Vice President Kamala Harris’ past donors privately strategize in case Biden drops out

Vice
President

Kamala
Harris‘
allies
are
privately
discussing
what
her
candidacy
would
look
like
if
President

Joe
Biden
dropped
out
of
the
race
for
the

White
House
and
how
they
could
help
her,
following
Biden’s
disastrous
debate
performance
Thursday,
according
to
people
familiar
with
the
matter.

These
conversations
have
been
held
over
phone
calls
and
text
messages
between
some
people
who
raised
money
for
the
vice
president
during
her
failed
2020

Democratic
primary
campaign
against
Biden
and
other
contenders, said
the
people,
who
were
granted
anonymity
in
order
to
speak
freely
about
private
conversations.

Key
issues
include
whether
Harris
would
control
the
massive
Biden-Harris
campaign
war
chest
managed
by
Biden’s
team
if
the
president
were
to
drop
out
of
the
race.

Harris
has
emerged
as
an
early
favorite
to
replace
the
president
at
the
top
of
the
ticket,
but
this
does
not
guarantee
that
the

Democratic
National
Convention
in
Chicago
will
not
feature
more
contenders
and
a
potentially
messy
battle
for
the
nomination.

Harris
would
likely
have
the
keys
to
most
of
the
money,
according
to
Biden
campaign
manager
Julie
Chavez
Rodriguez,
who

acknowledged
the
rules
during
a
recent
call
with
party
donors.
Biden’s
campaign
began
June
with
$91
million
in
cash
on
hand,
according
to
Federal
Election
Commission
records.
The
entire
political
operation,
which
includes

Biden’s
joint
fundraising
committees,
entered
July
with
$240
million
on
hand,
according
to
the
campaign.

There’s
also
discussion
among
Harris
confidants
about
the
need
to
begin
scheduling
meetings
for
the
vice
president
with
some
of
the
biggest
donors
in
the
Democratic
Party
if
Biden
drops
out,
these
people
said.

Harris’
allies
have
been
pushing
other
donors
and
party
officials
to
reconsider
the
potential
advantages
the
vice
president’s
policy
portfolio
could
bring
to
a
Democratic
campaign
platform:
Her
focus
on

reproductive
rights,
her
outreach
to

Black
voters
and
marginalized
communities
and
her

remarks
in
February
in
Germany,
when
she
emphasized
the
strength
of
U.S.
support
for

Ukraine
in
its
fight
against
Russian
invasion,
according
to
a
person
familiar
with
the
engagement.

Some
of
Harris’
past
fundraisers
are
also
texting
one
another
an
old
one-minute

video
that
features
the
vice
president
taking
on
former
President
Donald
Trump’s
appointees
while
she
was
a
U.S.
senator,
according
to
a
person
with
direct
knowledge
of
the
matter.
It
shows
clips
of
Harris
facing
off
with
the
likes
of
former
Attorneys
General
Bill
Barr
and
Jeff
Sessions
and
then
Supreme
Court
nominee
Brett
Kavanaugh.

The
video
also
underscores
a
key
message,
they
say:
Harris’
willingness
to
confront
Trump’s
allies
shows
that
she
has
what
it
takes
to
go
face
to
face
against
the
former
president.
“Taking
on
Trump
one
on
one,
Kamala
will
use
her
backbone,
her
values,
and
her
experience
as
a
prosecutor
to
expose
Trump,”
a
voiceover
for
the
advertisement
says.

The
video
was
produced
for
a
political
action
committee
called
“People
Standing
Strong,”
which
was
never
fully
activated
because
Harris
dropped
out
in

2019
shortly
after
it
was
created.
The

PAC
reportedly
reserved
nearly
$300,000
worth
of
advertising
across
the
key
state
of
Iowa
but
the
ads
were
not
aired
because
Harris
dropped
out
before
the
state’s
caucus.

A
White
House
spokeswoman
for
Harris
and
Biden
campaign
representatives
did
not
respond
to
requests
for
comment.

Any
discussions
of
what
Harris
might
need
to
win
a
convention
fight
for
the
nomination
was
unthinkable
for
Democrats
before
Thursday’s
debate,
when
Biden
struggled
to
make
the
case
for
his
reelection
and
failed
to
push
back
on
Trump.

Biden’s
poor
debate
performance
greatly
changed
the
mood
among
donors,
with
many
privately
discussing
the
need
for
the
president
to
step
aside
in
order
to
give
the
party
the
best
chance
of
beating
Trump
in
November.

The
donors
sending
around
the
video,
for
instance,
are
“all
just
confused,
scared
and
sad”
since
the
debate,
said
a
longtime
strategist
close
to
many
of
the
top
fundraisers
in
California.
“They’re
desperate
to
beat
Trump.”

Dmitri
Mehlhorn,
a
longtime
advisor
to
Democratic
donors
including
tech
investor
Reid
Hoffman,
said
in
an
email
Wednesday
to
allies
that
was
shared
with
CNBC
that
although
he
continues
to
support
Biden,
in
his
view
Harris
would
be
a
solid
alternative
to
take
on
and
potentially
defeat
Trump.

“To
be
clear,
Vice
President
Harris
is
a
badass.
A
ticket
with
her
at
the
top,
combined
with
someone
who
balances
her
brand
weaknesses
(examples
range
from
Mark
Kelly
to
Andy
Beshear
to
Roy
Cooper
to
Josh
Shapiro
and
many
others),
would
absolutely
be
competitive
with
the
criminally
insane
convicted
felon
the
other
side
is
committed
to
nominating,”
wrote
Mehlhorn. 
“We
would
lose
Joe’s
superpower
brand,
but
we
would
gain
other
benefits
and
would
still
be
competitive.”

Biden’s
team
has
said
the
president
is
not
dropping
out
of
the
race.
Meanwhile,
Harris,
to
all
appearances,
has
remained
loyal
and
is
scheduled
to
have
lunch
with
the
president
at
the
White
House
on
Wednesday.

Despite
his
team’s
public
pledge
that
he
won’t
drop
out,

The
New
York
Times
and
CNN
reported
Wednesday
that
Biden
has
signaled
privately
to
an
ally
he
may
not
be
able
to
salvage
his
candidacy.

White
House
spokesman
Andrew
Bates
vehemently
denied
the
story
in
a
social
media
post.
CNBC
and
NBC
News
have
not
independently
confirmed
the
conversation.

Harris
defended
the
president’s
debate
performance
to
a
group
of
her
past
donors
in
San
Francisco
on
Tuesday.

The
event
was
at
real
estate
executive
Susan
Lowenberg’s
home,
and
the
crowd
included
Harris
donors
from
the
time
when
she
was
running
for
San
Francisco
District
Attorney,
according
to
the
pool
report.

“We
gotta
fight,
and
we
know
how
to
fight,”
Harris
said
to
the
crowd.
“When
we
fight,
we
win.” 

Since
the
debate,
there’s
been
a
growing
chorus
of
party
donors,
most
of
whom
have
spoken
in
private,
and
a
few
lawmakers
who
have
spoken
in
public
who
question
whether

Biden
is
up
to
the
task
of
being
president
for
four
more
years,
and
if
he
is
not,
whether
it’s
right
for
him
to
be
the
party’s
nominee
in
November.

Rep.
Lloyd
Doggett,
D-Texas,
on
Tuesday
became
the
first

Democratic
lawmaker
in
Congress
to
call
on
Biden
to
step
down.

Former
House
Speaker
Nancy
Pelosi,
D-Calif.,
and
Rep.
Jim
Clyburn,
D-S.C.,
both
longtime
Biden
allies,
said
in
interviews
on
MSNBC
that
it’s
fair
for
voters
to
ask
about
Biden’s
health
in
the
wake
of
his
debate
performance.

“I
think
it’s
a
legitimate
question
to
say,
‘Is
this
an
episode
or
is
this
a
condition?'”

Pelosi
said
in
the
interview,
noting
that
the
question
should
be
asked
of
both
Biden
and
Trump.

The

polls
have
had
a
mixed
message
for
Biden
since
the
debate.

A
CNN
poll
shows
that
Trump
is
ahead
of
Biden
by
6
percentage
points
nationwide,
which
is
identical
to
the
network’s
national
poll
in
April.

But
75%
of
those
polled
say
that
someone
else
other
than
Biden
would
have
a
better
chance
of
beating
Trump
than
Biden
would.

Harris’
stock
has
also
started
to
rise
in
online
betting
pools
about
who
will
be
the
Democratic
nominee
for
president.

PredictIt,
which
allows
people
to
make
bets
on
political
events,
now
puts
the
vice
president
in
a
close
second
to
Biden.

Before
the
debate,
PredictIt
put
her
odds
of
becoming
the
party’s
nominee
this
year
so
far
behind
Biden
that
she
was
trailing
the
likes
of
California
Gov.
Gavin
Newsom.