US presidential race heats up with 100 days until Election Day

The 100-day sprint to the U.S. election began Sunday, the final act of a campaign transformed by an assassination attempt and the stunning exit of President Joe Biden.

After weeks of infighting and despondency over Biden's candidacy, Democrats have consolidated behind Vice President Kamala Harris, radically reshaping the race to November 5 that was fast becoming Republican nominee Donald Trump's to lose.

Harris's candidacy has clearly reinvigorated her party's campaign, which said Sunday it had raised $200 million — mostly from first-time donors — since Biden dropped out and endorsed his vice president a week ago.

A new Wall Street Journal poll showed Harris had closed Biden's six-point deficit with Trump to just two points — well within the margin of error — with boosted support from Black, Latino and young voters.

But Republican pollster David Lee, who conducted the Journal survey, cautioned Democrats not to get carried away by the race tightening.

"Donald Trump is in a far better position in this election when compared to a similar time in the 2020 election," Lee said.

If the race is at a dead heat nationally, the advantage still lies with Trump given the mathematics of the Electoral College system for electing the president.

Trump's 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton came despite losing the nationwide popular vote by nearly three million ballots.

  'We are the underdogs' 

"We are the underdogs in this race," Harris acknowledged at a fundraising event on Saturday.

"But this is a people-powered campaign and we have momentum," she added.

Former vice president Al Gore on Sunday joined the parade of high-profile Democrats who have endorsed Harris, emphasizing her record on...