As Vice President Harris prepares to face off against former President Trump in November, her campaign is increasingly being joined by former President Barack Obama’s close political aides and advisers.
Harris has less than 100 days to urge voters to support her White House bid after President Biden dropped out of the race amid growing concerns about his mental health and his advanced age of 81. Vice President Harris formally clinched the 2024 presidential nomination on Friday after receiving more than half of the votes from the party’s convention delegates, according to a report from the Democratic National Committee.
Since Biden dropped out of the race, Harris has been beefing up her campaign, particularly by adding a number of Obama campaign associates and advisers to her campaign.
Last week, Harris hired David Plouffe, who ran Obama’s 2008 campaign and helped Obama win reelection in 2012, as her senior campaign adviser, and Stephanie Cutter, who served as deputy campaign manager for Obama’s 2012 campaign, as her senior adviser for strategy and messaging.
Barack and Michelle Obama endorse Kamala Harris for president after several days of silence
Vice President Harris and Former President Obama (Getty Images)
Harris also brought on Mitch Stewart, who worked as a grassroots strategist for both Obama campaigns, as a senior battleground states adviser, according to The Washington Post. Harris’ longtime colleague, David Binder, will also expand his role in the campaign and oversee the polling team. Binder previously worked on Obama’s polling team.
Obama’s allies and advisers led the Democratic attack to undermine Biden ahead of the official announcement.
Ms. Harris also hired veteran Democratic activist Jennifer Palmieri as a senior adviser to her husband, Doug Emhoff. Palmieri served as White House communications director under the Obama administration and during Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful 2016 bid for the White House.
Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, White House Deputy Chief of Staff, and Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor. (Getty Images)
Harris had previously named Obama’s former Attorney General Eric Holder to lead the vetting process for her running mate, but it was announced that Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, who served as deputy campaign manager for Obama’s 2012 campaign and Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign manager, will serve as Harris’ campaign manager.
Obama’s aides have signaled, without saying it publicly, that the 44th president is a strong supporter of Harris.
Vice President Harris (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The 44th president remained quiet for several days before endorsing Harris for the presidency last month. Since leaving the Oval Office, Obama has refrained from issuing endorsements, first backing former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in June 2016 and then endorsing Biden in 2020 just days before the Democratic National Convention.
President Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama formally endorsed Harris in a video last week.
“I can’t end this call without saying to my dear Kamala, I’m so proud of you. This is going to be historic,” First Lady Michelle Obama said in a video addressing Harris.
“Michelle and I called to let you know we couldn’t be more proud to support you and that we’ll do everything in our power to help you win this election and get into the Oval Office,” Obama added.
New poll conducted after Biden’s withdrawal puts Harris closer to Trump
Michelle Obama (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Harris also ran for president in 2020 before dropping out and running alongside Biden, but she was a longtime friend of Obama’s before entering federal politics.
Harris was one of the first Democrats to endorse President Obama’s first campaign. Elected President in 2008He ignored Hillary Clinton and chose the then-Illinois senator.
Harris first met Obama when he was running for the U.S. Senate as an Illinois senator in 2004, and was also present when he announced his presidential bid in 2007, The Washington Examiner previously reported.
“Barack Obama will be the president who finally ends the era of terror that has been used to divide and demoralize our country,” Harris said. California Democratic Convention In 2008.
Harris has built a political career that has seen her serve as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, and then senator, and some political analysts have even called her a “female Obama.”
Former Obama adviser says Biden can’t beat ‘Father Time’ and ‘can’t win this election’
President Obama greets then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris and Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom in San Francisco on February 17, 2011. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out of the race after a disastrous debate performance with Trump in June, in which Biden lost his train of thought, stumbled over his words and appeared more subdued than he has been at other public events in recent years. The debate performance sparked concerns about Biden’s intellectual ability and age, with traditional Democratic allies and legacy media joining conservatives.
After the White House and Biden’s campaign repeatedly ruled out the possibility that the president would withdraw from the race, Biden tweeted last Sunday afternoon that he was withdrawing from the race and spending his final months in the White House.
in front of Biden withdraws from the raceObama’s allies led a campaign calling on the president to withdraw from the race and field a candidate they believe is better suited to take on Trump.
Obama to once again serve as Joe Biden’s aide ahead of Trump vs. Biden rematch
Obama’s former chief campaign strategist, David Axelrod, said last month that Biden “cannot win this election.” In a bombshell op-ed published just weeks after co-hosting a lavish campaign event for Biden with Obama in Los Angeles, actor George Clooney called on Biden to drop out of the race. Clooney has a longstanding personal friendship with the Obamas and has vacationed with the first couple in the past.
Former President Obama and Vice President Harris (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Jon Favreau, a close aide to Obama and his one-time speechwriting director, also attended a fundraiser in Los Angeles with Clooney and Obama last month and called on Biden to drop out of the race, saying he witnessed Biden’s mental state firsthand. Favreau, along with former Obama advisers Jon Lovett and Tommy Vieter (known as the “Obama Brothers” when they worked in the White House), spent much of a June episode of their “Pod Save America” podcast disparaging Biden.
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Ms. Harris on Tuesday announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz are scheduled to travel to Chicago this month for the Democratic National Convention as the election cycle enters its final stages.
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