INDIANAPOLIS -- After President Joe Biden's historic decision to drop out of the presidential race, all eyes have now turned to Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of the DNC.
One La Porte, Indiana, delegate preparing to head to the national convention said many delegates at the INDEMS State Convention expressed concerns over Biden's age. Still, the party passed a resolution at that convention to support the Biden/Harris ticket.
”There was overall concern," Shaw Friedman said. ”We’re all relieved, and there is this tremendous sense of optimism that has broken out in the last 24 hours, and so, yeah, I think our delegation is going to be very enthused about being in Chicago.”
INDEMS will send 88 delegates from across the state to the DNC in Chicago next month. Friedman said he's confident the majority of Indiana's delegation will support Vice President Harris.
”The fact that the DNC raised $50 million in one day tells you the kind of enthusiasm and optimism you’re seeing from Democrats all over the country," Friedman said.
INDEMS Chair Mike Schmuhl also echoed Friedman's sentiment during an interview Monday.
"I’m pretty confident that tonight we’ll come together as a state party and as a DNC delegation to say that we support Kamala Harris in running for president," Schmuhl said.
But other top Democrats, such as former President Barack Obama, Sen. Chuck Schumer, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries have not endorsed a candidate as of this story's publication. Schmuhl said according to party rules, any Democrat wanting to challenge Harris would need the backing of at least 300 delegates to be up for consideration.
”I’m not saying it’s impossible, but that’s a tall order to accomplish in the next, really just the next week or two," Schmuhl said.
”I just don’t see a contest at this point," Friedman said. "We’re too close to the election to have a battle now, and we’ve got an opportunity to win this, and I think much of the focus will be on picking a great VP candidate.”
This comes as party leaders across the country wait to see if a virtual roll call among delegates will take place ahead of the convention to comply with early ballot deadlines in some states.
”The reason for the virtual role call, which I think needs to be conducted before Aug. 7, is the fact that Ohio has a very early ballot, basically certification process to get on the ballot for president in Ohio," Schmuhl said. ”The DNC and the presidential campaign feel fairly strongly that we need to do that online certification process so our nominee is on the ballot in all 50 states. If we have a virtual role call, we’ll basically be signaling that this person is going to be our nominee, and therefore we can begin to notify the states that have early ballot deadlines.”
”I’m not so sure whether that’s going to come down or not… we’ll have to see what the rules committee ultimately comes up with," Friedman added.
As for Kamala Harris' potential running mate pick, Schmuhl said there are several names that have been floated, including Sen. Mark Kelley of Arizona, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, and Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Schmuhl went on to say the party is still waiting on Harris to begin the formal process.