelined by a case of COVID in his beach house in Delaware.
In a large tent near the the harbor, hundreds of Democratic donors cheered and waved fans imprinted with “Veeptown” — a play on P-Town, as the beach town known for its LGBTQ history and community is called.
Harris focused on former President Donald Trump’s policies that removed protections for discrimination for LGBTQ people for health care, employment, and students and his ban on transgender military service.
She said Trump’s running mate, Ohio Sen., will be a rubber stamp for his anti-gay agenda. That prompted a yell of “Go get ’em, Kamala!” There is one from a donor.
The fundraiser came as the future of Biden’s campaign is in question. A disastrous debate against Trump three weeks ago prompted calls from Democratic party officials and donors for Biden to step down and let a younger candidate take over. Biden has insisted he will stay in the race.
“With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else,” Harris said in a statement Sunday. “I am honored to have the president’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”
She was called a “tenacious prosecutor” on Saturday by Rep. Mark Takano. I love you and respect you, Joe. But the stakes are too high to fail. Takano said that it was time to pass the torch on to a new generation.
Biden called Vice President Kamala Harris “an extraordinary partner” in the letter, and subsequently posted to offer her his “full support and endorsement.” If Harris takes over, she will likely control the $240 million campaign war chest raised by the campaign over the past few years, according to CNBC. Donors and, reportedly, Nancy Pelosi have voiced support for an open nomination process of some sort.
After the COVID results, Biden has been unable to leave the Congressional chambers after he was diagnosed with bronchitis
Biden had been doing a lot of events in swing states and doing a solo press conference to counteract the concerns about his age and abilities. But that came to a halt when he tested positive for COVID last week.
Biden has a cough but his doctor said in the memo that his symptoms are improving. Since the Republican National Convention ended, the pace of Democrats asking Biden to leave has picked up.
Michael Tyler told reporters on Saturday that the President will be back on the road next week once he gets clearance from his doctor.
The United States of America: What I’ve Learned and What I Can’t Learn from the First 30 Years of Washington D.C. Biden
Today, America has the strongest economy in the world. We’ve made historic investments in rebuilding our Nation, in lowering prescription drug costs for seniors, and in expanding affordable health care to a record number of Americans. We’ve helped a million veterans who have been exposed to toxic substances. The first gun safety law in 30 years was passed. She was the first African American woman to serve on the Supreme Court. The most significant climate legislation has been passed in the history of the world. America has never been better positioned to lead than we are today.
Biden wrote to X that it had been the greatest honor of his life to serve as President. I have always intended to seek reelection, but I believe that it is better for my party and the country for me to focus solely on my duties as President for the remainder of my term.
Let me express my gratitude to the people who worked so hard to get me reelected. Vice President Harris is an amazing partner in all this work. I would like to express my gratitude for the trust you have put in me, the American people.
I believe today what I always have: that there is nothing America can’t do – when we do it together. We just have to remember we are the United States of America.
Biden’s Resignale in 2020: A Call for a Reconcile with Democrats and the Establishment of the Party
Many Democrats, including some of Biden’s key allies, were concerned about the viability of the president going forward and were lobbying for him to withdraw from the election. In television interviews shortly after the debate, party leaders like representatives Nancy Pelosi and Jim Clyburn said that it was fair to question Biden’s fitness for office. Pelosi said in an interview with MSNBC that she thinks it is a legitimate question to ask, is this an episode or a condition? Schumer and Jeffries warned the president of the party’s concerns regarding down-ballot elections if Biden stayed on the ticket. Others, like senators Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, along with a number of representatives, called for Biden to drop out of the election.
He wheeled out new attack lines on Trump in a retooled stump speech — only to have to immediately scale back his rhetoric in the wake of an assassination attempt on Trump. At the Republicans national convention he tried to create counterprogramming by going to Nevada, but he was sent to isolation in Delaware due to Covid.
Biden tried to prove that he had a bad night at the debate by giving fiery speeches in key states. He held a press conference and sat for interviews.
Biden criticized the elites in his party. “I don’t care what those ‘big names’ think. They were wrong in 2020, they were wrong in 2022 about the red wave. They’re wrong in 2024,” Biden said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on July 8.
He told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that only the “Lord Almighty” could make him drop out of the race, and privately met with Democratic lawmakers, governors, and donors to make his case.
Democrats in Congress led the push to get Biden to leave the race, and now they are facing a scramble to replace him since the party’s convention is just one month away. The demands for Biden’s resignation now trigger a complicated process that will force the party to launch a new campaign and defend Biden’s competence at the same time.
Biden Drops Out of 2020 reelection race, endorses Harris for nominee: A conversation with Biden on his 2024 campaign
The president spoke with a raspy voice, appeared overwhelmed and failed to make clear points on his reelection platform, notably protecting abortion access.
The goal was to send a clear message to Biden’s doubters: that he could swat away concerns about his age by showing off his first-term record and decades-long political tenure.
Not since March 1968 has an incumbent U.S. president opted out of running for a second term — when President Lyndon B. Johnson, under pressure over the Vietnam War, dropped out of the presidential race during a live television address.
His decision came just a month ahead of the convention. But the path ahead to Nov. 5 is unclear, and it will be difficult for the party to get organized on time.
When your arm is tired out and there is a lot of appreciation from the crowd, there is no shame in taking a well-deserved bow.
Back in 2020, when Biden was running to become the Democratic presidential candidate, he had called himself a “bridge” to younger stars in his party as he campaigned with Harris, Whitmer and Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J.
“I realized … “My long time in the Senate made me aware of how to deal with Congress to get things done,” he said. “And I want to finish it — to get that finished.”
The “Hunger Games”: Where Joe Biden and his “Ginormous” Successor Come From: Newsom, Whitmer, Pritzker and Moore
Democrats are under intense pressure to pick an alternate candidate in a very short period of time, likening it to the “Hunger Games.”
Democratic governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Gavin Newsom of California, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Wes Moore of Maryland are also seen as leaders in the party. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection win in his red state could add his name to the mix.
They also quickly turned their attention to Harris as Biden’s potential successor, criticizing her record on the border, and accusing her of covering up Biden’s “mental decline.”
“As second in command and a completely inept border czar, Harris has been a gleeful accomplice — not only in the destruction of American sovereignty, security, and prosperity, but also in the largest political coverup in U.S. history. She has known about Biden’s incapacity to serve for a long time.
Democrats responded with a mix of laudatory statements focused solely on Biden and support for elevating Vice President Kamala Harris. The top leaders focused on Biden.
“With love and appreciation to President Biden for his belief in America and giving people the chance to fulfill their potential,” the statement reads. America was blessed with greatness and goodness from Joe Biden.
Nancy Pelosi didn’t mention Harris, a fellow Californian in her statement. Pelosi said Biden’s “vison, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history.
“There is so much at stake, that we must unite as a country to defeat extremism and win this election,” she wrote. This is the most important election for women’s reproductive rights, democracy and for our future that has ever been held.
A member of Republican leadership wrote on X that if Joe Biden could not run for re-election, he would not be able to serve as president.
The letter did not provide additional detail on how the Democratic Party might decide its next ticket, but Biden wrote that he would “speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision.”
Democratic megadonors Laurene Powell Jobs and Ron Conway, among others, began discussing how Biden could be replaced before or during the Democratic National Convention, the New York Times reported.
A Silicon Valley Perspective on the Democratic Candidate J.D. Vance and the Ruling Landau-Stroman Electoral Campaign
“I had seen some emails from people in Silicon Valley who said if I didn’t have more confidence they wouldn’t donate anymore,” said VP donor and founder of networking sitelinkedinrenaissance.
The Democratic candidate will face a Republican Party newly energized by the victory of its populist wing and an alliance with powerful Silicon Valley investors like Elon Musk—both represented in the ascension of 39-year-old Peter Thiel acolyte J.D. Vance to the ticket as Trump’s vice president and heir apparent.