“Bring it on!” is the Republicans’ response to the almost certain prospect of Kamala Harris being their opponent in November.
They think it’s a joke. “Giggle Kamala,” as Trump calls her, is the star of thousands of internet memes in which she looks weird, talks strangely and makes no sense, a bit like her predecessor.
Caught on camera talking about the vice president earlier this month, Trump was as brutal as you’d expect: “She’s so mean,” he said, “she’s pathetic.”
The Republican Party believes Trump will destroy her and knows that if Democrats seriously thought she could succeed, the party would have already endorsed her.
But what if Republicans are all wrong? What if Trump is making a grave mistake by underestimating Kamala’s strengths and assuming she is on track to win in November?
In fact, there are many Democrats who quietly hope — and perhaps half-believe — that Kamala has the power to reinvent herself.
Kamala (pictured) is not yet 60. Compared to Biden, 81, and Trump, 78, she is practically a young girl.
Donald Trump (pictured), as she will endlessly remind people, is a convicted felon.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on a vaccination update from the State Dining Room at the White House, April 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.
To paraphrase Kamala on numerous occasions, she is now “relieved of what has been.” She is free to work for Joe and could still bring down Donald Trump.
Some suggest Kamala’s struggle began long before Biden dropped out of the race.
Look at the money he raised in the first 24 hours. His campaign team claims it was $230 million.
It was the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 election cycle, and likely a record amount for any candidate on the first day. Money matters: If you want to capture the attention of the vast majority of Americans who don’t care about politics, you have to pay up. She’ll have the money.
Kamala’s supporters now hope she can craft a message that resonates with a nation that, in many ways, showed neither Trump nor Biden the same enthusiasm. She can tap into a yearning to close a divisive and volatile chapter in American life.
Kamala is not yet 60. Compared to Biden, who is 81, and Trump, who is 78, she is practically a young girl.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris arrives to speak during an event honoring the 2023-2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship teams on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, July 22, 2024.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks before signing executive orders on health care, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, January 28, 2021.
And for all her gaffes and her “word salads,” she is a very successful woman. As California’s attorney general, she was a bold and tough prosecutor who was not afraid to put people in jail.
Donald Trump, as she will constantly remind people, is a convicted felon.
During her brief stint in the Senate, she caused a stir: she famously asked one of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominees, current Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whether there was “any law that gives the government the right to make decisions about the male body,” referring, of course, to the right to abortion. The conversation went viral on social media.
She has been a consistent and effective advocate for women’s rights and there is no doubt that many Americans have very strong feelings about this issue.
Many Democrats blame Donald Trump for appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v Wade in June 2022, ending the constitutional right to abortion.
Recent history has shown that when abortion is at stake — as it has been in some state elections recently — Democrats do well.
Former US President Donald Trump during the Republican National Convention (RNC) at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S., Monday, July 15, 2024
US Vice President Kamala Harris (center) marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to commemorate the 57th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” in Selma, Alabama, on March 6, 2022.
In other words, this is an issue that unites Democrats and divides Republicans. Kamala can give the issue more force and fiercely confront those in Trump’s party who want to ban abortions altogether.
Her solid track record on the subject will surely give her a confidence she didn’t have in the past. There’s a strange thing that happens when power comes around: you become a “serious person” almost by default, and this could happen to her.
A crucial factor for Kamala’s prospects could be the choice of her running mate. Normally, the vice president doesn’t matter too much, but in such extraordinary circumstances, it could. A stable governor in a key state that Democrats need to win could help Harris convince Americans that she means business.
But there is still one thing standing in the way of her future success as a politician: She needs to take charge now, strutting her stuff on the world stage so she can take on Trump on equal terms.
That means Joe Biden is stepping down, not just from the campaign, but from the presidency itself. Stubborn Joe, of course, is determined to stay in the Oval Office as long as he can.
But there is one precedent that, curiously, might be relevant. Russian President Boris Yeltsin shocked his nation earlier this century when he announced his resignation as president just six months before his term was due to end and handed power to his favored successor, Russia’s then-prime minister.
His name was Vladimir Putin and he did well. I’m not making a direct comparison, of course, but it may help you get going soon.
Justin Webb presents the Americast podcast on BBC Sounds.
