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Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to South Carolina to file President Biden’s paperwork to appear on the Democratic primary ballot in the state that’s moved to the front of the party’s nominating season.
Ms. Harris presented the filings at South Carolina Democratic Party headquarters in Columbia alongside Rep. James Clyburn, a senior Democrat who catapulted Mr. Biden toward victory in 2020 by endorsing his bid days before the state’s primary.
“Madam chair, I’d like to officially present the paperwork,” Ms. Harris told party Chairwoman Christale Spain.
Ms. Harris listed issues important to South Carolina and could play a role in a likely rematch with former President Donald Trump, including funding for rural broadband and historically Black colleges and universities and increasing capital for small businesses.
“It was South Carolina that created the path to the White House for Joe Biden and me,” the vice president said, referring to Mr. Biden’s primary victory in 2022. “It started here in South Carolina. So much of it can be attributed to the fight, to the commitment, to the perseverance of the people in this room and in the state.”
She added, “I’m here to say thank you. Let’s do it again.”
In some ways, South Carolina is the center of the political universe for the 2024 presidential cycle. Two prominent Republican candidates, former Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, are from the Palmetto State.
Democrats pushed South Carolina to the front of the primary schedule, arguing the Southern state was a better representative of the party’s diversity than New Hampshire, which traditionally holds the first-in-nation primary.
Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison underscored that point Friday. Writing on X, he said the Harris event brought together the first Black female vice president, the first Black female South Carolina Democratic Party chairwoman and “one the most influential African Americans in the history of Congress” in Mr. Clyburn.
The vice president’s decision to visit South Carolina was a surprise. It wasn’t on the initial daily guidance from the White House, which updated her schedule early Friday to reflect the trip.
Ms. Harris is visiting the state after a busy week in which Mr. Biden touted his economic message in Illinois while lobbying Congress for money to pair aid for Israel’s fight against Hamas with money for Ukraine’s fight against Russia, an issue that’s deadlocked Congress.
Democrats got a lift after key electoral victories Tuesday in places like Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia.
“We are here with the wind at our back because did anyone notice what happened on Tuesday?” Ms. Harris said. “When we fight, we win.”
At the same time, the Biden-Harris ticket is dogged by foreign crises and concerns about inflation and the illegal immigration surge at the U.S.-Mexico border. Some polls show the ticket trailing Mr. Trump in battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Biden dismissed those polls, saying other surveys show him ahead.
“Check it out. We’ll get you a copy of all those other polls,” he told reporters at the White House.
Independent candidates such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are also peeling off support from the major parties, posing a headache for Mr. Biden as he tries to lock down support and hopes the GOP nominee loses more voters to third parties.
Ms. Harris was unable to escape overseas turmoil during her visit to South Carolina. During a stop at a Vietnam memorial to honor Veterans Day, reporters asked her about protests around the country over the civilian deaths in Gaza.
“People have a right to protest. We are a democracy, and we should value the voices and listen to the voices,” she said. “It’s a very difficult time. What I hope is that we can engage in conversation and discourse that understands this is not binary and appreciates that we are talking about real human beings.”
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