Kamala Harris moves quickly to secure support from high-profile Democrats, while choosing a running mate likely is the next big task on a crowded to-do list

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Kamala Harris had an impressive first 24 hours atop the Democratic Party's presidential ticket, according to a report at The Evening newsletter  (7/21/24) of the The New York Times (NYT) How strong was it? Under the headline "Democrats cleared the path for Harris’s nomination," Reporter Matthew Cullen writes:

Vice President Kamala Harris has already secured the endorsement of the vast majority of elected Democrats, just a day after President Biden made the stunning announcement that he was dropping his re-election bid. Few obvious challengers to her nomination remain, as the party anxiously looks to move past the divisions that have torn it apart for weeks.

Here’s the latest.

Harris  yesterday earned the endorsements of several key Democratic governors, including JB Pritzker of Illinois and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, who were seen as some of the last serious threats to her nomination. She also secured the backing of Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House, who continues to wield considerable influence in the Democratic Party. A few other key Democrats, such as Barack Obama, have so far not endorsed Harris.

In her first 24 hours as a 2024 presidential candidate, Harris raised $81 million and took control of Biden’s enormous operation. Several celebrities also announced their support.

Yesterday morning, the vice president made her first public appearance since Biden ended his campaign. She praised Biden’s record as “unmatched in modern history,” while making a concerted effort to reintroduce herself to the electorate on her own terms. “One day down,” she later posted on social media. “105 to go. Together, we’re going to win this.”

Harris’s first big task will be choosing a running mate. The list of possibilities includes several governors and well-known Democrats; Eric Holder, a former attorney general, will lead the vetting process.

What’s next: As Times chief political analyst, Nate Cohn, wrote, it won’t be easy for Harris to beat Donald Trump, in part because Biden’s age was not the only thing that voters said they were dissatisfied with.

In stepping aside, Biden looked to rewrite his legacy

President Biden, who has long been concerned about his epitaph, was persuaded over the weekend that his legacy would be enhanced if he made the ultimate political sacrifice in the effort to prevent Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

My colleagues reported on the behind-the-scenes discussions that led to the decision. By Saturday night, some people very close to the president could sense that something was coming. But almost no one outside Biden’s Delaware vacation home, where the president was recovering from Covid, knew what he was thinking until he posted his statement on social media Sunday.