by Hudson Kamphausen
A day after President Joe Biden announced he would step down as his party’s presumptive nominee, Democrats have been pouring their support behind his vice president and endorsed successor, Kamala Harris.
But the debate continues to rage about who would be the best candidate to join her on the ticket.
Members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation have already put their support behind Harris – with Sen. Chris Murphy formally endorsing her Sunday. And on Monday, Connecticut’s state Democratic leaders were throwing their weight behind the vice president as well.
During an event Mondaty in New Haven, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Gov. Ned Lamont clarified previous statements with full endorsements.
Blumenthal called Harris one of the “most underestimated political figures” in the nation today, and he said he felt the tide of the election shifting.
“There is a burst of energy and excitement. It’s real exuberance, along with some relief,” Blumenthal said. “I wanted to give Joe Biden the respect and reverence of a day on his own, but I am all in [on Harris] and I think you will see the Democratic Party in Connecticut, as well as all around the country, extraordinarily unified as we have never been before.”
Lamont sang a similar tune.
“I think she’s going to be a great nominee for our party, [and] an extraordinary president. I was proud to endorse her,” he said.
That sense of unity and excitement was the tone of a virtual meeting Monday evening between all of Connecticut’s Democratic National Convention delegates.
State Rep. Josh Elliott – who is a delegate and is serving as a liaison between the Harris campaign and the rest of the delegates – said that there is definitely a consensus among those who will be going to Chicago.
With all of the state’s delegates to the DNC present at the meeting, Elliott said there was not a single “no” vote to Kamala Harris as the nominee during a non-binding vote.
Elliott said there is “universal excitement” among the state’s DNC delegates, of which there are 60, with 14 superdelegates. One of those is Lamont.
“It’s just like a jolt. It’s just jarring,” Elliott said. “There was a real sense of doom and gloom there for a while.”
Elliott noted the considerable amount of financial support that has poured in from Democrat donors over the last 24 hours, including a record $81 million that was donated to the Harris campaign since she was endorsed Sunday by President Biden. Future Forward, a super PAC favored by Biden, reported receiving $150 million in new commitments from Democratic donors in the same time period.
The excitement seems to be growing in other states as well, including New Hampshire and several others that have already pledged their delegates to Harris.
Elliott said he had spoken with a Harris campaign liaison from Florida, and said that it appears that the DNC delegates from that state would be pledged to Harris as well.
Late Monday night, Politico and the Washington Post reported that as of 10:10 p.m. Harris had received 2,668 verbal delegate votes, well above the 1,976 she needs on the first ballot to secure the nomination. The convention will convene in Chicago on Aug. 19.
Following the Connecticut delegates’ meeting Monday night, state Democratic Party Chair Nancy DiNardo confirmed the preliminary result with a written statement.
“Connecticut’s voters overwhelmingly endorsed Joe Biden in April, and now our delegation is following his lead and supporting Vice President Kamala Harris to be the next President of the United States,” DiNardo said.
There remains little consensus in Connecticut over who Harris’ running mate would be should she earn the nomination she is presumed to win, and Elliott said that was not a topic of conversation during the delegate’s meeting.
“Everyone recognizes in the party that we have a very limited amount of time, so we can’t afford to just sit on our hands,” he said.
Blumenthal said that Harris becoming the Democratic nominee would prevent a “race to the bottom,” which he accused Republicans of perpetuating.
“Let me just be very clear-eyed here: It’s going to be contentious, competitive, close. Democrats are going to need to go to work every minute of every day to win, but right now there is this excitement that I think will carry forward,” he said.
Lamont said that he heard on his trip to Germany about how “nervous” outside watchers are about the upcoming November election.
He did not offer up a name to run alongside Harris when asked, while jokingly implying Blumenthal.
Blumenthal said wryly: “A governor would be a good choice.” Three governors – Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, Maryland’s Wes Moore, and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear – have already taken themselves out of the running, as reported by USA Today and Politico.
Both Lamont and Blumenthal agreed that the presumptive nominee should be given a little time before needing to decide who would play second violin on her ticket.
According to a report from Politico, the Democratic National Committee was preparing to conduct a virtual roll call vote this week. If they are successful in organizing that effort, Harris could be selecting her running mate by the middle of next week.