Summary
Kamala Harris’s political skills have transformed a potentially disastrous 2024 presidential election into a competitive race.
Despite initial skepticism and a challenging campaign, Harris has improved her public image and closed the gap with Trump on key issues. Since Biden stepped aside in July and endorsed her, she has shifted from an unpopular vice president to a viable candidate, even matching Trump in polls on economic issues.
Her leadership has given Democrats a chance to prevent a Trump landslide and halt the rise of American authoritarianism.
No, I get the strategy. It’s just bad. If abortion is your deciding issue, you’re going to vote for Harris. Suburban women may very well be the key to this election, I just don’t think that they were waiting for someone to give them permission to vote for Harris. I especially don’t think that any of them who might have gone for Trump would be swayed by anyone with the last name Cheney or Bush.
Also, the assumption had to have been that they could court these conservative women safely because progressive groups would turn out to defeat Trump. I think that’s a very dangerous gamble, especially without doing something to energize progressives. Breaking with Biden on Gaza, even just a little, would have done a lot, but they decided against that. I’m afraid that they’ve demoralized a large number of their core voting groups to court a small number of conservatives.
Likely voters is the key. The Never Trump crowd is part of the “likely voters” crowd. If the far-left voted, then Bernie would probably won the primary in '16 or '20. Let’s get through today, and I am right beside you to push to the left!
Well, I don’t want to re-hash the rat-fucking the Dems gave Bernie in '16 and '20, but yeah, vote Harris on '24, for lack of literally any other viable alternative to facism. This year, I’ve voted for the Democratic ticket for the first time in over a decade (My state is incredibly blue, but I wanted to show solidarity with some swing state friends who were reluctant to vote for Harris).