Ten days ago, things looked very bleak for Democrats. But all of that has changed now that Joe Biden has made way for (almost certainly) Kamala Harris.
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Seven days after President Joe Biden announced that he will not seek reelection — and subsequently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris — Democrats should feel pretty good about the state of the race.
Harris quickly proved her political acumen by taking less than 24 hours to secure the support of key Democrats. That maneuver made it seem inevitable that she would become the nominee, which potentially discouraged others from throwing their hats in the ring.
While many Democrats felt lukewarm about her leading the ticket in the weeks prior to Biden’s inevitable decision, Harris has evidently generated plenty of excitement since then.
That includes some mind-boggling fundraising numbers.
In one week, she has raised $200 million. A lot of that total came from first-time donors, who made up two-thirds of those who gave money in the past seven days.
In addition, the campaign announced that 170,000 volunteers signed up to help get out the vote.
If you need data points showing that Biden would have had a real enthusiasm problem, but that his vice president does not, these are it.
Yes, there are plenty of people out there who believe Harris is not the best candidate to face Trump, but it is already apparent that she is miles ahead of Biden, who would have been a real drag for Democrats in November.
And, while she is clearly the better presidential candidate, it also seems likely that her replacement as VP will be an upgrade as well.
She can choose from a variety of options, and all of them would make outstanding deputies. We have seen this just today, when the likes of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz forcefully drove home the Democrats’ message.
Speaking of that message, here, too, things have changed in just one week.
Biden made a huge deal out of Trump being a threat to democracy. He certainly is that, but this is a message that has not resonated with Americans in the way it should.
So far, Harris’s campaign is much more upbeat, as though a collective sigh of relief has gone through the entire party.
It also appears as though someone will finally listen to us and not just focus on Trump’s record and policies, or the unique threat he represents, but also point to his unstable mental state and his incessant lying.
However, this can’t be done in a way that seems to be overly ham-handed or mean-spirited.
Instead, everybody from Harris on down should start making fun of Trump and the weird things he says. The tricky part is to keep it light-hearted.
There is nothing the former president hates more than being laughed at, and he won’t know how to react to it.
Well, we do know how he will respond to it, which is by lashing out.
That, however, will provide a real contrast to a more positive campaign from the Democrats.
Finally, it also seems as though the GOP machine has a hard time transitioning away from running against Biden… and from being themselves.
This has resulted in several Republicans insulting Harris personally, mostly by saying she only got to where she is due to her gender and skin color, which is not a good look for them.
Add it all up, and it is easy to see why Democrats can begin to feel hopeful about the presidential race for the first time in months.
