Kamala Harris has been assured since Friday of becoming her party’s candidate in the US presidential election in November and of facing Donald Trump, a lightning coronation less than two weeks after Joe Biden’s withdrawal.
Democrats announced midday that the American vice president had won the support of more than half of the delegates for her nomination, during an online vote.
The 50-year-old said she was “honored” to have surpassed that threshold before the polls closed Monday. She will accept the nomination next week and celebrate it at a big party at the Democratic convention, scheduled for mid-August in Chicago.
Less than 100 days to convince
Kamala Harris now has less than 100 days to convince American voters to support her against former Republican President Donald Trump.
“It’s not going to be easy, but we’re going to get through this. And as your future president, I know we’re up for this fight,” she said in a broadcast call from a campaign event.
In this high-flying duel, however, the Democrat starts with a significant financial advantage.
Kamala Harris’ campaign announced that it had raised $310 million in July, more than double the amount raised by Donald Trump, much of which has come since the vice president replaced Joe Biden in the November election.
Fundraising plays a vital role in American campaigns, often with astronomical amounts. The new Democratic candidate had raised $200 million in less than a week after Joe Biden withdrew on July 21, with donors disenchanted with the aging president making a comeback.
This fundraising was “fueled by the best month of collection from small donors in the history of the American presidential election” and represents “more than double” what Donald Trump’s campaign collected in the same month, she congratulated herself.
Race for millions
The Republican candidate’s team announced in a statement Thursday that it had raised $138.7 million in July, a considerable sum raked in during the month in which Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt and received a triumphant endorsement at the Republican convention.
The staggering sums of money spent on American presidential campaigns are largely spent on expensive clips promoting the candidates’ records and promises. The Internet and television channels are flooded with them in the months leading up to the election.
The NGO Open Secrets, which specializes in political financing, estimates that the 2024 election could be the most expensive in American history, surpassing the record of US$5.7 billion (a little over CA$7.9 billion) spent on the 2020 election.
By comparison, the law limits campaign spending for each candidate in the second round of the French presidential election to 22.5 million euros.
Weighed down by voter concerns and pressure from elected officials about his age and his physical and mental abilities, Joe Biden, 81, gave in and announced his support for his vice-president Kamala Harris to take up the torch.
Since then, the Democratic camp has benefited from a new favorable momentum, but, observers warn, it should be wary of excessive optimism, because, even if the gap is narrowing, Donald Trump still maintains a lead in the polls.