Surge

Good morning and welcome to US Election Countdown. I'm Steff Chávez, the FT's Washington reporter — it’s great to be back with you. For today, let’s get into:

• Harris’s path to victory
• Murdoch’s diminishing political influence
• Democrats ponying up

Now that Kamala Harris almost has the Democratic nomination in the bag, she can plot her path to victory.

She’s got a lot of momentum and excitement around her right now, and she’s betting that this surge of enthusiasm will fuel her White House bid. [Free to read]?

Harris still needs to pick a running mate (donors say Josh Shapiro, Mark Kelly and Roy Cooper are the frontrunners), but she’s hitting the campaign trail, making her pitch to voters — and distinguishing it from Joe Biden’s.?

While the president often talked about Donald Trump’s threat to democracy, Harris is focusing on the risks to individual freedoms she says are under threat from Republican extremism. She’s made it clear that she’ll emphasise abortion rights, voting rights and safety from gun violence.

Her broader messages are also emerging: that she brings generational change, while Trump would take the country backwards; that as a former prosecutor she can take on a convicted felon; and that economically she’s a better steward for the middle class.?

The way her campaign sees it, “this shift in the race opens up additional persuadable voters” that the Democrats can scoop up, according to a memo from campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon.

Earlier this week, Trump told reporters that Harris “won’t be too tough” to beat in November, given her unsuccessful 2020 campaign. But Trump’s own strategist Tony Fabrizio said in his own memo that he expected Harris to get a polling bump in the coming weeks. . . . Register for the FT to keep reading the newsletter for free.