US election: Harris energises party base, wins support from top leaders

In less than 50 hours of announcing her presidential bid, US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is of both Indian and African origin, has united and energised the support base of her Democratic party.

She has been endorsed by almost all the party leaders and have raised a record $100 million from thousands of people nationwide.

In fact, Harris, 59, has come a long way since the 2020 presidential cycle, when she was forced to drop out of the Democratic party's presidential race even before the primaries as she was polling in single digits.

However, this time she has emerged as the only hope for the Democratic party, which till a few ago appeared to be bitterly divided and on the brink of being swept by a Trump wave.

"I am running to be President of the United States. It has been the honour of a lifetime to serve alongside our Commander-in-Chief, my friend, President Joe Biden -- one of the finest public servants we will ever know. And I am honoured to have his support and endorsement," Harris said in an email to her supporters after she became the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic party.

On Sunday, Biden, 81, who was receiving a lot of flakes from the party after his dismal debate against the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, announced that he was dropping out of the race.

He endorsed Harris for the presidency.

Soon thereafter Harris announced her presidency. Since then she has been endorsed by top leadership of the party. On Monday night, she became the presumptive nominee after winning the support of enough delegates, she would formally be declared as the party's nominee during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago beginning August 19.

The Harris campaign has announced it has raised $100 million from thousands of people across the country. This is the biggest fundraising effort for any presidential campaign to start with.

When I announced my campaign for President, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination. Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party's nominee, and as a daughter of California, I am proud that my home state's delegation helped put our campaign over the top. I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon, she said.

I am grateful to President Biden and everyone in the Democratic Party who has already put their faith in me, and I look forward to taking our case directly to the American people, she said.

This election will present a clear choice between two different visions. Donald Trump wants to take our country back... I believe in a future that strengthens our democracy, protects reproductive freedom and ensures every person has the opportunity to not just get by but to get ahead, Harris said.

Over the next few months, I will be travelling across the country talking to Americans about everything that is on the line. I fully intend to unite our party, unite our nation, and defeat Donald Trump in November, said the vice president.

Harris was a senator from California, the country's most populous state, before Biden picked her as his vice-presidential running mate in 2020.

Harris was born to immigrant parents -- a Black father and an Indian mother. Her father, Donald Harris, was from Jamaica, and her mother Shyamala Gopalan was a cancer researcher and civil rights activist from Chennai.