‘Harris Honeymoon’ Gets a Boost as Democrats See Record Fundraising Numbers, Volunteer Sign-Ups

The so-called “Harris Honeymoon” that President Trump’s campaign warned of shortly after Vice President Harris got into the race has yet to subside — instead, it appears to grow more luxurious by the day. The earned media she and Governor Walz are enjoying is likely to carry them all the way to the convention. In just four days since announcing Mr. Walz as her running mate, Ms. Harris has rallied with more than 50,000 people across five critical swing states — Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada. Congressional lawmakers in tough races — Senator Baldwin and Rosen, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin and Congressman Ruben Gallego — are flocking to the vice president’s gatherings. That is a departure from how those same elected officials dodged President Biden whenever he came to town.One of Ms. Harris’s greatest assets is the tsunami of money that has flowed to her in recent weeks. By her own campaign’s count, the vice president has raised nearly $250 million since she announced her presidential bid less than three weeks ago. “The tremendous outpouring of support we’ve seen in just a short time makes clear the Harris coalition is mobilized, growing, and ready to put in the work to defeat Trump this November,” Ms. Harris’s campaign manager, Julie Chávez Rodriguez, said in early August after the July fundraising numbers were posted. “It is the product of a campaign and coalition that knows the hard work and fighting spirit needed to win in November — and when we fight, we win.”The troops on the ground that the vice president and the Minnesota governor need to win are also turning out in record numbers. Since Mr. Biden dropped his bid and Ms. Harris announced her candidacy, more than 18,000 volunteers have signed up to work for Ms. Harris in the state of Florida alone — a state that is overwhelmingly expected to go to Trump in November. After the Harris-Walz rally in Arizona on Friday, the Arizona Democratic Party filled more than 3,000 volunteer shifts. One of Mr. Walz’s signature lines from the campaign trails is thanking Ms. Harris for the “joy” she has brought back to American presidential politics. For now, that joy is powering a reinvigorated Democratic Party, and while it may carry them through the convention, it’s unclear how it lasts in the months ahead. The Trump campaign, in a memorandum shared with the Sun, warned of a “Harris Honeymoon” shortly after the vice president announced her candidacy. Trump’s chief pollster, Tony Fabrizio, cautioned the press to declare Ms. Harris the presumptive victor because of a few good polls. “The Democrats and the [press] will try and tout these polls as proof that the race has changed. But the fundamentals of the race stay the same,” Mr. Fabrizio wrote shortly after Ms. Harris declared her candidacy. “The Democrats deposing one Nominee for another does NOT change voters discontent over the economy, inflation, crime, the open border, housing costs not to mention concern over two foreign wars.”Mr. Fabrizio said that the Trump campaign would make clear to voters that Ms. Harris is responsible for the Biden administration’s perceived policy failures, including “Harris’ dangerously liberal record before becoming Biden’s partner in creating historic inflation,” the “flood of illegal immigrants at our southern border,” and the “migrant crime that is threatening our families and communities.”So far, however, the policy record of the vice president has yet to catch up with her. There have been countless articles about the campaign reset, her excitement about taking on the task, and even her own culinary skills. The worst attack that Republicans were able to land on Mr. Walz — a relative unknown — was a muddled criticism of when he left the Army National Guard and why. The polling for Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz has been nothing less than stellar, despite the fact that neither has sat for an interview and despite the GOP’s relentless attacks on the Democratic ticket. On Saturday, a New York Times–Siena College poll found that both Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz had higher net favorability ratings than their opponents on the Republican side. Ms. Harris, with an approval rating of 50 percent, beat out Trump with his 46 percent approval rating. Not all polls have Trump in such a dismal position. One survey from Rasmussen Reports found that the former president was leading nationally with 49 percent of the vote in a multi-candidate field that included Ms. Harris, who garnered 44 percent, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. who took three percent. In the Times–Siena poll, Mr. Walz had a favorable rating of just 39 percent, but his unfavorable rating was a mere 28 percent — a net positive of 11 points. Senator Vance, on the other hand, had an unfavorable rating of 47 percent and a favorable rating of just 38 percent — a net negative of nine points that allows him to maintain his position as the most unpopular vice presidential nominee of a major party in more than four decades.

‘Harris Honeymoon’ Gets a Boost as Democrats See Record Fundraising Numbers, Volunteer Sign-Ups

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