NEW YORK, Jul 31 (IPS) – Throughout the Democratic subject, no potential candidate for president is better-positioned, at this juncture, to defeat Trump extra skillfully and pointedly than Kamala Harris. She is writing a brand new chapter in American historical past that may chart a brand new nationwide course impacting future generations.
When it turned clear that President Biden would seemingly drop out of the race, I hoped that some shining, youthful, skilled, and galvanizing Democratic candidate would emerge to imagine Biden’s mantra and crush Trump.
As soon as Biden endorsed Kamala Harris, inside hours, she responded to the decision of a celebration saddled with uncertainly and sorely in want of coalescing round a pacesetter with qualities to provoke and unite a celebration; she rose to the event and stymied each potential rival from difficult her.
Her subsequent efficiency on the stump has demonstrated that she shouldn’t be solely as much as the duty but additionally the candidate who will give Trump a run for his cash and expose him for what he actually is: a person who won’t ‘make America nice once more’ however the one who will carry disgrace to America and destroy its greatness.
Earlier than I expound on why Harris is the fitting candidate for the fitting time, when every thing—the Supreme Courtroom, Home, and Senate are on the poll—it’s vital to contextualize the social and political surroundings wherein we discover ourselves at present.
Trump’s dire divisiveness and polarization that’s tearing America aside and what the horrific home and worldwide ramifications will probably be ought to Trump be elected place a formidable burden on Harris to actually save America from the pandemic that has contaminated the vast majority of the Republican celebration.
Sure, a Black and South Asian lady is now tasked to save lots of America from a wannabe dictator, a fascist bent on destroying America’s democracy and its distinctive standing on the planet solely to serve his cultish, sickening ego.
Nobody however Harris can probably fathom how fateful her mission is and the way arduous the highway she should journey to revive America’s political and social civility and its management on the planet will probably be. She is aware of she is writing a brand new chapter on America’s future and why she can not fail.
Harris enjoys {many professional} expertise and attributes and may construct on Biden’s legacy and memorable achievements over the previous 4 years. Listed below are 9 causes Harris can, and probably will, crush Trump within the upcoming elections and win.
Harris is inspiring
There was a starvation among the many Democratic celebration to desperately discover somebody apart from Biden to coalesce round with out infighting, a candidate that might restore dignity to politics. Harris has engendered great enthusiasm and plenty of certified voters will vote for her only for that motive.
The polls have already mirrored the general public fervor for change, a pattern that she will maintain as we edge nearer to election day. Furthermore, the passion she evoked has additionally translated to elevating a document amount of cash over the past week since she turned the presumptive nominee.
The age benefit
Harris is comparatively younger (59) and energetic, with charisma, stamina, and pure aptitude. She has no age downside that has been haunting Biden. She will now flip the desk on Trump and use the age challenge in opposition to him—he’s outdated (77), fumbles, goes off on tangents, and is mostly incoherent, all of which displays that his age caught up with him prematurely.
Harris’s benefit as a lady
Put up-Hillary Clinton, many citizens of all ethnicities and ages have change into extra snug with a lady as president. Furthermore, at a time of utmost political pressure and divisiveness, the place compromises are laborious to come back, ladies are inclined to work out compromises and maintain a respectful tone in politics, which is especially wanted, due to Trump, on this toxic political environment. She will probably be in an ideal place to cope with an offended, unhinged, and temperamental idiot like Trump and play the grownup in any setting with him.
Expert prosecutor
As an skilled prosecutor in California and legal professional common, Harris is finest positioned to prosecute the case in opposition to Trump, in all probability like no different. She has prosecuted, through the years, intercourse offenders, grand larcenists, tax evaders, and swindlers. As she lately mentioned, “I do know his kind.” Trump will sweat it out together with her and never know the place the subsequent punch is coming from.
Energizing younger Democrats
Many younger Black ladies have been reinvigorated by Harris’ marketing campaign, partly as a consequence of her race and gender, with a “Win With Black Ladies” Zoom fundraising occasion elevating over $1.5 million for the Harris marketing campaign the identical day Biden endorsed her. Many younger Black males who have been disenchanted by Biden and thought of giving Trump an opportunity have returned to the fold and can vote for Harris in droves.
They sought somebody to encourage them, and Harris got here to quench their craving. Furthermore, youthful persons are typically much less inclined to evaluate a person primarily based on gender. On this case, Harris could have an added benefit.
Provoke Democrats on the fence and anxious Republicans
Given the issues of a rising variety of Democrats about Biden’s age and frailty when he was nonetheless the de facto nominee of his celebration and plenty of Republicans’ nervousness over Trump’s unfitness to serve one other time period as president, many eligible voters have been swayed to remain out and never vote in any respect. That has modified with the rise of Harris to the highest of the ticket. She has now provided a viable various and basically altered the election’s trajectory in her favor.
Harris can talk about abortion freely
Biden, who’s a Catholic, helps ladies’s proper to decide on and acknowledged final 12 months that the now-overturned Roe v. Wade “acquired it proper,” however shouldn’t be the strongest Democratic orator on the problem, given his private non secular beliefs on the problem, which is vital for girls of all colours and ethnicities.
Harris, then again, has already been Biden’s surrogate on the problem, turning into the primary vice chairman to go to a Deliberate Parenthood clinic in March, and has made ladies’s proper to abortion one among her central themes. Roughly 65 p.c of all ladies oppose the Supreme Courtroom’s determination to annul Roe v. Wade and located most of the purple states passing draconian legal guidelines in opposition to abortions as despicable and chauvinist. Nearly all of these ladies will flock towards Harris, giving her a big benefit on election day.
Harris has extra time and power to marketing campaign
In contrast to President Biden, who should nonetheless cope with more and more mounting home and international coverage points, Harris has significantly extra time to marketing campaign almost full-time, with the resilience and power wanted to marketing campaign in each swing state again and again. Harris is partaking, and an rising variety of undecided voters in these essential swing states discover her refreshing with stable concepts that deal with their issues.
Harris is a superb debater
As California’s legal professional common, she honed her public talking and debating expertise and have become a wonderful debater who’s partaking, charismatic, and an excellent communicator. Harris is excellent at punching again forcefully, which places her opponent on the defensive. In any debate with Trump, all he’ll be capable of do is bark again and maintain attempting to vary the topic. However he’s no match for Harris’ piercing counter-attack, which can drive him to lose his composure and badly expose his vulnerabilities.
Combating prejudices and mitigating disadvantages
Many Republicans have spared no time criticizing her on a spread of points, claiming that she has presumably failed in addressing the immigration downside, she is just too liberal, has no expertise in international coverage, comes by as ingenuine, is absolutely supportive of Biden’s insurance policies, which they take into account to be an utter failure, and that she will probably be unable to distance herself from his agenda.
Harris might want to overcome a number of of those disadvantages, actual or perceived. She’s going to proceed to face prejudices, significantly racism and sexism, that are laborious to mitigate, as outdated white males would need to cease her. Nonetheless, Harris can overcome many of the ideological obstacles, supplied she initiatives herself as a uniter who’s out to fix the horrific social and political schism that has affected this nation to the core.
Harris must display that she is a reasonable, mainstream Democrat, defend democracy, and draw a transparent distinction with the extremist Republicans. She should concentrate on the financial system as persons are hurting and wish reduction. She should maintain Biden’s promise to place a cap on hire will increase, restrict earnings tax on these incomes lower than $400,000 a 12 months, make sure that the wealthy pay their fair proportion of taxes, ban medical debt from credit score studies, and forgive scholar loans which have saddled debtors with countless debt as their minimal funds hardly cowl the curiosity they pay.
Lastly, Harris is aware of that hundreds of thousands of Republicans despise Trump and want that he would disappear from the political scene and restore sanity to a celebration that has misplaced its approach—a celebration that stood for constructive conservatism, revered the rule of legislation, assumed fiscal duty, stood for honest and free elections, strengthened America’s alliances and management on the planet, and stood agency in opposition to Russia and China.
These Republicans usually are not Hillary Clinton’s “deplorables.” They’re devoted People to whom Harris should attraction and solicit their involvement and even provide high-profile positions to those that need to share her imaginative and prescient about America’s future. For example, she might invite Senator Mitt Romney, a staunch anti-Trump Republican and one of many few voices on the fitting calling to fight local weather change, to function her Local weather Czar.
Harris should now articulate that new imaginative and prescient for America and clarify why she can be the most effective particular person to steer the nation at this historic, fateful time in American historical past. Harris should make a brand new contract with America based on unity of objective, progress, and prosperity whereas safeguarding our democracy with zeal.
Harris can win this election; I consider she’s going to as a result of America is desperately prepared for change, and Harris is finest positioned to prepared the ground.
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of worldwide relations, most lately on the Middle for
International Affairs at NYU. He taught programs on worldwide negotiation and Center Jap research.
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