Kamala Harris is about to give the speech of her life. Not the “King’s Speech”, like George VI overcoming his stutter to announce England’s entry into the war. But the speech of a vice-president who needs to overcome her unpopularity to establish herself in the campaign with Joe Biden and increase her international stature. On the occasion of the 60th Munich Security Conference, from February 16 to 18, she is representing the United States, at a decisive moment when uncertainties about the future of the world are accentuated by the age of Joe Biden and by Donald Trump’s threats on the solidarity of the United States within NATO. Kamala Harris must make America’s voice resonate, reaffirm its role in Europe, reassure its partners in the Old Continent, impress – if possible – Russia and alert its compatriots to the dangerousness of Donald Trump, the always fascinated “engineer of chaos”. by Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orban.
Will she succeed? Nothing is less certain. His speech last year in Munich, during the 59th conference, left no trace. More generally, her comments often leave people perplexed, as on the question of the Mexican border – a burning issue with which Biden had put her in charge at the start of her mandate, and in which she has lost interest. It is true that the position of No. 2 is uncomfortable. According to the American Constitution, its main purpose is to replace the president in the event of death or incapacity (this has happened nine times in two centuries). His role also consists of presiding over the Senate. Generally, the vice-president is chosen for electoral reasons: thus, Kamala Harris is supposed to attract the electorate from minorities. Often, the “veepee” (pronounced “vipi”) brings international expertise. This was the case of Richard Nixon for “Ike” Eisenhower, of Bush Sr. for Ronald Reagan, of Dick Cheney for Bush Jr., of Joe Biden for Barack Obama. But no Kamala Harris for the experienced Biden. “Unpopular or misunderstood, this former senator and prosecutor from California paradoxically suffers from a lack of charisma while, on paper, she imposes it,” notes political scientist Barbara Perry, White House expert and Kennedy biographer. Lack of charisma? An infirmity that could make him miss the train of History.
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