Kamala Harris has aced her moment. So far.
The vice president has accumulated support from top Democrats, choked off running room for potential rivals for the party nomination, sparked a fundraising bonanza, and alchemized the mood of a party that looked headed for defeat. She rallied campaign staff in Wilmington, Delaware, Monday afternoon, with President Joe Biden — still recovering from Covid-19 — calling in to solidify the transition. And in her first public event since Biden dropped out of the race on Sunday, Harris officiated at an event centering her in the imagery of the presidency on the White House south lawn.
Perhaps most significantly, she also notched the endorsement of her fellow Californian, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose backdoor maneuvering was critical to ending Biden's stalled reelection bid and revealed the 84-year-old is still the nation's most skilled and influential Democrat. Other congressional leaders then fell into line behind Harris – ready to entrust their party's hopes to a historic standard bearer who is nevertheless an untested leader at the pinnacle of American politics.
And after the freezing of donor cash helped force Biden out of the race, Democratic wallets were opened big-time in the first 24 hours of the new Harris for president campaign as she pulled in a staggering $81 million dollar haul, according to her team.
The vice president's swift consolidation of power has been impressive. Her multi-hour phone blitz to Democratic Party power players on Sunday hinted at an operation primed ahead of time but that was kept secret and didn't leak.
The plan appears to have strangled any hope of alternative candidates and the aspirations of some in the party for a lightening primary to find a new nominee who could argue that they had won a contested bid for the party banner.
But Harris is just hours into a mission that ranks the most daunting of any modern potential presidential nominee. She is seeking to motivate a demoralized party that until Sunday believed it was heading to defeat as lawmaker after lawmaker deserted Biden following his disastrous debate performance.
Even if she succeeds in her plan to "earn and win" the Democratic nomination, Harris will come up against the most feral campaign machine in years. Former President Donald Trump is known for misogynistic and racially charged rhetoric that could turn the next few months into the most searing general election in years.
The pressure on Harris from Democrats is also immense. Party leaders are not just investing in her as the last barrier to a new era of unrestrained conservative rule that could obliterate the achievements of the Biden and Barack Obama presidencies. After replacing Biden as the figurehead of his campaign, Harris is now leading an effort that has as its foundation an attempt to save democracy from Trump.
And she has just over 100 days to pull this all off.
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