Kamala Harris, Candidate: A Story in Three Acts

Ex-Ante, July 22, 2024

Bill Clinton once said that Americans prefer a strong leader, even if wrong, to a correct but weak one. Trump is confident in his victory, but Harris still has a chance to demonstrate strength.

When the United States sneezes, the world catches a cold.This old adage, paraphrasing Metternich, still illustrates the global relevance of U.S. politics.

The consequences of what happens there are felt worldwide, and the last two electoral cycles in that country have been anomalous, to say the least.

In the first, a real estate speculator known for his immorality and success on television wins the presidency despite lacking any political experience.

Regardless of any judgment about his administration in key areas such as trade, employment, infrastructure, health management, and foreign relations, it is clear that in both the national and international arenas, he behaved as he did on TV (that is, like a bully), and concluded his term by refusing to accept his electoral defeat: specifically, suing officials to manipulate results in a key state, demanding that his Vice President violate the Constitution and not certify his opponent’s victory, and inciting his supporters to attack the Capitol for the same purpose, an event that ended with fatalities.

These are the facts. Against all predictions that could have been made then, today this figure has increased his control over his political sector and is running for president again, despite multiple indictments for serious crimes in criminal and civil trials. The most recent is an assassination attempt against him, committed not by an opponent, but by a supporter of his own party.

In the second cycle, an elderly and long-serving Democratic politician ousts the previous figure and wins the presidential election campaigning without leaving the basement of his home due to the pandemic. Again, setting aside judgments about performance, the natural process of aging would undoubtedly make it difficult to consider a second term for a position that is exhausting even for young people.

The deterioration of an older adult, as is well known, is not always a slow progression; on the contrary, a negative and brutal turn can occur at any moment. Aware of this, and before the eyes of the world, the party irresponsibly allows a candidacy for a new term. Until a debate, fortunately held before the formal nomination, allows the party and candidate to see reality: that the organic process is irreversible, and that another person must lead the candidacy. Better late than never, but the sitting President of the country should never have been exposed to a situation akin to the orchestra of the Titanic.

What does the current cycle hold? No one can say for certain.

Only a month remains until the Democratic Convention, where it is certain that Vice President Kamala Harris, who already has Biden’s support, will obtain the nomination. There is no time for primaries, which even in a reduced version would be exhausting for a party grappling with a leadership crisis (despite a precedent of a convention with two presidential candidates—Kennedy and Johnson—competing for delegate support).

It is true that Harris has not played a very prominent role under the Biden administration, and that she did not manage to forge a partnership with Biden as he did with Barack Obama. But Harris has the formal legitimacy to use the campaign funds already collected, having been part of Biden’s campaign; and more importantly, Harris’s work over these three years has been to be prepared to replace Biden in any eventuality.

Another important fact is her professional background: although Harris was only a Senator for four years before becoming Vice President, her most significant work experience was as Attorney General in her state (California), successfully prosecuting a range of crimes that closely resembles the record accumulated by Donald Trump.

Harris is undoubtedly the one who can most quickly board a train that is already in motion. And the first test of leadership she must urgently demonstrate is the selection of her running mate. Against the clock, both must fight to unite the party, reenergize the base, and appeal to the center: those voters who might reluctantly vote for Trump, as well as those who supported Republican candidate Nikki Haley.

That the focus of this election is no longer Biden’s physical weakness, and that Trump has survived the assassination attempt without consequences, will allow these pages to be turned, and that attention can finally be paid to the substance of both candidacies; something very necessary, because Trump’s rhetoric is truly concerning (and could even be a sign of senility: today, at 78 years old, he is, not Biden, the oldest presidential nominee in the country’s history).

It is not just that Trump’s words display informality, vulgarity, or contempt for basic legal, constitutional, and moral norms. Nor is it that he continues to lie about the 2020 elections, calling them stolen when they were not. No.

What is heard in his speeches over the last months, and especially those of the last weeks, is something much more chilling. Endless erratic ramblings without any thread, promoting admiration for murderous autocrats like Putin and Kim, and abandoning the most important alliances. All of this is literal.

Today’s Trump does not even attempt to disguise that he promotes bypassing all necessary rules to achieve any objective.

His “speech” is actually a tirade reminiscent of Chávez and Fidel Castro: it is the improvised stand-up of a man who randomly strings together repeated nonsense, totally false stories, unachievable proposals, mentions randomly of Almighty God, and insults (his opponents are “perverts,” “repugnant monsters,” “crazy,” “stupid,” “vermin,” “low-IQ”; fallen soldiers are “suckers,” “losers”; migrants “poison the blood,” etc.).

Mike Pence, Trump’s former Vice President, stated that “anyone who puts themselves above the Constitution should never be President of the United States; and anyone who asks another person to violate the Constitution should never again be President of the United States.”

Donald Trump’s candidacy for a second presidency, therefore, is not a normal right-wing candidacy. Harris’s mission is to make voters see that this recharged Trump promotes a culture that breaks with democratic rules, as he demonstrated in his first presidency. That the Trump campaign is a prelude to a form of dictatorial government: the strongman who believes that things are achieved through bullying and lies, humiliating anyone who dares oppose him and making decisions without professional advice, while mocking his colleagues around the world.

Bill Clinton once said that Americans prefer a strong leader, even if wrong, to a correct but weak one. Trump is confident in his victory, but Harris still has a chance to demonstrate strength. For the health of democracy worldwide, it is better that she has luck.

Paz Zárate
Senior Researcher, AthenaLab

Source: El Líbero