By After much pondering about the “unponderable” and messages from worried fellow Democrats and even Hollywood stars asking him to be sensible, US President Joe Biden pulled out of the presidential race and gave his endorsement to his current Vice President Kamala Harris.
Although the praise he got after the decision seems a little comical – stepping back from a high stakes competition is rarely heroic after all –, it surely was a very generous act from a man who has been on or very near the top of a superpower’s leadership.
Still, it is almost sure now, that Kamala Harris will be Donald Trump’s counterpart in the presidential race leading up to November’s elections.
Invisible and Immensely Popular
It would undoubtedly be a mistake to jump to any conclusions in this unprecedented situation but it is nevertheless good marketing for a company in the field to quickly survey popularity: Kamala vs Trump has proven to be a popular question in the latest polls indeed with some having Kamala in the lead, while others got results that point towards Trump’s advantage. Every single one of them show a very close race, that one thing is a given.
In 2024, pollsters are only one side of the coin though. Who cares about polls and numbers after all, when what is amplified in social media, like on X.com, is that Kamala electrified the crowd at her first appearance after Biden’s withdrawal? The incumbent VP and news of her record-breaking fundraising for her campaign give off the image of someone who was born to do this and Harris was quick to emphasize: the upcoming election is “a choice between freedom and chaos”.
Stark and very accurate depictions of what’s to come: these elections will bring extremely polarized and tense months, or, as it was framed by some outlets, prosecutor vs felon.
However, let’s not forget that Harris was not exactly the most upfront, and most popular Vice President.
Interestingly, judging from that, her campaign has chosen to showcase her as someone who comes from being a prosecutor – Kamala Harris’s old field of service – rather than presenting her as a competent nominee for having supported and stood by the man who had the actual job she is running for.
Harris, as someone who has dealt with and thus knows “Trump’s type”, did not perform all that well under Biden though: the last time her approval rating was above 50 percent, was in August 2021.
Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2023 Turning Point Action Conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida (Photo: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons)
What Strategies Might Work for Each Corner?
It will be interesting to see how the campaigns and the politicians themselves react to the situation. The attempt on Donald Trump’s life seemingly brought everyone together for one, sober, very brief moment but that seems like yesterday’s news.
Harris is clearly prepared for Trump at his most polarizing and most primal which would definitely clear the lines. This would be the way Trump feels himself most at home and what would be the most boring choice of him to do. Though it would be as welcome by his most devoted voters as ever.
However, if Trump would present himself as somewhat – not all the way, he does not want his credibility out the window – consolidated, he could throw Kamala’s campaign off the track.
This does not seem to be the case though: on Wednesday, Trump filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Harris, accusing her campaign of violating federal campaign finance laws by replacing Joe Biden’s name with her own to take control of his campaign funds.
Whether one really should talk about actual policy points is thus very much doubtful. In any case, Harris would be better off echoing Biden’s economic and social policy results – however modest they were –, while Trump could have the edge in questions pertaining to foreign policy.
But that seems like an afterthought in such a close race where visceral politics will seem to be the clear frontrunner no matter what.
