XPost: alt.politics.trump, alt.war.civil.usa, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: abe.lincoln.was@a.fool   
      
   Amid the ongoing fallout from Joe Biden’s debate performance, talk in many   
   top Democratic circles has already moved to who Kamala Harris’ running mate   
   would be.   
      
   That’s how certain a widening group of leading party officials, operatives   
   and donors are that the president’s slow start to salvage his campaign just   
   won’t work, with several close allies skeptical that he is up to the   
   reelection campaign he has pledged to stay in, based on CNN’s conversations   
   with two dozen Democratic politicians and operatives.   
      
   Biden always says not to compare him to the almighty, but to the   
   alternative. That’s exactly what a growing number of Democrats looking at   
   Harris are doing.   
      
   For her part, the vice president and her staff have deliberately ignored   
   most of the calls and texts coming their way, remaining insistently on   
   message about both her support for Biden and her pride in sticking with him.   
      
      
   That’s her keeping close to Biden — but it’s also Biden keeping her   
   close.   
      
   Despite her efforts, Democratic politics has started to reshape around her —   
   as has former President Donald Trump’s campaign, which has already begun   
   attacking Harris. Several officials told CNN they have begun chiding donors   
   who complain that they don’t think she can win, arguing that they need to   
   stop and get on board with her. Other officials and advisers said plans are   
   underway to convince Biden to immediately throw his support behind Harris,   
   release his Democratic delegates and ask them to follow his choice. Former   
   presidents and party leaders would then follow suit, they believe, in hopes   
   of avoiding a contentious fight to lead the Democratic ticket.   
      
   A more open race, these top Democrats hope, would be for Harris’ running   
   mate, with a focus on leading Democratic governors. North Carolina Gov. Roy   
   Cooper and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear are the most discussed; the list also   
   includes Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, J.B. Pritzker of Illinois and Tim   
   Walz of Minnesota. But even that is fraught, as it would deny Harris the   
   deference given to every other modern presidential nominee to pick their own   
   running mate.   
      
   A Democratic senator offered an extended and very colorful metaphor for   
   describing the movement to Harris, likening Biden and his vice president to   
   a star quarterback who needs to be taken off the field and their backup.   
      
      
   The senator said that’s the difference between the donors who are   
   handwringing about Harris’ chances and many of those who are trying to focus   
   on what the realistic options are now.   
      
      
   There are also the logistics of making a new person the Democratic nominee.   
   Harris would be able to take over the Biden campaign fundraising and   
   infrastructure, since she is also part of the current ticket.   
      
   “It’s a straight shot and she’s ready to roll. We’ve got to be   
   decisive,   
   too,” said Tim Ryan, the former Ohio congressman, who said he’s been   
   getting   
   flooded with private agreements from former colleagues and others after   
   saying Biden needs to step aside to make room for Harris. “It plays right   
   into the stereotype that Democrats are weak. With one fell swoop, you can   
   change so many different narratives.”   
      
   Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz dismissed the speculation.   
      
   “President Biden is our nominee, Vice President Harris is our running mate,   
   and we will win this November,” he said.   
      
   Chatter about Biden’s vs. Harris’ weaknesses   
   While several House Democrats have told colleagues they fear they will lose   
   their seats with Harris at the top of the ticket, multiple other high level   
   Democratic skeptics say they have already turned around on their past   
   wariness of Harris — at least as opposed to sticking with Biden.   
      
   “Are you kidding?” is how the leader of one major Democratic group   
   described   
   the feeling when asked about preferring Harris, for all her weaknesses, to   
   Biden in the state he’s in.   
      
   “He’s in such bad shape, but I’ve also had conversations with Democrats   
   about her from some key groups that have been skeptical in the past who   
   believe everyone will rally to her if she’s the nominee,” said a Democratic   
   House member who has long been a Harris doubter.   
      
      
   “There’s one path out of this mess, and it’s Kamala,” the document   
   reads.   
   “Kamala Harris has the strongest claim to Democratic legitimacy. She is the   
   only candidate who can take the reins right now, instead of in late August   
   with less than three months left to go. She has significant and widely   
   underplayed electoral advantages. She can win.”   
      
      
   Rep. Nanette Barragán, a California Democrat who supported Harris’   
   presidential campaign in 2019 and is now the chair of the Congressional   
   Hispanic Caucus, said that though any scenario in which Biden isn’t running   
   is “a hypothetical situation we shouldn’t be talking about,” she’s also   
   observed the turn in the conversations she’s been hearing about the vice   
   president.   
      
   “It’s nice to see that people are finally recognizing the value of her work   
   and what she brings to the partnership,” Barragán said.   
      
   Biden’s anemic public schedule since his debate debacle has not only raised   
   more doubts about him, but strengthened the case for Harris, and for moving   
   quickly.   
      
   Mini Timmaraju, the president of the abortion rights advocacy group   
   Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly known as NARAL, said Harris already   
   has more credibility than Biden as a leader on one of the Democrats’ top   
   issues, and that no matter what happens, “You can’t win this election   
   without Kamala.”   
      
   As for Democratic doubters, Timmaraju said, “I don’t care if they love her   
   or not. I know I should as an ally on the campaign. But I need them to trust   
   the base of the party. They don’t have to like her, but they have to trust   
   that she’s getting the job done — and saving our democracy.”   
      
   Pushing back on attacks on Harris   
   Harris loyalists have been frustrated to see the conversation about   
   potential Biden replacements not start and stop with her. But they have been   
   enraged by seeing donors and others talking down her chances, especially   
   with some post-debate polls showing movement toward Trump — and a CNN poll   
   out Wednesday showing that she would be within the margin of error against   
   Trump, 45% to his 47%, in a hypothetical head-to-head. She was ahead of   
   several other potential Democratic replacements.   
      
   But with panic about Biden metastasizing, it’s not just the traditional   
   loyalists who are standing up for Harris anymore.   
      
   “If he stays in, voters need to have confidence in Harris as his running   
   mate and potential successor,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of the   
   Democratic grassroots group Indivisible. “It’s foolish and c   
   unterproductive   
   to defend Biden by tearing down Harris.”   
      
   Biden has so far retained the support, publicly and mostly privately, of the   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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