TRANSCRIPT
HARRIS:"It is so good to hear our president's voice. Joe, I know you're still on the call, and we've been talking every day. You probably, you guys heard it from Doug's (Doug Emhoff, Harris' husband) voice, we love Joe and Jill, we really do. They truly are like family to us. And everybody here does...
AUDIO OF U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN SPEAKING BY PHONE : "It's mutual."
HARRIS: "I knew you were still there, you're not going anywhere Joe."
BIDEN: "Oh, I'm watching you kid, I'm watching you kid, I love you."
HARRIS: "I love you Joe.”
Speaking from the Democratic Party Headquarters, U-S Vice President Kamala Harris has emerged as the front runner for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
Within one day of current President Joe Biden announcing his withdrawal from the 2024 US election race, support for his second in command gathered quickly.
Josh Shapiro: "President Biden yesterday endorsed Vice President Harris, as did I, as did many across this country...":
Hakeem Jeffries: "Vice President Kamala Harris has excited the community, she's excited the house Democratic caucus and she's exciting the country." Dick Durbin: "I believe she is in a position to make a difference for this country, to move us in the right direction. But we have to get our act together.”
The majority of Democrats in Congress quickly endorsed Kamala Harris as their choice to replace Joe Biden in November.
With 245 public endorsements from elected Democrats so far, Ms Harris is currently leading the pack.
But while her nomination is all but secured, there is still one month left until the party decides who to officially endorse.
With approval ratings of 38.3 per cent on the day of her campaign launch, according to polling website Five-Thirty-Eight, many in the party say they expect polls to improve after Harris begins campaigning.
The Executive Dean for Public Policy at Hofstra University, Dr Meena Bose says Kamala Harris' approval ratings will need to improve if she's serious about contending.
“Her approval ratings as vice president have been, are not great. In fact, in the current polling the match ups against former President Trump she's fairing only kind of marginally better than President Biden. However, Vice President Harris, I think, has, having served in office, having run a presidential campaign before, is well-positioned to pivot and to mount in this limited time, is really probably the Democrat, would be the only Democrat with the visibility to mount a strong campaign in this time, less than four months before Election Day.”
Other possible contenders for Democratic nominee included; JB Pritzker, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro and Joe Manchin.
However, with such little time left before the November election, most of the party eyes are locked on Ms Harris.
Democratic delegates across the United States are also expressing their support for her candidacy.
“I wish my Indian immigrant grandparents were still alive to be able to see this. I think they'd be swelling with pride to be able to see a woman of Indian descent be able to realistically be nominated as the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.”
Ohio Democratic delegate Spencer Dirrig says Ms Harris potential nomination may shift the way younger voters engage with the election.
“I think the ground has shifted astronomically. I think that the reality is that there were a lot of young people across the country who were just not enthusiastic and excited to see a rematch of Joe Biden and Donald Trump. And now we have an opportunity to have a positive, unique and exciting, enthusiastic vision for what America can and should be.”
On the other side, Republican Vice Presidential nominee J-D Vance says the entire thing is an insult to voters.
“This is not okay, ladies and gentlemen, you cannot, for three and a half years, take a guy who clearly didn't have the mental capacity to do the job. Kamala Harris lied about it, my Senate Democratic colleagues lied about it, the media lied about it. Every single person who saw Joe Biden knew that he wasn't capable of doing the job. And for three years they said nothing until he became political dead weight. That is not a way to run a country. That is not a way to run a political party. That is an insult to voters.”
Mr Vance's objections to the Democrat's announcements came shortly after Republican nominee Donald Trump told C-N-N he thinks Kamala Harris will be an even easier opponent to beat.
Around the world however, more heartfelt reactions to the withdrawal of Joe Biden poured out from leaders such as Anthony Albanese, with whom he worked alongside as president.
“President Biden deserves today, I think, to be recognised for once again not putting himself forward first, but giving his first consideration to being what he believes is in the interests of the United States of America, as he has done his whole public life. And I pay tribute to him today.”
In Israel, ahead of boarding a flight to Washington, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Joe Biden for his military support.
“I plan to see President Biden, whom I have known for over 40 years. This will be an opportunity to thank him for the things he did for Israel in the war and during his long and distinguished career in public service as senator, as vice president, and as president.”
Closer to the United States, Mexico's President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum has expressed her support for Kamala Harris.
“There’s now the possibility that another woman run for the Democratic party. Of course, as a woman, I like to see other women running but it will be the U.S. people who will decide, and we will have a good relationship with the elected person. President (Joe) Biden has had a good relationship with Mexico.”
So, with such an abundance of support pouring in for Kamala Harris already, is the Democratic Party simply too pushed for time to find another candidate?
Or, does she have a real shot at becoming America's first woman president?
Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett says it's hard to tell if women will rally around her after what happened to Hilary Clinton.
“For a lot of us in 2016, we absolutely thought that white women would stand with Secretary Clinton as a white woman. And we saw the numbers fell off. Now, I don't know the reason and rationale for why the numbers were where they were. But again, this is going to take a large coalition of people coming together. But that also includes, like our white sisters, like we all got to pool together because it's bigger than race, it's bigger than gender. And so I don't want it to be a situation where you say, because of her race or because of her gender, because it's bigger than that.”
Ms Crockett says there are far bigger things on the line in this election.
“If you look inward, if you care about IVF, if you care about what happens to your daughters when and if the rape culture that we have seen for decades on colleges, college campuses continues on, and what that means for your daughter, if you decide to send your daughter to a southern state like Texas and what could happen to her? You know, the fact that she could be end up being victimized over and over first by some sort of perpetrator and then second by the government themselves, like, these are real issues. This has to be bigger than race or gender. It has to boil down to what type of future do you want? Do you want to live in a democracy or do you want to live in a dictatorship? Do you want to live a Handmaid's Tale life, or do you want to live a life of freedom? And that's what it boils down to.”
Speaking at her new campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, Kamala Harris has promised voters she will carry out the Democratic message.
“I know it's been a roller coaster and we're all filled with so many mixed emotions about this. I just have to say, I love Joe Biden. I love Joe Biden, and I know we all do. And we have so many darn good reasons for loving Joe Biden. And I have full faith that this team is the team, will be the reason we win in November. You all who are here. And as Julie (Campaign director Julie Chávez Rodriguez) always says, and I will quote the great Julie, we are one team, one fight. One team, one fight.”
