TRANSCRIPT
United States Vice President Kamala Harris has begun her campaign for the presidency in full force.
"Do we believe in the promise of America and are we ready to fight for it? And when we fight, we win. God bless you and God bless the United States of America."
After President Joe Biden decided to bow out of the election race on Monday following pressure from his party, he endorsed Ms Harris as his successor.
While she's technically not the official Democratic party nominee yet, prominent Democrats have lined up behind her and her campaign raised $124 million in just 24 hours, which her team claims is the largest one-day fundraising haul for any candidate ever.
So, who exactly is Kamala Harris and what are her chances at winning the top job?
Ms Harris, a 59-year-old former US senator and California attorney general, would be the first woman to become president of the United States if she is to become the Democratic party's nominee and prevail in the November election.
She ran in the 2020 Democratic primaries against candidates like Joe Biden who she'd ultimately aligned herself with to become the first African American and Asian person to serve as vice president.
Bruce Wolpe a Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre, says she helped President Biden secure his election win.
"A, because of her abilities, B, because of her background, and that she would bring a dynamism to the ticket that would really aid Joe Biden in becoming president in raw political terms, an older white man, a younger woman of colour, quite a combination."
Kamala Harris has outlined her political platform saying the issues of abortion, gun control and voting rights will sit at the top of her agenda.
And Mr Wolpe says her history as a legal prosecutor could also come in handy when facing her political opponent, former president Donald Trump, who was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in his hush money trial in May.
"She'll be the prosecutor in chief. And I think she can't wait to debate him. I'm sort of shocked he wants to debate her because she wants to prosecute him in that debate and have him rendered guilty in the court of public opinion."
But despite her legal and political experience, her three-and-a-half-year White House tenure has been mostly uneventful and her handling of early policy portfolios including migration from Central America has been controversial.
This is something that former president Donald Trump has seized on to attack Ms Harris.
"Kamala threw open our borders and allowed 20 million illegal aliens to stampede into our country from all over the world. But this November, the American people are going to tell her, ‘No thanks, Kamala, you've done a terrible job. You've been terrible at everything you've done. You're ultra liberal. We don't want you here. We don't want you anywhere. Kamala, you're fired. Get out of here. You're fired"
His comments comes after revelations that Donald Trump twice donated to Kamala Harris election campaigns for the attorney general role in California in both 2011 and 2013.
Bruce Wolpe, who worked with the Democrats in Congress during President Barack Obama's first term, admits that immigration and the economy will be difficult issues to sell voters on.
"Where she is really vulnerable is exactly where Biden was vulnerable, the economy and inflation, it is very similar to what's happening in Australia cost of living pressures, high interest rates. You blame the person who owns the top office in the land. And on immigration, the southern border, that is Trump's number one hot button issue. He hammered Biden on that. He's going to hammer her on that. So those are big hits that will hurt her. So the question is, can she overcome it?"
Joe Biden's presidency has been a contentious one for many.
While he has taken significant strides to address post-pandemic inflation as well as the climate crisis and has campaigned on behalf of workers and unions, he's taken a lot of criticism for his support of Israel and its war in Gaza, particularly from younger voters.
Today Kamala Harris met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urged him to accept a ceasefire deal and bring an end to hostilities.
Mr Wolpe says Kamala Harris' presidential agenda is not too different from Joe Biden's but that she is attempting to strike a more balanced and empathetic tone in her rhetoric.
"I think we saw today in the meetings with Netanyahu that occurred in Washington where she was quite strong. She says, sign the deal, get the deal, end the war, bring the hostages home. And she's more vocal about the humanitarian situation in Gaza than even Biden has been. And she wants Netanyahu to face up to that. So more pressure on that front."
"It is time for this war to end, and end in a way where Israel is secure, all the hostages are released. The suffering of Palestinians in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self determination. There has been hopeful movement in the talks to secure an agreement on this deal, and as I just told Prime Minister Netanyahu, it is time to get this deal done. "
Two early polls from Reuters / Ipsos and Times / Siena show that Ms Harris is outperforming Joe Biden by several points and is now sitting neck-and-neck with Mr Trump.
With more than three months of election campaigning to go, Bruce Wolpe from the US Studies Centre says there's a long road ahead but it seems that the Vice President has a real shot at winning the race.
"If the election were held today, Trump would win. But she has take a look at the New York Times / Siena poll. That was out a few hours ago. And it shows that she has gained five points on Trump relative to Biden. And her favourability rating is in the mid forties, which is quite exceptional. It was in the high thirties just a couple weeks ago before this happened. But what these figures show is she has the ability to close the gap, but whether she can beat him, I mean, that really remains to be seen."
