But new? We should recall,because it’s easy to forget in these heady days,that Harris is,in fact,the vice president of the current administration. By the time the next president is inaugurated,12 of the past 16 years will have passed under a Democratic White House. This is not Obama 2008,which was so clearly a response to eight years of George W. Bush. It’s not even Biden 2020,which sought to terminate Trumpism after a term and render it an aberration. It’s a vice president seeking a promotion. And yet,we have one senior adviser,formerly a Biden White House official,tellingThe New York Timesthat Harris “is absolutely the change candidate”.
I must confess I didn’t see this coming. I take my place among the countless political observers who felt Harris posed no particular threat to Trump:that she would never have won the Democratic nomination in a normal primary contest,and that a Californian lawyer would have little hope of winning over the working-class voters so pivotal to Trump’s electoral success. All that might still turn out to be true. But for now,there’s no denying the momentum.
Against Joe Biden a month ago,Trump appeared inevitable. But as of this week,national polls show Harris leading. Satisfaction with the choice of candidates on offer has tripled among Democratssince Biden withdrew,and increased by well over half among independent voters. Democrats are positively enthused:62 per cent support Harris “strongly”,compared to 34 per cent for Biden. Younger voters,black voters,independent voters,white voters without a college degree – Harris is doing better with almost every demographic than Biden was. She also seems to be making progress in battleground states.
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And then there’s the vibe. Her rally crowds are huge,the donations are flooding in,and Trump suddenly seems all at sea:unable to land a blow and talking wildly about Harris not really being black and having fake,AI-generated crowds. He,the master ofthe derisive nickname,can’t settle on one for her.
He’s still complaining that it was “not fair” that Harris replaced Biden,repeatedly calling it a “coup” and “perhaps another form of election interference”. All of which seems to be concerning once-confident Republicans.
“Fewer insults,more insights” advised Trump’s former campaign manager,Kellyanne Conway. “Quit whining” pleaded Nikki Haley,who only last month spoke at the Republican National Convention to give Trump her “strong endorsement”. She elaborated,“the campaign is not going to win talking about crowd sizes,it’s not going to win talking about what race Kamala Harris is,it’s not going to win talking about whether she’s dumb”.