Kamala Harris pays tribute to Biden and attacks Trump, 'leader of tantrums'

Her mission is clear and declared: unite the Democrats and give them the best chance at the ballot box to defeat Donald Trump again. Kamala Harris, in her first public speech as the party's new, likely presidential candidate, chose a soft start to her campaign. She paid tribute to Joe Biden: speaking from the White House at an event dedicated to college basketball champions, she called his achievements in a single term 'unprecedented in modern history'. But that message reflected her confidence in quickly winning the nomination and her anti-Trump strategy: as vice-president, Harris stood by Biden. Now she intends to reclaim America as a healthy nation on the march, calling for a leader capable of championing an inclusive and optimistic vision. Not the gloomy and declining country to be revolutionised, painted by the Republicans.

Her campaign, Harris for President, has already coined its first slogans, apostrophising the Republican candidate, known for anger and volubility forcefully returned in her rallies, 'a world leader in tantrums'. Possible slogans because Harris has received increasing support from party members, delegates and donors to her candidacy since Biden's retirement, which anointed her as his heir. At least 16 governors and nearly 200 Democratic MPs of all persuasions lined up for Harris, a number that increased as the hours passed. In the evening came the crucial yes from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, previously in favour of an open process for multiple candidates to replace Biden. "With great pride I endorse Kamala Harris for President of the United States. My enthusiastic support is official, personal and political," she said without leaving any shadows.

What's more: one state delegation after another, from Tennessee to Kentucky, has made it known in the run-up to the 19-22 August convention in Chicago that they will support Harris, hundreds and hundreds of delegates formerly loyal to Biden and now ready to consecrate her in his place, perhaps already in virtual ballots before they get to Chicago. And no one has come out as a potential challenger to the nomination. Independent senator and former conservative Democrat Joe Manchin, who had been hinting at presidential ambitions against Biden for the past year, has also pulled out.

There is no lack of signs of caution, which could signal unresolved inner challenges. Among the most cautious is perhaps the party's most influential figure, Barack Obama: he avoided mentioning Harris when paying tribute to Biden. It is unclear whether he harbours doubts or rather simply wants to appear neutral given his political stature in the party, as he was in 2020 before formal decisions on the candidate, then Biden. The two leaders of the Democrats in the House and Senate, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, have still been playing cards.

But what makes the headlines above all are the outstanding supporters, from prestigious figures such as Bill and Hillary Clinton to numerous potential aspirants for a vice-presidential nomination alongside Harris. Here one can count powerful and popular governors: above all Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, and Andy Beshear of Kentucky, but also Wes Mooore of Maryland, Roy Cooper of North Carolina, Tim Walz of Minnesota and Tony Evers of Wisconsin, up to Gavin Newsom of California. Shapiro, Beshear, Cooper along with an Arizona senator, former astronaut Mark Kelly, would be in pole position.