Ground Game: Biden drops out, Republicans and Democrats face tumultuous election

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Plus, Trump campaign pivots its focus to Harris, and Democratic voters express relief over Biden’s departure{beacon}

By Meg Kinnard

July 22, 2024 10:09:07 AM

By Meg Kinnard

July 22, 2024 10:09:07 AM

  

President Joe Biden quit the 2024 campaign on Sunday, throwing his backing behind Vice President Kamala Harris but vowing to remain in office until the end of his current term. The decision has roiled an already swirling Democratic Party as delegates plan for a national convention next month in Chicago, at which it’s not clear whom they’ll nominate to lead them. The news is tumultuous for Republicans’ general election plans, too.

Welcome to this week’s edition of AP Ground Game.

 

THE HEADLINES

Hugh Kieve, 10, from Washington, holds a sign in front of the White House, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Harris gets the chance to press reset on the 2024 race against Trump

For the past year, the presidential campaign seemed destined to be a monotonous slog featuring two candidates, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, that voters didn’t really want.

But that all changed on a quiet Sunday afternoon just 107 days before the election.

Biden’s decision to drop out of the race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor resets the campaign with a swiftness that is unparalleled in modern American politics.

Once a contest between two elderly white men, the election will likely force Trump to contend with the much younger Harris, who was consolidating support among Democrats and would be the first woman of color atop a major party’s