Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Fenty Beauty partners with the Olympics, young high-profile donors back abortion, and Kamala Harris was ready when Democrats needed her. Have a monumental Monday!
- Making history. At last week's Republican National Convention, Donald Trump and J.D. Vance pitched their vision of America to a core GOP voting bloc: men. As running mates, the pair doubled down on Trump's appeal to the demographic that he won by 11 points in 2016, before losing that advantage in 2020.
Compare that to the past week for the Democrats, which made clear just how crucial female leaders are to the future of the party. President Joe Biden debated for weeks whether to drop out of the race for reelection, ultimately announcing his decision to leave the race yesterday afternoon. Before he made that choice, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D–Calif.) reportedly argued that Biden couldn't win in November and risked Democrats' chances at winning the House by staying on the ticket. Long known for her effectiveness as a politician, the former House speaker seems to have wielded those skills here.
Then, of course, there's Biden's anticipated successor as the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. Biden endorsed her after announcing his exit; Harris said in a statement that she plans to "earn and win" the nomination. (At least one potential Harris challenger, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, will not run against the VP.)
It's a historic moment—one that would have been hard to imagine just a few years or even months ago. When Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump, many of her supporters were devastated not just that Trump had won, but that the United States' next realistic shot at a female president seemed so far off. Eight years later, that chance is here at least an election cycle earlier than expected. And of course, Harris is a historic nominee in many of the same ways she was as the nation's first female vice president—the 59-year-old would be the first Black female and first South Asian female president. Clinton herself endorsed Harris in a joint statement with her husband.
As I wrote earlier this month, it's not a perfect way to begin the path to what could be our first female president: without a true primary process. Harris seemed to be attempting to dispel any notion of the hand-off being undemocratic with her vow to "earn and win" the nomination.
Democrats will officially select their nominee at the Democratic National Convention in late August. That's eons away by the standards of the recent news cycle. Yet Democrats seem to be reinvigorated by the change on the top of the ticket, with many thanking Biden for his decades of service and pouring nearly $50 million into the coffers that now belong to the newly-named Harris for President campaign.
Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com
The Broadsheet is Fortune's newsletter for and about the world's most powerful women. Today's edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.
