In a virtual press conference Sunday night, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., praised President Joe Biden’s record as extraordinary and his exit from the race as a selfless act, then pivoted to the road ahead in unifying the Democratic Party behind a new nominee, presumably Vice President Kamala Harris.
“This is a historic day, and we should just take a moment to recognize that I’m sure this was an agonizing, difficult decision for Joe Biden. Why? Because he’s been one of the most effective, most impactful presidents of our lifetime,” said Murphy, a candidate for reelection to his third term.
Murphy’s call with Connecticut reporters is the inaugural step by Democrats in the state, and one of many throughout the U.S., to reset the race as now offering a generational change, while linking Harris to the legislative achievements of Biden in a divided Washington.
“This is somebody that helped this country recover from COVID. He helped rebuild our economy,” Murphy said. “He passed legislation that people thought would never pass, like a gun safety bill, a massive investment in infrastructure, the biggest investment in fighting climate change in the history of the country.”
Harris, 59, is nearly two decades younger than the 78-year Donald J. Trump and, if nominated, she will lead Democrats for a second time in three elections in trying to keep Trump out of the White House while breaking the ultimate glass ceiling in American politics: Electing a woman as president.
“In many ways, Kamala is the best of both worlds because she can talk about the successes of the Biden ministration, but she does represent a new generation of leadership,” Murphy said. “She is a historic figure. She would be the first woman president at a moment when women’s rights are under assault in this country. I think you’re going to see grassroots enthusiasm grow for Kamala Harris in the coming days.”
ActBlue, the fundraising platform used by Democrats, reported $27.5 million in small-dollar donations to Harris in the first five hours after she announced her candidacy with Biden’s support.
Murphy dismissed suggestions by some Republicans, most notably House Speaker Mike Johnson on CNN, that Biden releasing his delegates to choose a successor would somehow produce a nominee who could be denied ballot access in some states.
“The party is going to decide a new nominee in accordance with the rules of the Democratic National Committee and the winner of that process, who I expect to be Kamala Harris, will be on the ballot in all 50 states,” Murphy said.
Murphy similarly shrugged off a secondary Republican line of attack: Democrats, including Harris, were complicit in hiding Biden’s cognitive decline, and that if Biden is not fit to seek another four years, he should step down immediately.
“I think Republicans are flailing today. So I don’t really feel the need to take their arguments at face value. I don’t think Joe Biden’s opinion is changed about his ability to lead the country,” Murphy said. “I think he came to the conclusion that the better candidate was Kamala Harris, and he cares deeply about this country. He wants to win this election. He wants to protect our democracy, wants to defeat Donald Trump, and he came to the conclusion that the best way for that to happen was to step aside and support this new generation.”
Could running mate options include Murphy?
Murphy declined to express interest in being Harris’ running mate, but neither did he say anything to discourage Harris from considering him.
“I don’t think you put your name in for that,” Murphy said. “I think that’s a decision that will be up to the vice president. I think she’s gonna have a tough decision to make because there are a lot of potential great choices to share the ticket with her. I’ve had no conversations with the vice president or team about that.”
State Comptroller Sean Scanlon, a confidant and former aide to Murphy, said Murphy should at least be in the conversation as a two-term senator who negotiated a bipartisan deal that produced the first significant gun legislation in decades, as well as a bipartisan immigration measure that stalled in the House.
“He is somebody who has got a track record of getting stuff done in very tough environment in Washington,” Scanlon said. “And if you are looking for a good messenger to go toe to toe with J.D. Vance and help a President Harris govern, he absolutely should be in the conversation.”
Harris is a former prosecutor, attorney general and U.S. senator from California. The early public focus on potential running mates has been on governors who could broaden the ticket’s appeal, including Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Andy Beshear of Kentucky.
Gov. JB Pritzker of Illinois, a billionaire who has helped raise millions for the Democratic Party, also is among the many other possibilities.
Murphy, who began his career as a strategist, indicated that the choice of vice president is not as politically significant as some might think.
“Obviously the pick of a vice president is consequential. This is the person who could become president on a moment’s notice,” Murphy said. “But I don’t think it tends to have much to do with voters’ decisions. I don’t think many people are going to cast their ballot because of their opinions about J.D. Vance.”
Vance, 39, an Ohio senator who once ridiculed Trump but now echoes some of the president’s more populist stands, was nominated in Milwaukee last week as vice president.
“You’re going to have two very strong candidates at the top of the ticket, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris likely, and I think voters’ decisions will be based upon how they think each of the presidential candidates will govern,” Murphy said.
Murphy said Democrats cannot be faulted for failing to confront Biden during the primary season. He noted that U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., raised an early alarm about Biden when he opened a campaign.
“Phillips is a well-regarded mainstream Democrat, a member of Congress,” Murphy said. “His candidacy never got off the ground, which I think was a sign of how fruitless the challenge to Joe Biden would have been late last year and early this year.”
“Obviously, a lot of things changed after the debate — whether that’s fair or not, history will judge,” he said. “But prior to the debate, there just was not a lot of room to run against Joe Biden in the Democratic Party.”
This story was originally published by the Connecticut Mirror.
