“I’m not Joe Biden, and I’m certainly not Donald Trump. I’m a new generation of leaders.” This seemingly boilerplate phrase, uttered during the September 10 debate, was prepared down to the syllable by Kamala Harris, with a very specific goal: to define her candidacy. The form was also important, since the vice president delivered her punchline with one of her characteristic facial expressions, in the solemnity of her black Dior suit. Jovial but serious, young but experienced. This is the image Harris intends to project in this express campaign.
The vice president knows that she remains relatively unknown in the 50 American states. A familiar figure in California for more than twenty years, Harris only burst onto the national scene in 2017, as a senator, before entering the vice-presidential race at the White House. Before the debate against Trump, around 40% of voters in swing states (Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) knew of her only as Joe Biden’s running mate. “Every American citizen already has a strong opinion about Donald Trump,” says James Adams, a political scientist at the University of California, Davis. “But voters are still wondering about Kamala Harris. How she is perceived will determine the outcome of the presidential election, and she absolutely must succeed in defining herself before the Trump campaign does it for her.”
In this respect, the debate earned her valuable points. For two months, the Trump campaign has portrayed her as a social climber, weak and stupid. “During this confrontation, she was able to show that she was strong and reasoned, which makes it very difficult for the Trump team to attack on this ground,” says James Adams. If Americans are having so much trouble characterizing Kamala Harris, it is undoubtedly because they did not expect her to be at this level. In recent months, the media, and in particular the pro-Democratic press, have multiplied attacks against this unpopular vice president (in the polls), devoid of oratorical talent (according to the New York Magazine) and who embarrassed his camp with “his strange laugh” (according to the New York TimesThe establishment was convinced: Biden’s first flaw was his great age, the second his running mate.
But on July 21, Harris’s fate changed: Biden gave up his re-election bid and passed the torch to her. In three days, the entire party rallied behind her. “What happened was something no one had predicted: she became presidential and presidentially capable overnight,” says Tara Varma of the Brookings Institution in Washington. “She seized this opportunity in an impressive way.” Of course, her close associates did a huge amount of work behind the scenes to rally the Democratic Party’s leadership even before Biden dropped out. But Harris’ cheerful nature, her energy and even her laughter galvanized a part of America, already demoralized by the looming fight of octogenarians. “She turned the tables on the Democrats because she represents the changes in American society, while being very American in her attitude herself,” continues Tara Varma.
“This campaign is pure Kamala”
At 59, the Californian electrifies the campaign. Biden bet everything on the fear of a dictator Trump, Harris only portrays him as “a weird guy”. The air becomes lighter, hope raises the Democratic crowds and the problem of age changes sides, becoming a burden for the Republicans. But communication is not everything. On the substance too, Harris is progressing at high speed. In 2019, her first presidential campaign had been calamitous: while she was one of the three favorites in the Democratic primaries, she had to abandon even before the first election in Iowa, undermined by internal quarrels and catastrophic polls.
But the Californian is learning from her mistakes. “She is a far cry from the candidate she was in 2019,” says William Galston, a former Clinton administration official. “Not only are her policy positions more moderate, but she is also more solid and articulate on foreign policy and patriotism. These are strengths of President Biden. She has observed him closely and learned a lot from him.”
It’s a characteristic that those close to her willingly share: Kamala Harris never gives up. “This campaign is pure Kamala,” smiles Marcia Godwin, a Californian academic who has known her for twenty years. “As soon as she enters a new scene, she struggles, she fails and then she works to find the solution. And the next time, she turns everything upside down!” To pass the bar in California, become prosecutor then attorney general, senator and finally vice president, Harris has always had to fight and break glass ceilings. Her “method”, which combines perseverance and optimism, will perhaps allow her to pulverize a new one.
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