Biden counting on Harris in key swing states as the duo make first presidential campaign appearance

Aug 12 (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his new running mate, Senator Kamala Harris, will make their first appearance as a ticket on Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware, as the campaign for the White House enters a more frenetic phase.

The two are scheduled to deliver remarks just days before Biden formally accepts the Democratic nomination during the party's national convention, which will take place largely as a virtual event next week due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Republican convention, where President Donald Trump will be nominated for a second four-year term, follows a week later and kicks off a 10-week sprint to the Nov. 3 election.

Harris, 55, the first Black woman and the first Asian American to appear on a major-party presidential ticket, was announced as Biden's choice on Tuesday after a selection process that drew extra scrutiny thanks to Biden's age.

“I think it was a smart choice. The biggest thing she brings is high name recognition by virtue of her running for president, the nation got to know her well last year and even her performance in some Senate confirmation hearings elevated her profile,” said Ted Johnson, senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice. “She inspires the Democratic base.”

Biden, 77, would be the oldest president ever if he wins, raising speculation that he would not seek re-election in 2024.

Wednesday's event in Biden's hometown will take place on the third anniversary of the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where violent clashes erupted as white supremacists and neo-Nazis descended on the town.

Biden has said Trump's comment after the clashes that there were "very fine people on both sides", which drew widespread criticism, convinced him to run for president.

In choosing Harris, Biden selected a former rival for the nomination whose most memorable campaign moment was when she criticized his past position on using busing to integrate schools during a televised debate.

But Harris was regarded as a relatively safe choice. She is a more dynamic campaigner than Biden and will be relied upon to help energize Black voters, who represent a crucial constituency for Biden in key swing states.

“Black voters voted for the Democratic nominee upwards of 90% for the last five decades, the question is not about the share but the level of Black turnout the ticket will inspire,” said Johnson. “I think Kamala Harris sort of had the collection of qualities from experience to inspiration and name recognition that will allow her to help Biden increase Black turnout and give that ticket a pretty good shot at winning the White House this November.”

Johnson thinks that if Harris can get Black voter turnout in Milwaukee, Detroit and Philadelphia back to the level where it was in 2004 and 2008, then the votes in the cities’ respective states could flip to the Democratic candidate. Hillary Clinton lost in those three cities, as well as states like North Carolina, Georgia and Florida, in the 2016 presidential election.

Biden has a good change to flip one or two of those six states with Harris, according to Johnson, adding that if he can flip half of those states Biden will have an advantage in the electoral college.

But he notes that Harris “being Black ain’t enough. She has to go to these cities and camp out in Detroit, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and North Caroline, Florida and Georgia in order to get the turnout to increase. Moreover, she’s going to have to lobby the Democratic party and the Biden campaign hard to expend resources in the areas to fund grassroots organizations that are going to be the real engine of Black mobilization in those strategic areas they need.”

In recent months, as unrest has convulsed U.S. cities following the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, Harris has become a prominent voice calling for change. She has marched alongside protesters and pushed legislation to reform policing practices.

Biden, who had vowed to pick a female running mate, had come under increasing pressure to select a Black woman.

As a former prosecutor and attorney general, Harris has shown herself to be a sharp questioner in Senate hearings and appears to be well suited to the traditional "attack dog" role that vice presidential candidates are often asked to assume.

The Trump campaign wasted little time on Tuesday attacking Harris as a "radical" who would drag Biden to the left. But it remains unclear whether the broadsides will be effective. (Reporting by Joseph Ax;Editing by Michael Perry)

NOTE: This article was lightly edited by Yahoo Finance to include expert quotes.