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IT’S BEEN A hell of a month in US politics.
In the 26 days since that disastrous showing by President Joe Biden in the CNN debate against Donald Trump, we’ve seen an assassination attempt on Trump, a days-long celebration of all things MAGA at the Republican National Convention, the nomination of JD Vance as Trump’s running mate and now the historic announcement by Biden that he’s decided not to run for reelection.
The announcement yesterday evening came after weeks of Biden insisting he was not for turning. By the weekend – as the calls from elected officials for him to step down continued – the pressure had become too much to bear and the Democrat bowed to the inevitable, throwing his weight behind his Vice President Kamala Harris.
Other high-profile party figures have also backed Harris to top the ticket.
And while all the momentum is with the former Senator for California, it’s not a done deal yet.
Harris is set to go before the Democratic convention next month to seek her party’s nomination for the 5 November election.
So here’s what to look out for in the coming weeks as Harris bids to – as she put it – “earn and win” the presidential nomination.
Biden stepping aside from the race had been predicted for weeks, with that speculation reaching fever pitch in the 72 hours before yesterday’s announcement.
The news – when it came – was still a shock. Biden had kept his decision-making process incredibly tight, with many White House and campaign staff learning of the news at the same time as everyone else when it broke on X/Twitter.
It’s reported that Biden gathered his closest advisors on Saturday night to discuss his announcement, and by Sunday morning was certain he would withdraw. Harris was among the top figures briefed by the president on the move that morning, according to the BBC, and he informed his senior staff just a minute before releasing his first statement at 1.46pm local time yesterday.
Biden – who is still recovering from Covid in Delaware – has released two statements on his decision, and has not made any further comments since.
In the first, he mentions Harris and thanks her but stops short of an endorsement.
The second tweet, issued around half an hour later, includes a full endorsement of Harris. It reads:
“My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President. And it’s been the best decision I’ve made.
“Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump. Let’s do this.”
A raft of senior Democrats have come out to support Harris and she herself has vowed in a statement to “earn and win” the nomination.
“With this selfless and patriotic act, President Biden is doing what he has done throughout his life of service: putting the American people and our country above everything else.”
She said she would “do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party — and unite our nation — to defeat Donald Trump”.
The Clintons were quick to endorse Harris as the nominee, and she’s also received backing from the likes of Senator Elizabeth Warren, and high-profile congress members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Adam Schiff.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who had been tipped as a presidential contender, threw his full support behind Harris last night. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg also endorsed her overnight.
Gretchen Whitmer, the Governor of Michigan, who had also been linked with the nomination, did not explicitly endorse Harris but is reported to have joined a campaign call late yesterday. Earlier this month, in an interview with the Associated Press, she said she wouldn’t run if Biden dropped out.
Much of the commentary on the US networks last night centred on why Barack Obama hadn’t also endorsed Harris.
In his own statement Obama, after praising Biden, simply said: “I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.”
The former president has come in for criticism from some quarters for his stance – but his team has been briefing media outlets that he feels he’d be better off keeping his own counsel for the moment and then backing whoever is named as the nominee after the convention.
Anthony Scaramucci – Donald Trump’s famously short-lived communications chief, who has since become a fierce critic of the former president – offered this analysis on the latest edition of the podcast The Rest is Politics.
“This will be somewhat controversial for people and I apologise but there’s identity politics at play in the Democratic Party. So they needed to pick an African-American woman to be on the ticket – first African-American woman, first woman vice president.
“What’s interesting is that the first African-American president is not endorsing her – and so I think there’s a little bit of a tug of war going on between identity politics and performance politics.”
Scaramucci said Obama was “tipping his cards” and didn’t think Harris could win – adding that he himself was of the opinion that Harris was “way more formidable” than many give her credit for.
The New York Times has been told by sources close to Obama that the former president “has positioned himself as an impartial elder statesman above intraparty machinations” and did not want to make “a political mistake — fueling criticism that Ms. Harris’s nomination, should it come, was a coronation rather than the best possible consensus under rushed circumstances”.
That question about legitimacy is also something Harris touched on in her “earn and win” statement and is likely to be the focus of debate in the run up to the convention in Chicago next month.
It’s still possible someone could emerge to take on Harris but very unlikely.
You can expect to hear a lot more about what could happen at the convention – taking place between 19 and 22 August – in the coming weeks.
As endorsements of Harris from senior figures continued to come in overnight the New York Times reported this morning that anyone mounting a bid “would face staggering challenges”.
“Party operatives who have called for a contested convention straight out of an Aaron Sorkin political drama cannot see that dream come to fruition unless someone else jumps into the race.”
And while it’s being reported that Republicans are mulling possible legal challenges in the coming weeks, for the moment Harris also has immediate access to the campaign war chest – as her name is already on it.
According to the Washington Post: “For weeks, Democratic lawyers and operatives — who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party deliberations — had argued that elevating Harris to be the Democratic nominee was the easiest solution for the party.
“Rather than encouraging an array of candidates to compete in an open convention and setting off a scramble for financial support, they reasoned that anointing Harris would prevent a lot of legal headaches because her name is already on the paperwork filed with the Federal Election Commission that organised the Biden campaign committee.”
Harris will be out today to host an event for young athletes on the White House South Lawn later today and is set to campaign in Milwaukee tomorrow.
We haven’t heard anything from Biden since those initial statements but he’s said he will speak to the nation about his decision “later this week”.
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Such negativity! South America has some of the fastest growing economies in the world and if it costs a few grand for our president to go over there and charm them into doing business with us then I say, go for it!
No! We have to stay in the ditch!
Do you really think this man gets business for Ireland, do you really, honestly believe that this pointless politician who we have made a millionaire will ‘charm’ them into doing business with Ireland? Is that how you think business works?
@ Angela Yes, yes and yes
Name one business/multinational our previous president was responsible for bringing to Ireland. Other than her speech writer and herself speaking of “building bridges” what did the 13 million we gave her give us?
Ah Angela I know it’s Monday but cheer up. It could be worse!
A smile, for you Nial :)
Busy day my bollocks. Come in to my job and you’ll have a busy day
Such a waste of Taxpayers money
Has the man no conscience
Irish politician, conscience … looks strange in the same sentence doesn’t it. Just another parasite.
Oh for God’s sake shut up moaning.
Alan, this is The Journal. While a large number of American websites are addressing legitimate concerns about the damage their comment sections are having on their reputations and the reader experience of their articles, Journal.ie is rolling along with the single ghastliest comment section that I’ve ever encountered.
Must be a terrible inconvenience to you. Imagine, real people with real opinions…what a ghastly concept!
Angela, everyone has opinions. You’re on the verge of comparing the Irish president to a 19th Century robber baron. It takes a certain degree of self hating cynicism for a country to decry its president doing his job and representing us abroad. Unless you’d rather he just wait around in Shannon for some long haul flights to land. He could greet other heads of state who have a refuelling layover. Maybe he could get them some duty free as a gift.
If that’s your opinion then I suggest you educate yourself.
Tue enough Fergal. The comments section on the Journal would make you weep for the nation.
I am comparing him to presidents of other countries. Lest we not forget we are a small island going through one of the most difficult recessions we have ever endured. He is horrendously overpaid and in my opinion a complete waste of tax payers money. Higgins could take a leaf out of senior José Mujica book.
Don’t read it then.
I am comparing him to the presidents of other countries. Lest we not forget we are a small island going through one of the most difficult recessions we have ever endured. He is horrendously overpaid and in my opinion a complete waste of tax payers money. Higgins could take a leaf out of senior José Mujica book.
Educate myself on what exactly?
Angela the salary existed before he was VOTED INTO office by us the democratic majority. So are you suggesting that a president if a country should not travel and meet with other heads of state to encourage trade links?
It seems people in here moan for the sake of moaning. Give it a rest.
Times change, circumstances change, countries change, salaries change. I don’t believe we need a president, especially not one who has no power and is just a plastic figurehead of a small island of 4.5 million people….yet whos presidency costs us over 8 million Euros a year and whos salary is more than the Russian president????
Good old Ireland, nothing changes
Higgins has a special, personal interest in that part of the world. I’m not sure those places are of any particular cultural or economic significance to Ireland. Seems like we’re financing an extravagant holiday for him. If ministers were behaving like this people would be outraged.
We finance a different extravagant holiday for him every 2 weeks, always 5 star hotels and Michelin star restaurants. Not to mention the HUGE salary we pay him, the mansion, servants, private chef, chauffeur, it all adds up to about 10 million over his term…not to mention his pension. Yet we cut the most vulnerable in society and blame each other for our economic woes. Sure isn’t it a great country.
There’s the phrase that renders you unlistenable.
‘The most vulnerable in society’
The most sickening phrase in the Irish lexicon.
Each to their own Alan :)…I’ll just use ‘Alan O’Connor’ next time instead
You’re right Angela, we should send him off to stay at a youth hostel with a value pack of super noodles. That will instill confidence in the trade links he’s trying to promote.
I have no problem with him staying in 5star hotels if that actually is the case. He is our democratically elected head of state.
Please provide proof of him going away every 2 weeks and proof of these hotels and Michelin star restaurants of which you speak.
Below is a breakdown of his predecessors opulent lifestyle, as president of a small island of 4.5 million people. I have no objection with the man paying for his own accommodation, out of a salary of 250,000 a year why not? What trade links will he ensure? What trade links did his predecessor secure? Other than the constant spin..tell me one multinational that was lured here by Mary or Michael? Surely they would have been all too delighted to publicise it…..name one?
“THE cost of keeping President Mary McAleese in office has more than doubled since she was elected, figures revealed yesterday.
The president is allocated almost g2million to run her household, up from g928,000 when Mary Robinson left in 1997. And she earns more than /230,000 per year.
The total cost of keeping the president is more than g9million when other expenses are taken into account.
The president’s expenses include:
19,000 on publications such as newspapers and magazines
1114,000 on telephone calls and postage.
1155,000 on foreign travel and 125,000 on domestic travel.
The Finance Department figures show the president’s estimated annual budget has risen to a EUR1,985,000. When Mrs Robinson took office in 1990 the budget was just EUR341,000.
A presidential spokesman said: “Most of the expenses are down to travel and staff. Also, the President holds and attends an immense number of functions and expenses arise from that.”
The president costs the Taoiseach’s Department, the Office of Public Works, the Garda, the Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs EUR7,394,000.
The Garda will spend EUR432,000 in security and transport on the president and her office.
The Office of Public Works, responsible for the upkeep of Aras an Uachtarain and its grounds, will spend almost EUR2.5million this year.
President McAleese, who has just returned to Dublin after visits to Malaysia and Thailand, has increased her foreign travel expenses by EUR38,000.
But one of the sharpest increases is on domestic travel. This is expected to reach EUR25,000 – three times last year’s budget
It has not been revealed how much the President’s haircuts, wardrobe and make-up costs the taxpayer.
These figures are filed under “incidentals”.
The spokesman explained the EUR9,000 spent on newspapers.
He added: “That’s for daily newspapers, government publications and documents and other reading material that it’s necessary for the president to have in the office.” “
Excellent comment Angela. As I said in my previous comment
Has the man no conscience
Staggering nihilism and grumpiness. When did the Irish turn their backs on the rest of the world. At any other point in our century or so of independence, we would’ve been delighted to see our president being warmly received abroad and we would’ve sent him on his way with our best wishes for a fruitful trip.
We gave away out sovereignty and independence to Europe in successive European referendums…it’s a bit rich suggesting we need a president. I don’t consider being disgusted with the huge salary of the president of a small island of 4.5 million people in the middle of a recession.
The man is certainly overpaid but I don’t see how that’s relevant to the centuries-old tradition of heads of state being received abroad by their counterparts.
We will meet each other half way…however, I don’t see any reason why the Taoiseach of a small island can’t ‘double up’ and fulfil the role of president also.
Sure. We could have an American style of government with a powerful elected president. But that doesn’t work very well in any country but America (and even there it has its detractors). We need a head of State. The Irish president is more or less a figurehead but countries need figureheads. At their best, they provide unity and embody the nation in a single person at home and abroad. At worst… somebody needs to hobnob with ambassadors and the Queen.
We need to shrink the cost of government as much as possible. Considering he has 50 staff, the mansion, all inclusive 5 star luxury holidays every month and a personal chef…why does he need to be paid E250,000 + E100,000 expenses every year? Would the average industrial wage not suffice, or less?
“we” dont really have a state
In Order
-Foreign Banks and Hedge Funds
-Europe
-Troika
-Dail
-Seanad
-Higgens
As it is Kenny has no more power than a city Mayor , which makes Higgins akin to those mascots you see at football games. He is a joke and an expensive one
No, of course the average industrial wage would not suffice. I think we could halve his salary, to be sure. Aras an Uachtarain makes for a good presidential residence, it’s smaller than many European counterparts and a *lot* less fancy. And that’s before we get to the fact that he actually lives in an extension on the side of the building. As for the number of staff, some of those are civil servants, some are military and police, some are administrative, some are personal staff and then he has legal and political advisers as well. As for luxury holidays… presidents travel and we have to put him up somewhere. All of this doesn’t amount to a huge amount in the grand scheme of the national budget.
What does he need 250,000 for? What does he need 125,000 for? Comparable to small islands and populations of 4.5 million, his home is a palace and his salary, expenses and staff horrendously opulent. No comparison
The Irish president is more or less a figurehead but countries need figureheads. At their best, they provide unity and embody the nation in a single person at home and abroad. At worst… somebody needs to hobnob with ambassadors and the Queen.”
What do we need a figurehead for – surely not the reasons u give . this guy de s not Unite the nation – . He is a rubber stamp for a Neoliberal government.
to argue about his pay is like arguing about the pay of someone who is robbing you . We do not need this guy .
But yes – we need trade delegations to go to South America – more than Central America – – whose countries are growing and are no longer ”Americas backyard ” – now they have thrown out most of US influence .
Have you seen what Merkel lives in???Her apartment isnt much bigger than a average middle to upmarket Dublin apartment..The Aras makes the White House look like a potting shed.
We gave away our sovergnty in the 60s when we joined the ec. I didn’t hear you moaning when Europe were building all our roads and funding most public projects in the state. Stop moaning and beating the same old drum, it’s become tiresome Angela
No Colin. The original idea was for countries to get together to strengthen trade, which most people would have been in agreement with. I became disillusioned with the EU model when it became the political, centralised entity that it is now. We came to this through successive treaties cumulating with a constitution that overwrites ours in the Lisbon treaty. You are ignorant if you think that the EU was some sort of fairytale for Ireland, just another sheep swallowing the well oiled PR machine. You do realise that out of 40 years of being a EU poodle we were in recession for 30 years….explain that one spin boy? The 10 yrs we werent in recession was due to de-regulation and low corporation tax, the later which the EU still want us to raise. The 47 billion we are paying European banks (42% of the European banking crisis is being paid by Ireland) the billions of fishing waters we gave away, the sovereignty we lost pale in significance to the ‘roads’ and farmers grants…..educating Enda puppets becomes tiresome.
Total waste of money.
http://www.softirishrain.com/at-home-with-the-president/
For those of you struggling to pay your esb bill and keep the house heated, read this
awww lovely story , I hope he enjoys his trip and if you cant afford to go to Mexico yourself just enjoy the experience vicariously, you can even fist the air occasionally knowing that somebody poorer than yourself has paid for it.
Another holiday, I mean official state visit paid by the overburdened tax payer.
We do not need a president. It is a disgraceful waste of money, the whole political system needs to be changed in Ireland. Too many politicians, salaried too high, expenses too high. We are a small island of 4 million people in a recession….enough is enough.
We definitely need a president. Iceland has a population the size of Belfast and they have a president. A head of state is one of those things that you need in order to be a country.
he gets paid half of what Higgins is paid, doesn’t have 1/5 th of his expenses. No mansion, no butlers, private chef etc
In actual fact, the President does have an official residence, Bessataoir. From the size of it, I’m willing to bet that he does have a personal staff and he certainly has a state car.
The home of Icelands president: Ive seen houses in Leitrim bigger
The Irish presidents house:
For everybody who struggles to pay their bills and keep the roof over their head…read this.
It may or may not be worth pointing out that the Icelandic presidential estate consists of three buildings and that the Irish president actually lives solely in the 1911 wing built onto the side of Áras an Uachtarain and not in the main building itself, which is used merely as an office and for ceremonial functions etc. No matter. You’re on your high horse and Michael D Higgins is evidently Ceausescu reborn.
It may be worth pointing out that the Irish president has 50 staff, including an ‘ActiveX’ chef and gets paid double Icelands president.
http://www.softirishrain.com/at-home-with-the-president/
The ratio between the salary of the president Ceausescu and the average Romanian salary used to be, before “89, of 1/6…comparable to Higgins HUGE salary & expenses
“From the practical matter of finding their way around the meandering
92-roomed historic mansion and the 1,752 acres of grounds to the more
complex issues of protocol, it will be a challenging learning curve.”
The 1,752 acres in question are in fact the public Phoenix Park. Michael D’s predecessor actually gave half of the presidential estate within the park over to Dublin Zoo so it could double in size.
As for the 92-roomed mansion, the entire first floor is apparently used for storage and office space. There are only a few State rooms on the ground floor, most of which are sparingly used, and the family actually live in the small 1911 extension.
He’s opening new markets for emigration
Maybe when he is there he might nip into south America, and have a chat with the Uruguay president, and learn something’s from him.
A great man
Why?
He’s in North America
True. It’s a very common mistake people make describing Mexico as Central America. The Mexicans don’t like it. remember they’re part of NAFTA – there’s a clue in the name. As we tend to be a bit sensitive about what our country is called we should make the effort to get it right for other countries.
Split the difference and call it Central America.
We could call our country southern Ireland using that logic. Mexico is in north America, not south or central america
This guy is such a fraud. Why is he still earning over 200,000 euro? Why does he need all that money exactly?
I just realized – he’s 72, so he has a medical card as well, will he get to keep his I wonder ?
A complete fraud, just another parasite. He claims to be a ‘poet’ also…I encourage everyone to read his poem ‘The Ass’
I’m just curious, are we paying for his wife’s little holiday as well ?.
Could anyone enlighten me as to what type of business he is trying to attract from these countries on this little trip ?
Also, this trip was very badly timed – just after a budget that once again targeted the sick, needy and elderly.
Yes. The husband of our previous president gave up his full time job to fly around the world and stay in 5 star hotels with his wife.
God lord Angela I didn’t know that, what a bunch of freeloaders, have they no conscience at all ?
The attracting business spin is just the usual sound bite to give his role purpose and defend his disgustingly high salary. Only an idiot would believe that an Irish president can attract business to Ireland, but then again a lot of Irish people do genuinely believe everything they are told by PR companies and the media
“PRESIDENT MICHAEL D HIGGINS has a full day” Well quite; 5* meals, chit chat, baffling his interpreter. How does he keep up?
Pointless little t*sser
Angela Kelly reads like a poor Claire Daly and maybe a blond boyfriend too boot.
Thank you Stephen, you charmer x
He hasn’t visited North America yet. Why not ?. That’s where most of our immigrants are. Is he persona non grata there because of his anti American rants down through the years ?.
He has
King Obama would proably mistake him for a Leprachaun and think “Oh my!! it’s Saint Paddys day …again ??
Does this little guy have another godam fruit bowl with some kinda weed in it?” if he pitched up at the White house.
have your say