Crusader staff report
Longtime Congressman Bobby Rush has endorsed California Senator Kamala Harris for president, adding more momentum to her rising campaign following her impressive skills in a recent Democratic debate in Miami.
Rush joins Florida Congresswoman Frederica Wilson who has also endorsed Harris to take on President Donald Trump. His son, Donald Trump Jr., recently ignited criticism for questioning Harris’ race on Twitter. With police shootings and ethnic tensions still boiling in America, race so far has become the hottest issue in the 2020 presidential season. A CNN poll this week shows Democratic candidate Pete Buttigieg polling at zero percent among Blacks. The South Bend, Indiana, mayor is hurting after a white police officer shot and killed a Black man in his city.
Rush said Harris was “the only candidate prepared to fight for all Americans against a Trump Administration that has left them behind” and that she is a “once-in-a-lifetime leader” who “exemplifies what global leadership is all about.”
Rush will reportedly serve as Harris’ Illinois campaign chair.
Harris is enjoying high marks and widespread praise in opinion polls after the second Democratic debate, where she passionately spoke about growing up as a girl who was bused to help integrate a school. She surprised her Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, as she criticized him for his past dealings with segregationist senators and his opposition to busing students for school integration.
Harris’ move lifted her in the latest opinion polls. According to the Politico/Morning Consult poll. More than 1 in 4 debate-watchers, 27 percent, said Harris did an “excellent” job, while 23 percent said Warren did an “excellent” job. Voters also gave Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren high marks after her performance from the first debate in Miami.
Still Biden remains the presumptive frontrunner in a crowded field of 20 Democratic candidates. With seven months to go before the Iowa Caucus, Biden leads in national opinion polls according to RealClearPolitics. Some 29 percent of the voters say they will vote for Biden for president. Harris is fourth behind Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Warren with 10.3 percent.
Rush lately has been sharply critical of Biden, telling Politico the former vice president remains “wholly out of touch and woefully ignorant of the nuances of the Black American experience.”
Harris’ campaign reported raising $2 million from more than 63,000 people within 24 hours after her debate on June 27 campaign aides said 58 percent of those donors had not contributed to her campaign before.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr. questioned Harris’ race on Twitter, saying that Harris is not an American Black, but half Indian and half Jamaican. Harris’ Democratic opponents rallied in support of her after Trump’s tweet.
