With 105 days to go until the US election, Queen Kamala is looking forward to her coronation as the Democratic presidential nominee. She has thrown her Republican opponents into confusion, won the endorsement of big-name Democratic rivals and seized command of Joe Biden’s war chest in under 24 hours.
There will be a few misty eyes at the Democratic convention in Chicago when Biden passes on the torch, but this is Kamala Harris’s party now. If she can get Queen Bey or Taylor Swift to perform there next month, her triumph will be complete.
Then comes the hard part, vanquishing Donald Trump. The polls still show him beating Harris, but all that was solid for the Republican party has melted into air. I believe Harris can win. It is refreshing to see an accomplished woman who isn’t the wife of a former president run for the White House. With her record as a San Francisco prosecutor, California senator and vice-president, Harris is ready to step up to the plate.
The Republicans have plenty of opposition research on her, but have been thrashing around for a message that doesn’t sound dated or misogynistic. Harris, 59, has put the “old” into the Grand Old Party. If Trump, 78, gets back in power, he will be older at the end of his term than Biden is now. That can’t be good, given his tenuous grip on reality and his father Fred’s Alzheimer’s. While the Republican convention had the fervour of a messianic movement, it already feels like stale news in a head-spinning week.
The assassination attempt made Trump look superhuman against Biden, but his rambling, egocentric acceptance speech was a reminder of his feet of clay. America’s sexist-in-chief now has to face a ground-breaking candidate who could be its first woman, first black woman and first Asian president.
There are many nervous souls about the voters’ openness to so many “firsts”. Sophia Nelson, an African-American, former Republican commentator who had strongly urged Biden to stay in the race, delivered this warning to her old party on X last night. “Trump has to be VERY CAREFUL with the optics of how he and his all white, neanderthal team go after Harris as a black woman. Calling her dumb, unqualified, DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] are all racial stereotypes. It motivates the DEM base!!”
I was at a cocktail party yesterday after Biden’s withdrawal. The host, a staunch Republican, has cardboard cutouts of Ronald Reagan, George W Bush and Donald Trump in his hallway. He told me he was sorry to see Biden drop out “because Trump would have beaten him in a heartbeat”. He didn’t rate Harris. But many guests were liberals electrified by the prospect of change. “I want everybody to donate at least $81 to Harris as a tribute to Biden’s age,” said a woman in dark shades and a bright yellow sundress.
David Axelrod, Barack Obama’s former spinner, calls Harris’s new dominance “shock and awe”. The vice-president is benefiting from a gusher of funds from big Wall Street donors and small contributors. ActBlue, a small-donor progressive group, reportedly raised nearly $50 million by 9pm last night to set against the $45 million a month promised by “broligarch” Elon Musk to Trump.
Harris has momentum, there is no doubt about it. But will the Democrats suffer from buyers’ remorse? Here is how I think Harris can beat Trump. I would like to see her revive her short-lived 2020 presidential campaign slogan: “Kamala Harris — For the people”. That’s how US prosecutors introduce themselves in court. It would be singularly effective against a convicted felon. But rather than revive the failed lawfare efforts, she should prosecute the case against Trump and his running mate JD Vance on the grounds that they are anti-women, anti-democratic and anti-American in their attacks on the US state (Project 2025) and support for Russia.
Harris will be able to champion Biden’s record on the economy, defend reproductive rights and attack the gun culture that enabled a chinless shooter to take aim at Trump. She would be wise to toughen up her message on immigration after performing poorly as Biden’s border tsar.
Meanwhile, a moderate running mate such as Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania, could help. So could Arizona senator Mark Kelly, an astronaut who has taken on the Maga movement in his border state and whose wife, Gabby Giffords, survived being shot in the head.
These are heady days for the Democrats, but they may be short-lived. It is up to Harris to seize the crown. Game on!
