The speed with which the Democratic party has coalesced around Kamala Harris's presidential nomination is astonishing: since President Joe Biden's terrible debate performance a month ago, there was much speculation among Democrat party members as to how to pick a candidate if and when Biden stepped down, with the possibility of the party going into an open convention in August with no clear front runner being raised. But then Biden almost immediately endorsed Harris after and she quickly moved to take over his campaign, including the money he had raised.
More importantly, Democrats who had been floated as possible presidential candidates themselves fell in line behind her. Not only that, the party suddenly seemed thrilled to have Biden step down, with Harris raising record amounts of campaign donations and giving well received speeches that spread throughout social media. And polls show her pulling even with Trump both nationally and in swing states, turning around the deep hole that Biden was falling into.
The reason I'm so surprised by this is that the past four years have not been great for her; in 2020 her campaign for the Democratic presidential candidacy failed quickly. Then when she became vice president, her term got off to a rocky start: there were stories about staff turnover and disorganization, and her trip to Guatemala in 2021 to try and stem the flow of refugees seemed weak ("Don't come." She lectured). She later found her voice after Roe Vs Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, and her full throated defense of a woman's right to choose made her a stronger advocate on that issue than Biden ever was. Still, the party's shift to her in such a short time may qualify as one of the biggest political turn arounds ever; seemingly overnight she went from a VP with a poor approval rating to a strong presidential candidate. In a way, the viral video clip of her giggling about "falling off a coconut tree" is the perfect encapsulation of what's happened with her: at first, that video was sent around by Republicans trying to ridicule her and her boisterous laugh. But now that laugh is seen as good natured and endearing by her supporters. (I always found it likable myself).
Is it possible that her surge has more to do with Biden stepping down than Harris herself? While she is rising in the polls, trouble still lies ahead: she will be attacked as a San Francisco liberal (which is why I like her!) with radical views while Trump will eventually settle on some childish nickname for her that will be echoed ad nauseam in the right wing media.
And then there is the thorny issue of race and gender; is the country ready to elect not only its first female president, but also its first woman of color? While polls show that Harris is capturing the youth vote, she's apparently losing the older white voters who's turn to Biden in 2020 were important to his victory. To his credit, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has told members of his party to lay off any race or gender based attacks on her: “This is not personal with regard to Kamala Harris,” he said recently in a closed door meeting with party members, “and her ethnicity or her gender have nothing to do with this whatsoever.” But this is is the Republican party; race based attacks are their bread and butter. Sure enough, several Republicans have tried to brand Harris as a "DEI hire", implying that she was only chosen as VP because of who she was and not her qualifications (even though those qualifications for office included more political experience than Trump had before he became president!). Will these racist statements backfire against the Trump campaign as Johnson thinks they will? Hopefully.
Am I afraid that that the country will soon see another version of the unsuccessful Hillary Clinton campaign of 2016? It's possible, but remember that Harris is no Clinton, who was always, rightly or wrongly, a controversial figure. Harris, on the other hand, has been throughly vetted and has no apparent skeletons in her closet. (There will be no FBI investigations into her email!) I also like to think that the idea of a female president is less shocking in 2024 than it was in 2016, and the energy behind her candidacy now is giving me happy memories of Barack Obama's historic 2008 campaign.
The question is, can she keep the tide turning against Trump, who seemed unstoppable just a few weeks ago after the Republican National Convention? While the prospect of a second female candidate losing to a famously misogynistic man, especially one with plans to dismantle American democracy, is terrifying, right now I'm cautiously optimistic about Harris's chances.
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