To say that Joe Biden’s departure from the presidential race has energized Democrats is an understatement. By endorsing Kamala Harris immediately, Biden has tried to unify the Democrats behind her candidacy – a historically unique one.
In less than 48 hours, Vice President Harris secured endorsements from lawmakers, governors, labor leaders, advocacy groups, and progressive-leaning Americans. Even potential challengers to Harris’ nomination to the top of the ticket, including Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer and Kentucky’s Andy Beshear, have endorsed her. This list also includes 198 Democrats in the House of Representatives and U.S. senators (as of Tuesday night).
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi endorsed Harris. Delegates from Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, and New Mexico were quick to pledge their support for Harris as the 2024 Democratic nominee. In the chance that there is an “open” convention this August in Chicago, Harris is poised to do well. By Monday night, NBC and AP tallies reported she has the support of enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party nomination.
A record fundraising day
Within three hours of stating that she would take the helm of the Democratic ticket after Biden posted on X that he would not seek reelection, Harris raised over $1.5 million from Black and Brown women and their allies alone. ActBlue, a Democratic donation-processing site, declared that Sunday was the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 election cycle. Harris raised $49.6 million in small donor and online donations on Sunday. As of Monday afternoon, the Harris campaign reportedly had raised over $100 million.
The swift political endorsements and financial support for Kamala Harris is unprecedented for Black and women candidates. This nuance is important to pay attention to as we proceed through this election cycle – and consider how the Harris campaign compares to those of other trailblazers.
She’s no Joe
Biden pledged to pick a Black woman as vice president for the 2020 ticket. He selected Kamala Harris as his running mate despite a challenging exchange on the earlier debate stage – where Harris said, “I don’t believe you are a racist…Do you agree today that you were wrong to oppose busing in America?“ Harris, the highest-ranking woman in the executive branch, is a biracial woman and member of Gen X, while Biden is a white man from the Silent Generation. She describes her most important job as “Momala” to her husband’s two children from a previous marriage. This strikes a contrast to Biden’s own difficult family past, riddled with tragedy that has enabled him to connect deeply with other struggling Americans.
She isn’t Biden when it comes to policy issues either. For example, Harris called for a cease-fire in Gaza long before Biden did. She is able to talk about abortion in a way that he cannot. She has raised large sums of money in a relatively short period of time, and is reinvigorating a Black constituency – a key voting bloc for Democrats. And, of course, Harris is significantly younger than the president (and her GOP opponent, former President Trump).
Why Harris is in a league of her own
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (D-N.Y.) made history in 1972 when she sought the U.S. presidency. Her meaningful bid for the Oval Office was a first for any woman candidate or Black candidate. Unlike Harris, she had limited resources and lacked the organizational support needed to mount a national campaign.
Chisholm faced opposition from both Black men and white women. Famously, the National Organization of Women (NOW) did not endorse Chisholm. The attendees of the 1972 National Black Political Convention actively worked against Chisholm’s candidacy because they believed that a man should be the first Black presidential candidate. Neither group embraced her candidacy. While Chisholm won dozens of delegates, ultimately, she was nowhere close to winning the nomination.
Unlike Chisholm, who had served only one full term in the U.S. House before 1972, Harris has served as the second in command for nearly four years. Furthermore, Harris also served four years in the U.S. Senate – only the second Black woman to serve in that body. She previously served as attorney general of California. Having won statewide elections on multiple occasions prior to her presidential bid, Harris’ bona fides far exceed Chisholm’s experience. Harris faced a crowded field in her first run at the top spot in 2020 and did not run an effective campaign.
She’s no Hillary, either
In 2008, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton lost the Democratic nomination to Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). Many criticized the campaign for downplaying gender, and thus making gender an unacknowledged elephant in the room. Race, on the other hand, was front and center in the 2008 presidential primaries. The Obama campaign criticized Clinton and her supporters for deploying dog whistles to hurt Obama’s chances.
While Clinton certainly faced sexism in her campaign, Harris – as a biracial woman – faced unique gendered critiques during her 2020 presidential campaign. These attacks reflected both outright racism and distinctive racialized critiques due to her gender. For example, she faced ad hominem attacks that were rooted in her gender and were linked to her previous romantic life and her status as a stepmother.
Clinton’s approach during the 2016 presidential campaign was different from her 2008 race – and she faced a very different challenger in Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). Gender emerged as a factor for both candidates with Clinton playing into her role as grandmother and acknowledging the historic first it would be for her to be elected president. In contrast, Bernie Bros, a contingent of voters whose progressive politics ironically manifest in sexist attacks, was a frequent scapegoat for Clinton’s ultimate loss to Donald Trump. For Harris, the quick endorsement by Biden and many other Democratic elites this week may help avoid the party-splitting Sanders/Clinton divisions that ultimately helped Trump win in 2016.
Harris is also not Obama
Harris is also unlike former President Obama. Yes, both politicians are multiracial, and each has served in the U.S. Senate, an institution that has only had 12 Black lawmakers in its entire history. Obama had served as an Illinois state senator, lawyer, professor, and community organizer before his 2004 Senate bid. Harris, in contrast, represented San Francisco and later the state of California as attorney general, before winning her U.S. Senate seat in 2016.
Like Chisholm, Harris is a Black woman who has served in the U.S. Congress. Like Obama and Clinton, Harris has served in the U.S. Senate and draws on her legislative experiences. One key difference is that unlike her predecessors, Harris knows what it is like to navigate politics as a multiracial woman in the United States.
And when comparing Harris to these three historic figures, it is imperative to recognize other meaningful differences between them. Harris has more political experience in a range of high-profile positions than either Chisholm or Obama did. Like Chisholm, Harris has ties to Black Greek Letter organizations, entities with a long tradition of promoting civic engagement in the Black community. Harris also has ties to America’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), having attended Howard University as an undergraduate student. Chisholm and Obama did not attend HBCUs, and Obama is not a member of a Black Greek Letter Organization.
Is America having another 1968 moment?
Multiple analysts are drawing parallels between 2024 and 1968. In August, the Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago – the city that hosted the divisive 1968 convention. In 1968 George Wallace preyed upon white grievances and stoked the flames of racial hatred. In 2024, former President Trump behaves similarly. In 1968, Robert Kennedy ran for president, winning the primary in California that year before being assassinated. And in 2024, his son, Robert Kennedy Jr., is running as a third-party candidate.
By 1968, the Vietnam War led to protests and unrest on college campuses. In 2024, the conflict in Gaza is doing the same.
In March 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson informed the nation that he would not seek reelection, largely due to the intense criticism of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. In July 2024, Biden informed the nation of his decision to withdraw from the Democratic ticket. While the full motivations that led to Biden’s decision remain unclear, possible factors include his stance on the conflict in Gaza, given the growing unpopularity of the U.S. role in the Gaza conflict; his poor polling numbers among American youth; and concerns over his age and health.
Johnson endorsed his vice president, Hubert Humphrey, in a field with strong showings from senators Robert Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy, resulting in a fractured and violent Chicago convention. Likewise, Biden has endorsed his VP in a race between Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The unification Democrats are demonstrating this week seems to suggest we are not looking at a repeat of 1968. The number of high-profile endorsements and the amount of money raised in recent days suggests that Biden’s withdrawal has reminded the party of the stakes of his sacrifice and the election. As the campaign has said from the start, democracy is on the ballot. This fall the U.S. presidential ballot will have a woman of color at the top of the ticket for the first time – if the Democratic Party can hold it together.
Standing on her own
While it is true that Harris stands on the shoulders of giants, that she is walking paths that pioneering politicians have cleared, we must also understand the many ways in which Harris differs from those before her. Given her credentials, there should be no question that she has the relevant political experience, and full qualifications to be the Democratic nominee and serve as president. She’s now headed into unchartered territory, where a woman of color has not yet trodden.
Nadia E. Brown is professor of government and director of Women’s and Gender Studies at Georgetown University. She is the co-author of “Sister Style“ and author of “Sisters in the Statehouse.“
Christopher J. Clark is associate professor of political science at the University of North Carolina. He is the author of “Gaining Voice.“
Anna M. Mahoney is executive director of the Rockefeller Center for Public Policy and Social Sciences, Dartmouth College. She is the author of “Women Take Their Place in State Legislatures.“
Periloux Peay is assistant professor of African American and Africana Studies at the University of Maryland. He is the author of “Incorporation is Not Enough: The Agenda Influence of Black Lawmakers in Congressional Committees.“
Michael G. Strawbridge is assistant professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis.
