well Democrats have their work cut out for them now to reunite the party behind one candidate so will Kamala Harris be that candidate already she secured the support of many within the party's leadership but is it enough and how does she turn their support into votes in particular from voters in swing States who' pretty much lost interest in President Biden and in this race and can she pull any votes away from Trump well Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky is here now to offer some perspective Julie great to see you now the last time you and I spoke you were very candid it was immediately following what you called a disastrous debate performance by President Biden now that he has stepped aside I'm going to ask you is Kamala Harris is the vice president the right candidate for your party she's a historic candidate she is a risky candidate um and I I truly truly hope she is the right candidate look um the reason the party went with Joe Biden in 20 was twofold one was he truly has and had a fantastic record as vice president and as a senator uh especially for those of us from New Jersey he was almost like the third Senator uh of the state when he was in Delaware so we certainly were very familiar with his record and and I for one Lov Joe Biden the other reason the party went with Joe Biden is he was the safe candidate right um especially after Hillary Clinton's very um historic but also risky candidacy well kamla har Harris is a woman she's a woman of color and of course that brings with it the same concerns that that I certainly have about her being treated the way that Barack Obama and Hillary Clint were treated because of their historic candidacies having said that nothing would make me happier than to have an accomplished woman a prosecutor a vice president somebody who was a sitting Senator uh somebody with a with an incredibly powerful track record finally breaking that glass ceiling for women and and women of color especially that we've all been waiting for for a very long time well to that Point she needs to reach middle of America voters who right now are either on the fence or turned off from this election altogether or are leaning towards uh former president Donald Trump she also needs to get the young vote and the votes of black and brown communities how does she message to get those kind of three distinct groups in the same way that Joe Biden did and in the same way that Barack Obama did look this is you know we keep pitting these communities against each other as though black and brown people don't have the same concerns as people in Appalachia and the same concerns that people have living in the big cities and the reality is of course they do we all want the same thing we all want a stronger economy we all want a better education system for our kids we all want opportunity um this is you know this constant by balkanization almost of putting people into different categories I think is is a mistake that both Democrats and Republicans consistently make the message is and I and I don't say this as a as a matter of hyperbole I truly believe this our country is at stake we are about to potentially elect somebody who's going to take 20 almost 50 years of our democracy and throw it out the window somebody who's going to break up the pox Americana somebody who's going to ban reproductive choice for women as women are dying practically dying of miscarriages and other issues because doctors are afraid to perform needed dnc's to save their lives I mean this is the kind of country that we're about to live in if Donald Trump and Jay-Z Vance get elected if it nominee ends up being uh vice president Kamala Harris who do you believe she should pick as her running mate we know uh Senator Cory Booker and Governor Phil Murphy have been listed uh somewhere on that list but is she wiser to go with someone from perhaps a Battleground state but look you've got young people like Josh Shiro um Andy basher in Kentucky um Roy Cooper who's not necessarily a young guy but one but one handily in a place like North Carolina which is a purple State somebody like a mark Kelly an astronaut a milit veteran married to a very high-profile Survivor of a of a shooting in Gabby gords from Arizona of course another purple State the issue with Democrats with vice presidential candidates is that it's almost an abundance um of riches here and she could only pick one but there are many from whom to choose and of course she still has to be confirmed as the nominee we know delegates are meeting tonight to discuss uh there's still a convention coming up a lot more to follow we're going to be tracking this Julie Roginsky Democratic strategist thank you [Music]