Looking at the fundamentals, we shouldn’t even be in this race. This is a brutal political environment. Three-quarters of Americans think the country is on the wrong track. Two-thirds are unhappy about the economy. The incumbent President ran for reelection despite huge misgivings about his age and then had a debate so disastrous that he had to drop out only a few months before the election.
Nate Cohn summed up the challenges in the New York Times:
For the first time in decades, Republicans have pulled even or ahead in nationwide party identification. Polls also find Republicans with an edge on most key issues — with democracy and abortion standing as significant exceptions.
The Democrats’ challenge appears to be part of a broader trend of political struggles for ruling parties across the developed world. Voters appear eager for change when they get the chance. The ruling parties in Britain, Germany, Italy, Australia and most recently Japan all faced electoral setbacks or lost power. Mr. Trump himself lost four years ago. France and Canada might well join the list.
Trump should be running away with it. If Joe Biden was still on the ballot, Trump would likely be headed for an electoral landslide. The race is this close because of Kamala Harris.
I will just say right here that I think that’s overstated. There are plenty of people who would have voted for a fetid pile of garbage over Donald Trump and I think this race would be close even if Biden had stayed in the race. This was always about fascism and anti-fascism. And yes, Biden might well have lost but I don’t think it ever would have been a landslide, not with Trump on the ballot.
However, I just think Harris has made it much less close because of her special sauce of joy and forward thinking and especially her message to the women of America that Biden just couldn’t credibly make.
Pfeiffer gives her her due here:
A Candidate Who Delivered in Big Moments
Kamala Harris woke up one morning and ate breakfast as Vice President, and by lunchtime, she was the de facto Democratic nominee. She was thrust into the presidential race. Even though she knew there was a chance Biden would step aside, she could do nothing to prepare for that possibility. She couldn’t have a strategy meeting. Her team couldn’t write a memo or make a list of people to call. She couldn’t seek advice from people in her life. If she had and it leaked before Biden made his decision, her campaign might have ended before it began.
Normally, the nominee spends time campaigning in the early states, doing countless town halls, debates, and interviews. They hone their message, develop their policy platform, and answer tough questions about their record beforehand. The primaries are a chance for them to introduce themselves to the electorate.
Because of Harris’s failed 2020 campaign and some early stumbles as Vice President, questions arose about her political skills.
With the utmost pressure and scrutiny, Harris stepped into the breach and delivered. While she hasn’t been perfect, Kamala Harris has been pretty damn close. At every big moment — the debate, the convention, and her Fox interview, she delivered. She made the impossible look easy.
Kamala Harris pulled off a difficult maneuver and it hasn’t been discussed enough. She made politics fun and exciting again. She brought people who had checked out since 2020 back into the process. Democratic enthusiasm in this election is as high as it was in 2008 when Barack Obama was first running.
Under the leadership of Jen O’Malley Dillon, the Harris campaign did the unimaginable. One day they were working to elect Joe Biden, the next day they had a new candidate with a new message and new strategy. They had to pivot on a dime while incorporating new staff and advisers to the Vice President. In a month, the campaign vetted and rolled out a VP, reorganized the Biden campaign, planned a convention, developed a policy platform, and prepared Harris for a high-stakes debate. And, oh yeah, they raised a billion dollars.
I spent the weekend knocking doors for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in Nevada and Arizona. I haven’t seen Democrats this fired up in a very long time.
That’s because of Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and their campaign team
I watched long sections of Trump’s rallies and Harris’s rallies that have been televised so far today. There is simply no comparison. Harris’s rallies are far, far more energetic, not to mention, far bigger. He is tired, he is sour, he is down. She is upbeat, smiling and the crowds are loving it. Crowds don’t mean everything but I think in this case they do mean something. The momentum is clearly with Harris.
It was always going to be a close eleciton because of the polarization and the unique grotesqueness of Donald Trump. But watching this unfold over the last couple of week especially, I think Harris’s energy and positivity has breathed new life into the anti-Trump constituency and I think it’s going to give her a decisive win.
As I’ve said before, I think she’ll win 51-47. And I’m guessing that she’s going to take the Blue wall and at least two of the other battlegrounds. I don’t believe this is going to be the squeaker everyone expects.
If I’m wrong, I won’t be too surprised. It wouldn’t be the first time. But as a close observer of American politics for some years now, this is what I’m seeing as we go into the big day tomorrow. Fingers crossed that I’m not just smoking the hopium.