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Harris nomination mustn’t be seen as a ‘coronation’

Democrats must be careful not to “coronate” Kamala Harris and instead ensure a process is followed if she is to be their presidential nominee.

Several high-profile Democrats have already endorsed Ms Harris as their preferred choice to take on Donald Trump in the US elections.

She’s had the support of former president Bill Clinton and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, though key figures like Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama haven’t yet got behind the vice-president.

Blevins said: “Is she now on a trajectory to the top job to become the leader of the Western world? She’s already had some pretty important backing.

“She’s being backed by the president himself, of course, very swiftly after he announced he was stepping down.”

He added: “I think the Democrats just have to figure out how they’re going to do that in a way that doesn’t just look like a coronation, but looks like some kind of process.”

Biden asked for Harris polling data before quitting

Following on from our last post, our US partner network NBC News is now reporting that Joe Biden solicited polling on Kamala Harris and how she was faring against Donald Trump before he decided to pull out.

“In the days leading up to his decision to step down as the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, Biden asked to see polling on how Harris would fare in a match-up against Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter,” NBC reports.

“The polling had been solicited by Biden’s campaign, and was very tightly held. It was only circulated to a handful of top campaign aides, including Mike Donilon and Jen O’Malley Dillon, the two people familiar with the matter said.

“They said Biden also reviewed public polling as he wanted to know more about her standing against Trump.”