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harry rakowski: donald trump should watch out for kamala harris
history is full of people who managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. the democrats may pull it off
aug 1 2024
5 minute read
republican presidential nominee donald trump and presumptive democratic nominee kamala harris: harris’s supporters believe she has been an effective vice-president whose reputation has suffered from being tasked with insoluble problems such as border security, writes harry rakowski.
nick oxford / brendan smialowski / afp via getty images
after twisting painfully in the wind, potentially bringing election disaster down upon the democrats, joe biden finally did the right thing. “i believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as president for the remainder of my term,” he said in a statement posted on x on july 21.
in a column published in september of last year, i sadly, but accurately, suggested the u.s. president might be suffering an age-related disease affecting cognition, which i said would be a potentially fatal blow to the election prospects of democrats if exposed too close to the 2024 presidential election.
biden should have done the right thing last year and followed through on his earlier indications that he intended be a one-term president who would pass the torch to a younger generation of potential leaders. this would have secured his legacy and also provided enough time to select the best candidate to lead the battle against donald trump.
it is now about three weeks until the democratic national convention. there is not enough time to have the sort of vigorous debate that would allow the best candidate to define themselves. it is now almost certain that the democratic candidate for president, like it or not, will be vice-president kamala harris, someone who, until biden’s resignation, had an approval rating as low as the president’s, although it has since surged .
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in the wake of biden’s resignation from the race, harris received his almost immediate support and that of most congressional leaders and potential rivals, along with the eventual support of barack and michelle obama. harris’s supporters believe she has been an effective vice-president whose reputation has suffered from being tasked with insoluble problems such as border security.
her liabilities are potentially greater. she is a woman of colour in a country that still may have issues with their leaders being both non-white and women, however talented. she ran a poor campaign in 2020 that was criticized for being disorganized and ineffective. until now she has not been a dynamic speaker with stirring oratory. indeed, some of her criticism in the past came from people who feared she would have to take over as president during a potential second biden term.
j.d. vance has already started the republican attack on harris. “joe biden has been the worst president in my lifetime and kamala harris has been right there with him every step of the way,” the republican vice-presidential nominee posted on x. “over the last four years she co-signed biden’s open border and green scam policies that drove up the cost of housing and groceries. she owns all of these failures, and she lied for nearly four years about biden’s mental capacity — saddling the nation with a president who can’t do the job.”
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vance has clearly defined the lines of attack on policy differences. donald trump will continue to take the low road with name calling and personal attacks. so how can harris win?
the key to this election will be winning swing voters who are not maga republicans, and by not catering to left-leaning progressive democrats. both these groups are already solidly behind their party’s choice. the democrats likely need to change the minds of only a small percentage of voters, especially in the key swing states of pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, georgia, nevada and arizona. this is where the election will be won or lost.
there are some advantages for the democratic party in uniting and coalescing around harris in a time of great crisis. it avoids the partisan attacks that normally occur during a primary race and which republican opponents could use against them, in the same way that democrats can attack never-trumpers who now have seemingly found maga religion. it also makes the party united in its only real goal: defeat donald trump!
sometimes crisis allows you to accomplish things that would not otherwise be possible. on oct. 17, 1989, a devastating earthquake led to the collapse of a 15-metre section of the san francisco-oakland bay bridge, causing one death and major disruption for traffic in the region. all levels of government and local agencies worked rapidly and in unison — without the usual costly bureaucratic delays — to reopen the bridge about a month later. it was estimated that the repairs would have taken up to two years if the usual dysfunctional bureaucracy had prevailed.
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the democratic party is in crisis and by working together with one voice it can rally around its choice, as the republicans have done with donald trump, a leader who while loved by his base has even more personal flaws than harris.
harris needs to be the face and voice of any near-term success to convince voters that she has matured enough to be an effective president. this will be no small task. she will be tied to the biden-harris accomplishments and failures as a team. she has to promote their successes and show how her vision for women’s rights and democratic principles of governance differ from trump’s. she needs plans to counter previous weakness on a porous southern border and crime rates, and most importantly she needs a road map for economic recovery from the ravages of inflation and high interest rates. she also needs to avoid veering to the left on progressive issues that are unpopular with the electorate.
the choice for a running mate is also critical. the democrats need someone not currently in the administration who can bring fresh ideas and the success of having effectively governed a key swing state. gretchen whitmer of michigan and josh shapiro of pennsylvania both best meet those criteria. the country may not be ready for two women on the ticket so shapiro stands out as the best pick and he could help win the crucial state of pennsylvania. the alternate choice might be sen. mark kelly, who has a distinguished military career, was an astronaut, has thoughtful policy in the southern border and could help win arizona.
trump still leads the race, according to the most recent polls . but he must be looking over his shoulder for harris as he whips up his base, while unavoidably reminding swing voters that you may like his policies, but not the man.
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history is full of people who managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. with a lot of luck and highly effective planning it might just happen again.
national post
dr. harry rakowski is an academic toronto cardiologist and commentator.
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