Kamala Harris is the woman of the hour, having picked up the baton from US President Joe Biden who stepped down from the presidential race against Donald Trump. With the Obamas’ endorsement, it is now truly a ‘yes we kam’ moment.
It was a double-déjà vu. It first felt like a scene straight out of the hit satire series Veep. And now it is turning into a replay of the crooked Trump vs Hillary war. From being called a “childless cat lady” and a “radical left lunatic”, to being denigrated for mentioning her she/her pronouns in a video, the nastiness has already begun.
But Harris has already hit the ground running even though she has the weight — and the wait — of history to overcome. “I took on perpetrators of all kinds… I know Donald Trump’s type,” said the former prosecutor general at a rally this week, evoking the cop versus criminal trope. Her first presidential campaign video uses Beyoncé’s ‘Freedom’, with the approval of the singer. The anthemic song reinforces Harris’ voiceover: “We choose freedom.”
With a helping hand from the US Supreme Court, Trump and his heir apparent, JD Vance, launched instantaneous attacks at Harris after Biden’s withdrawal, indicating they see her as a worthy opponent.
From coconut to the couch, social media is abuzz with memes of Harris and Vance. But the jury’s still out on whether she can consistently mobilise young voters and Black voters, or has enough time to, despite early signs in her favour. A Reuters/Ipsos survey showed Harris led Trump 44 per cent to 42 per cent. But it’s too early to go by polls, especially those with a margin of error of 3 per cent. After all, you can still be President with a lower popular vote in the US.
Besides, Harris faces more obstacles than Clinton did in 2016. Clinton was able to raise upwards of $200 million for her party, was sharp-witted against a rabid Trump in debates and above all, had a Democratic President in the White House whose job approval ratings — a key indicator — were above 50 per cent.
Harris’ first major test will be the upcoming presidential debate on 19 September. She will have to make up for Biden’s abysmal performance in the last debate and stand strong against a rival known for hitting below the belt. She shone in her debate with Biden on TV but Americans haven’t seen that fire since.
Her stump speech in Milwaukee was all about revving up the base. Building up a centrist image will serve her well. Condemning pro-Palestine protesters for burning the American flag during Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to the US this week, was a good strategy.
This is why Kamala Harris is the Newsmaker of the Week.
But will the “Harris honeymoon” last?
Starting at a disadvantage
As a woman of colour, Harris checks the intersectionality box for the new age. And in this first flush, all signs point to her invigorating young voters.
Within 48 hours of her announcement as the presidential candidate, over 38,500 people—mostly under 35—registered to vote, according to the nonpartisan platform Vote.org. On Thursday, an Axios/Generation Lab survey of 804 voters found Harris leading Trump by 20 points (60 per cent-40 per cent) among 18-34-year-olds, while Biden’s lead was just 6 points (53 per cent-47 per cent).
Similarly, a CNN/SSRS poll released Wednesday shows Black voters, who previously split 70 per cent for Biden and 23 per cent for Trump, now favour Harris 78 per cent to 15 per cent.
But Harris’ road to the presidency is paved with stumbling blocks. She has less time to campaign, especially in swing states. She has to rebuild her image, which took a beating during her tenure as vice president. Above all, a cloud of uncertainty will hover over her for the next 24 days until she’s officially confirmed as her party’s nominee.
Sure, she raised a whopping $81 million for the Democratic Party within 24 hours of Biden stepping down but Hillary Clinton raised a lot more in 2016 and still lost.
In contrast, Trump’s road to the presidency has been nothing but rosy. He gained much sympathy from across the American political spectrum and world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after surviving an assassination attempt earlier this month.
Even prior to the shooting, Trump fared better than Biden in national polls. He seemed to have an edge in swing states too. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted three states—Arizona, Georgia and Nevada—from the “Toss Up” to the “Lean Republican” category just days before the assassination attempt. These were all states that Biden won in 2020, albeit with razor-thin margins. The path became even smoother when a US Supreme Court ruling deemed Trump immune from prosecution for crimes committed in office, including alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
Also Read: JD Vance & his New Right can’t be dismissed glibly—he appeals to something deep, necessary
Democrats in disarray
Trump’s election campaign so far has only emboldened him. He doesn’t face the weight of uncertainty, having been officially confirmed as the Republican nominee at the party’s national convention in mid-July. He stands on solid ground.
His bleeding ear and fist in the air on the day of the shooting united the Republican party. If anything, it was a Hail Mary for the Republican Party, which has been floundering for the past year.
Kevin McCarthy was booted as House Speaker last October by his own party. In March, the Republican majority in the House of Representatives dwindled to its lowest in decades after several resignations. Mitch McConnell, a tall figure in the Republican party, resigned, months after a series of awkward press engagements where he appeared to freeze. Like Biden, McConnell knew he was at the end of his tether; his mind was failing. And his resignation reignited questions about the future of the Republican party.
With Trump and then the shooting, these questions have subsided. It’s the Democrats that are now in the hot seat. They are in disarray. It was bad form for top leaders in the party to criticise Biden after the CNN debate on live television. It would’ve been unthinkable for the Republican Party to publicly disparage Trump the way the Democrats did Biden.
Harris currently embodies the confusion in the Democratic Party. She’s not yet an official nominee and doesn’t know who will join her on the ticket.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)
She is a pure DEI candidate without ANY merit for the post. It will be interesting to see how much deep woke Talibanization has penetrated the US society.