Harris campaign eager to maintain its momentum

Vice President Harris is seeking to keep up the momentum from the last two weeks by looking for a running mate who will further boost her bid.

Harris came into August with a $377 million war chest, major endorsements from unions and top Democrats, a bump in the polls, and plans to visit every swing state next week with her choice for vice president.

The vice president secured enough votes to be the Democratic nominee for president on Friday and is set to formally accept the nomination early next week, ahead of the Democrats’ August convention.

Allies argue the timing of a new name on a ticket and a robust travel schedule will keep her campaign energized.

“Keeping momentum is the cheese in the enchilada — it’s the whole ball game. The energy feels organic, and keeping everyone busy is the key,” said Ivan Zapien, a former Democratic National Committee (DNC) official.

“Am I worried?” Zapien added. “I have no time to worry. I have calls and doors to knock on.”

Democrats echo the same sentiment — that the condensed campaign timeline means its full steam ahead until November.

She will announce her running mate in the next few days, and they’ll travel together on a swing state tour, starting in Philadelphia. That’s followed by Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia and Nevada, which are all critical swing states this cycle.

“Kamala Harris is showing America why everyone who met her when she first ran for Senate believed she had raw and immense political talent. Once she picks her VP, the contrast between the youthful and vibrant talent on the Democratic ticket with the imbalanced GOP slate will be apparent for all to see,” said Al Mottur, a Democratic strategist and bundler at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

Mottur added that he’s thinks the energy and fundraising can be sustained.

“I am confident her momentum and enthusiasm is here to stay politically and also in terms of the race to raise money to prosecute her case against Donald Trump,” he said.

After the swing state tour, Harris will get a boost from fellow Democrats at their convention later in August. President Biden is expected to give opening remarks to kick it off Aug. 19 in Chicago.

Political watchers will also be closely monitoring how a beefed-up campaign staff of alums of former President Obama’s successful campaigns can impact Harris. Senior campaign staffers to Obama, including 2008 and 2012 strategist David Plouffe and 2012 deputy campaign manager in Stephanie Cutter, joined Team Harris on Friday.

While she has momentum, Harris is lagging behind former President Trump in national polls but polling ahead of Biden’s numbers against him. 

She halved Trump’s 2024 lead in the Cook Political Report’s national polling average, which showed Trump leading Harris by 1.3 points — 47.5 percent support to 46.2 percent. In the previous polling average, on July 21, Trump was leading Biden by 2.7 points — 47.4 percent support to 44.7 percent.

The vice president erased Trump’s lead in seven key battleground states, with a Bloomberg News/ Morning Consult poll this week showing her with 48 percent support and Trump with 47 percent in those states.

Harris’s campaign also announced it raised $310 million in July, which includes money that Biden raised before he dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris, as well as the $200 million that Harris raised in the week after she announced her bid.

The campaign has stressed that the money is coming in from first-time donors and young voters — key blocs for Harris to reach this November. Two-thirds of the fundraising in July came from first-time donors, 94 percent of donations were under $200, and July included more than 10 times the number of Generation Z donors compared to June.

Trump’s campaign raised nearly $139 million in July, it announced Thursday.

Trump has also struggled this week with the fallout from his interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, during which he said that Harris “turned Black.” And, on Friday, Trump questioned why he should “do a debate” amid speculation about a September debate happening after the election shake-up.

In response, Harris’s campaign called Trump “scared” to debate and has said that she will be at the Sept. 10 debate, hosted by ABC News, that Trump and Biden had agreed to, regardless of whether the former president shows up.

Harris allies are confident that a September debate against Trump would help keep the momentum going well past Labor Day, citing her background as a prosecutor to argue that she’s a strong debater.

“Donald Trump needs to man up. He’s got no problem spreading lies and hateful garbage at his rallies or in interviews with right-wing commentators,” said former Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-La.), co-chair of Harris for President. “But he’s apparently too scared to do it standing across the stage from the Vice President of the United States.”