Former Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan said he “took a lot of flak” from his Democratic colleagues in late June when he became the first Democrat to publicly recommend Vice President Kamala Harris to replace President Biden as the Democratic leader, after Biden’s disastrous debate performance.
Ryan made waves and headlines on July 2, when he launched a media tour not only recommending that Mr. Biden drop his reelection bid, but specifically stating that Harris should be the new nominee.
At a delicate moment, with Democrats frustrated and fearful about the president’s reelection prospects, Ryan posted on social media that Harris “has come a long way, she will destroy Trump in the debate, put the issue of choice first, energize our base, bring back young voters and bring us generational change. It’s time!”
He said he thought he was just “whistling in the wind” a few weeks later when he then asked Harris to select Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be his running mate.
Laughing, Ryan told CBS News that he recently received a text message from a friend who was impressed by his newfound ability to predict the future. “When are we going to Vegas?” the friend asked.
Ryan, who briefly ran against Harris in the 2020 Democratic primary, is excited about how the race is shaping up so far. In between his 10-year-old son’s soccer games — which Ryan coaches — he spoke to CBS News by phone and said Harris has proven to be an “even better” presidential candidate than he expected.
“I knew it would be very well received,” Ryan said. “But I didn’t know there would be this much excitement. I knew people would be excited and ready to get involved and it would energize our base and our youth, but not to this level.”
Harris’s First Performance during the presidential debate has been well received, and most polls show that since becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee, she has closed the gap that had opened up between Mr Biden and Trump. Her performance as the new candidate so far appears to justify Mr Biden’s historic and – at the time – controversial victory. calls from congressional democrats that Mr. Biden step down.
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a 15th-term Democrat from Austin, Texas, told CBS News: “I’m really encouraged by the way things have turned out.” Doggett He was the first sitting member of Congress to publicly urge Biden to resign.
Speaking near the House floor between votes this week, Doggett told CBS News he was pleased that dozens of other congressional Democrats later joined his call for a new nominee, but didn’t expect it would be days or weeks before others made similar public statements.
“The pace of the proceedings was a little slower than I would have liked,” Doggett said. “A number of people insisted very strongly that there was nothing to say here and that it was the president’s decision. I was pleased that we finally got the result after three weeks.”
Harris’ emergence has boosted the prospects of other Democrats running for reelection or re-election, according to several congressional Democrats who spoke to CBS News.
Representative Angie Craiga moderate Democrat who has served his third term in a competitive district south of Minneapolis, was also among the first wave of Democrats calling on Mr. Biden to drop out of the race.
“The top of the ticket has shifted significantly in my district since the switch,” Craig told CBS News.
She said her conversations with other House Democrats indicate the Harris-Walz ticket has helped shift polls by 4 to 12 points in some of the most competitive congressional districts nationally.
House Democratic campaign officials believe Harris’ rise will energize voters and make the November election easier. Rep. Suzan Delbene, a Washington Democrat who chairs the House Democratic campaign, told CBS News: “Democrats in the House have been leading all cycle, and now we’re seeing a surge of enthusiasm and additional energy with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz at the top of the ticket.”
Ryan said the tenor and energy of the campaign was exactly what he envisioned when he recommended Harris as the nominee over the summer.
“I love the music and the energy at the gatherings,” he said. “I mean, it’s jamming. It’s like a concert.”
But he says he has other recommendations for the national campaign. He urges Harris’s team to make sure Americans see more of her, and he urges the campaign to have Harris appear more at public events and spend more time with voters. While he likes what he calls the “happy warrior thing,” he says “the vast majority of people just want to know that you’re tough.”
Scott MacFarlane
