Today's Edition
INDIANAPOLIS (THE WASHINGTON POST)
Vice President Harris, in a Wednesday address here, cast the election as a fight against those who want to take the country backwards, delivering one of her first speeches as the likely Democratic nominee for president to women who represent the base voters she needs to energise.
"We are not going back," she told the crowd of thousands, to big cheers.
Former president Donald Trump, her Republican opponent, took the stage a few hours later in Charlotte for his first rally since President Biden withdrew from the race. He portrayed Harris as a "radical" liberal, lobbing an assortment of attacks against her over immigration and other topics.
"They say something happened to me when I got shot, I became nice," Trump said, referencing the attempt on his life at a rally less than two weeks ago. He said his opponents were too dangerous. "If you don't mind, I'm not going to be nice, is that okay?" The crowd roared its approval.
The competing appearances provided a glimpse of what strategists in both parties expect to be a contentious matchup in the coming months. They offered a chance for each candidate to try to frame the stakes of the contest as it plunges into uncharted territory, with Trump no longer running against his ideal opponent and Harris seeking to take charge of the Democratic ticket a little more than 100 days before the election. Democrats are hoping that Harris can refocus the contest on Trump's flaws, while Republicans want to quickly define Harris and saddle her with Biden's weaknesses.
Harris will select her running mate by August 7, according to two officials familiar with her timeline, to ensure the full ticket is in place ahead of the Democratic National Convention virtual roll call.
Trump's team, meanwhile, is bracing for a "Harris honeymoon" that it says could intrude on Trump's summer of momentum and polling gains. In a Tuesday memo, Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio predicted that Harris would see a polling bump starting in the next few days - but he said it would pass. With voters upset about inflation, the border and other issues, he wrote, the "fundamentals of the race stay the same."
A CNN poll published on Wednesday found that Harris performed better than Biden against Trump, gaining more support from young voters, women, and Black and Hispanic voters. The poll showed Trump still apparently receiving more support, 49% to 46% for Harris, within the margin of error.
In Charlotte, Trump focused squarely on Harris, calling her "ultra-liberal" and the "driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe", highlighting her past comments.
Harris would be worse than Biden, Trump said, "because he's a fake liberal."
Biden gave a speech on Wednesday night from the White House about his decision to bow out, saying "nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy," including "personal ambition."
When Trump and Harris might meet for a debate is not yet clear. Trump and Biden had planned to participate in an ABC debate in September, but Trump has backed away from the idea since Biden dropped out, saying he does not want ABC to host and would prefer Fox News. Fox News this week contacted the Trump and Harris campaigns about a possible September 17 debate.
