AP: Harris Has Enough Delegates for Democratic Nomination

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Facts

• A survey by the Associated Press revealed late Monday that US Vice President Kamala Harris already has the support of enough Democratic delegates to earn her party's nomination for president and to face off against Republican former Pres. Donald Trump.¹
• State delegations in Texas and her home state of California were among those that met Monday and threw their support behind Harris, who also set a 24-hour record for presidential donations by raising $81M by the end of Monday.¹
• As many of her potential rivals have declined to challenge her, Harris has exceeded the 1,976 candidate total necessary to clinch the nomination. Delegate support, however, isn't binding until they cast their vote sometime between Aug. 1-7.²
• The rules committee of the Democratic National Convention — which is scheduled to start Aug. 19 in Chicago — will meet Wednesday to determine when to hold its early virtual roll-call vote (which is intended to avoid legal risks caused by some states' ballot deadlines).²
• Harris spoke to staff at her campaign's headquarters in Delaware on Monday, telling them she'll continue a campaign of focusing on 'the future' and making room for 'all Americans.' She was scheduled to speak in Wisconsin on Tuesday.³
• Harris' ascension comes after Pres. Joe Biden on Sunday announced he would end his campaign in the face of concerns about his health and age.⁴

Sources: ¹Associated Press, ²New York Times, ³BBC News and ⁴Reuters.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Daily Beast. For a party that's been preaching for years how much it respects institutions and is the defender of democracy, the Democratic Party has executed the most undemocratic process possible to anoint Harris as its nominee. Several party leaders clamored for there to be a vetting process, but instead Harris — untested and unelected — looks like she'll be atop the ticket, which risks turning off some would-be Democratic voters.
• Narrative B, as provided by Brookings. In order to have a competitive process, there must be more than one competitor. No one stood up to challenge Harris, so her near-unanimous support — plus her overwhelming fundraising and her ability to smoothly take the reins from Biden — make her a legitimate nominee. Democrats who wanted this selection to be democratic didn't count on Harris' surging momentum.
• Republican narrative, as provided by Daily Caller. Only Democrats would move on from an unpopular incumbent president to an equally unpopular failed former presidential candidate as their nominee. Harris has never won a single delegate in an election and when she bowed out of the 2020 Democratic primary race she was polling at 3%. Republicans will find it easy to defeat this candidate who was hand-picked by the Democratic elites.

Predictions