Henry Olsen: Election Analyst says Kamala Harris is set to secure the Democrats' nomination

An election analyst says Kamala Harris' nomination is probably a done deal.  

The process will be formally open for challengers, and none of the delegates at the Democratic National Convention are required to vote for her. 

Election analyst Henry Olsen told Ryan Bridge it's likely any possible contenders would be feeling it's not worth taking on Kamala Harris.  

He says some could privately think she isn't the strongest candidate and personally want the job, but have decided it’s better to choose discretion. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The fairy godmother you could call her of the Democratic Party.
Nancy Pelosi has this morning thrown her support behind Krmala Harris.
Joe Biden is no longer seeking reelection to be president
of the United States. He's endorsed, along with Nancy Pelosi
in a whole raft of others. Now Krmala Harris to
be the nominee for the Democrats for president in the

(00:21):
election in November. She says, Karmala Harris, that is, she
wants to earn and win the nomination. So what is
the process and is it hers basically in the bag? Well,
Henry Olsen is with us this morning. He's a US
election analyst and columnist for the Washington Post. Henry, thank
you very much for being with us. Is this basically
thank you for having me? Is this basically all sewn
up for Kamala Harris?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Now, it probably is, and it'll be formally open that
none of the delegates to the National Convention who make
this election are legally bound to vote for her. But
you can't beat someone with no one and right now
every single leading national figure who credibly could challenge her
has endorsed her. So it's difficult to see where somebody

(01:05):
gains traction in order to defeat her, even though the
process will be formally open to anyone who wants to.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
Do them, it would be political suicide for any serious
contender to throw the heat in the ring, given how
many have come out and support of her.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
Now, that's why they're all doing it. I'm sure many
of them privately think that she's not a strong candidate,
many of them privately hunger for the job. But they
all know that if you're going to kill the king,
you have to kill the king. And it's extremely hard
to take out a sitting vice president with the sitting
president's endorsement, who's also got hundreds of millions of dollars

(01:44):
behind her that wouldn't necessarily be transferable to someone who
beat her. Everyone seems to be choosing discretion as the
better part of value in this case.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Who does she need on the ticket with her? Do
you pick a swing state senator or a governor like
a Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
That is the common wisdom right now is that she
because she is a woman of color, that she will
put a white male on the ticket. There's never been
an American presidential ticket without a white male on it.
People are looking at Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania.
Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan. Although she's a female,

(02:22):
she is white, took herself out of the running. Today.
A lot of people are looking at Senator Mark Kelly
of Arizona, who was an astronaut before he became a senator,
and whose wife, Gabby Gibbs, was a popular congresswoman who
was shot in the head and permanently brain damage as
a results in assassination attempt thirteen years ago. Some people

(02:43):
think that between Arizona being a swing state, his biography,
and his family history, that he could add a lot
to the ticket.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
How does trouble? How is Trump reacting? And can he?
Can she beat him?

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Trump is reacting as you might expect Trump to react,
which is to be sharp, negative and drawing contrast. There's
already an add up from the Trump superpack that alleges
that she covered up Biden's infirmities and ties her to
the administration. Can she beat him? Yes, but it's hampered

(03:19):
by two things. First of all, she's as unpopular as
Biden was, and so she starts behind in the poll. Secondly,
she's part of the administration. She's not an eighty one
year old man with regrettable but real infirmities. She is
somebody who has an identity of being a follower and

(03:40):
an identity of being involved in a very unpopular administration.
Her challenge is to distinguish herself from the administration, make
an image for herself as a leader, while not running
away from the time that she has spent as Joe
Biden's loyal number two. It's a very thin line that
she has to.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
Walk, certainly. It's Henry, thanks for your time and your
analysis this morning. That's US election analyst. Henry Olsen is
also a columnist for The Washington Post. For more from
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