Dem
51
GOP
49
Passing the torch from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris has apparently changed everything for the Democrats. With Biden as their candidate, they were dejected, morose, despondent, and resigned to a slow path to ultimate defeat, sort of like a condemned criminal on death row who hears that the Supreme Court has turned down his final appeal. Within a few days of Biden's withdrawal, everything changed. Interest in Harris skyrocketed, which manifested itself in so many ways.
Her campaign raised a record $126 million from small donors within 48 hours. It raised a mind-boggling $200 million in the first week, and two-thirds of the donors were first-time donors. Last week, over 170,000 people volunteered to work on her campaign. When a group of Black women called "Win with Black Women" organized a Zoom call for her, 90,000 women joined it and they raised $1.5 million in 3 hours. A group called "Win with Black Men" had a call with 232,000 men and raised $1.3 million. A group called "White Women: Answer the Call" got 200,000 women on the call and raised $8.5 million. A handful of virtual rallies that raised over $10 million with a few calls was previously unheard of. Groups of South Asians, Latinos, Caribbean-Americans and other identity groups are springing into action and activating people and raising money for Harris. The various groups are starting to coordinate as well. None of this happened when Biden was the nominee.
A big difference with previous campaigns—and also different from the Trump campaign—is the use of digital technology. Groups of like-minded people, often separate from the campaign, like the above, are getting together in huge groups on Zoom. There were no virtual rallies for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and none for Donald Trump in any of his three runs. It's all about spontaneous grassroots support, aided by technology. And in most cases Harris isn't even involved and doesn't take part in the virtual call. It is hard to imagine a rally for Trump that raises $1 million with Trump not even showing up.
To some extent, these efforts feel like an evolution of Barack Obama's 2008 campaign, where grassroots organizers harnessed the power of the Internet to empower volunteers and raise money without the candidate even being involved. Only the scale is much greater now. Calls with >200,000 people were unheard of in the past and are the largest Zoom has ever handled. What is amazing is how fast these events have come together. The Harris campaign will probably be the shortest one in American history, but it got going faster than any other one as well.
One of Harris' greatest strengths is young voters. In a new poll Harris is leading among 18-34 year-old voters by 20 points, 60% to 40%. Young voters were a big problem for Biden, but it looks like Harris has solved it. Or, perhaps more accurately, it was solved without her even having to get involved. (V)