US election: can Harris beat Trump?
Vice President Kamala Harris has yet to be officially nominated as the Democratic candidate after Joe Biden's withdrawal from the US presidential campaign, but for many prominent party colleagues and Democratic voters, as well as Europe's press, this is a mere formality. Her chances against Trump and above all her record as former attorney general of California are now the subject of heated debate.
A populist's power-or-prison moment
El País comments:
“Trump doesn't yet know what to expect. Faced with a smiling woman of Indian and Caribbean descent, 20 years his junior, the fierce apostle of hate, prophet of the American apocalypse and convicted criminal will have to find new weapons. ... Trump speaks the language of fear, but he also suffers from it. Since the days of Silvio Berlusconi it has been true of all populist tycoons with a political vocation that there comes a time when the alternative to power is prison. ... Trump now needs the presidential magic wand again to free himself from all his court cases. ... And just like in a courtroom, the experienced prosecutor sitting opposite him won't let Trump get away with anything.”
Choice between felon or prosecutor
Harris will be far more precise than her predecessor in targeting Trump's weak points, Telegram.hr predicts:
“Biden focused on the achievements of his administration and spoke about Trump only in passing. ... This is completely different now. Kamala Harris is drawing on one of her previous roles - that of prosecutor. It seems that this will be her most important or at least one of the leading lines of attack against the Republican candidate. ... Harris has placed her relationship with her opponent in an effective binary constellation: I'm a prosecutor, he's a felon; who are you going to vote for?”
Focus is on Gen Z
This change of candidate could help the Democrats win the votes of Generation Z, Ukrainska Pravda points out:
“Young people in the US traditionally favour the Democrats, but they hardly ever go to the polls. Harris could change that. And not just because her age is not as off-putting to young voters. Harris's supporters have been working for a long time to make her as 'memeable' as possible. Video clips featuring her expressive laugh and slogans like 'You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?' have been circulating on social media for weeks. And after Biden's announcement, TikTok, X and Instagram exploded. These memes and videos generally show Harris in a positive light and could help her reach the zoomers.”
No more credible than Biden
Harris doesn't stand a chance, says Diena:
“Her main disadvantage (although the pro-Democratic press claims otherwise) is that Harris didn't prove herself in any way as vice president, but instead openly neglected some of her duties (first and foremost, the issue of the Mexican border). As second in command, she is also associated with all of Biden's and the Democrats' failures: not only has the party's programme for this term not been implemented, but the situation has mostly deteriorated in both domestic and foreign policy. Consequently, Harris's chances are no better than Biden's.”
Suddenly the best candidate ever
For the pro-government newspaper Magyar Nemzet, Kamala Harris is a pure media product:
“Within the space of a day or so, Kamala Harris has become the best, most popular and most talented American politician of all time, if the liberal media is to be believed. ... [For four years] it was as if Harris didn't exist. If she was mentioned in an article, it was likely that she was being ridiculed - by either side. ... Kamala Harris is not a solution, any more than Biden was. The two should be considered a symptom. The Democrats may have been able to use their influence, their media and their ruthlessness to falsely portray him as a genius, but neither of them has ever had a vision.”
Yes, we Kam
Trump now faces a real challenge, La Vanguardia is convinced:
“Trump is nervous, and this change doesn't suit him. ... He's aware that it will be more difficult for him to debate with a woman who in addition to being black is also twenty years younger. A candidate who's been backed from the get-go by prominent governors like J.B. Pritzker (Illinois), Josh Shapiro (Pennsylvania) or Gavin Newsom (California), as well as Bill and Hillary Clinton and leaders of various party camps, from the veteran Nancy Pelosi to the young Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. ... Trump has almost everything in his favour, but the former president will have to change his strategy. The Kamalamania has begun: Obama's 'Yes, we can' has already been replaced by 'Yes, we Kam'.”
It's all about the economy
Economic issues will play a central role, Sydsvenskan notes:
“The key challenge is to combine the justified warnings about democracy being undermined in the event of Trump winning with proof that Bidenomics, Joe Biden's economic agenda, has borne fruit. This is precisely what Kamala Harris has focused on in recent months. As part of a tour of several states focusing on investment, entrepreneurship and growth, she emphasised that wages are rising faster than inflation, that more jobs have been created in industry and that the Democrats are committed to paying off student debt.”
Moscow still focused on conflict and division
Tygodnik Powszechny explains the race from the Kremlin's perspective:
“Immediately after US President Joe Biden announced his decision to drop out of the presidential election, a campaign to discredit Vice President Kamala Harris was launched in the Russian media. The Kremlin's favourite is still Donald Trump, although it is neither certain that he will win nor that his victory would mean that this unpredictable candidate will fulfil the 'Russian dream'. The invariable goal of the Russian government in relation to the United States is to stoke division and chaos, to thwart projects that go against Moscow's interests (above all support for Ukraine) and to provoke crises wherever it can.”
The antithesis of Trump
Kurier praises Harris:
“She is the antithesis of Trump: young (compared to the old-timers, she turns 60 in October), female, not white. These are also her greatest assets. ... She is highly educated and rhetorically gifted - as Biden's running mate, she once crushed Mike Pence in a TV debate. And she is not to blame for illegal migration, which the Republicans accuse her of, because she was not responsible for border protection but only for diplomatic relations with the countries of origin.”
A risk-averse quick fix
The Democrats lacked the courage to discuss other options, Les Echos laments:
“The Democratic Party has opted for speed and pragmatism. ... The solution is not perfect: Kamala Harris will inherit Biden's disputed legacy- the defence of Bidenomics has not taken hold, and she herself remains a little-known figure who is often criticised, including by her own party's left wing. A new ticket could have provided a different narrative. But no one, it seems, wants to risk that with just 100 days to go before the election.”
Tried and tested tactics will be used against her
Like Hillary Clinton, as a woman Kamala Harris is likely to have a hard time in the election campaign, surmises Dagens Nyheter:
“Certain criticisms are repeated again and again. Women who strive for power are said to have shrill voices, they are described as cold and aggressive, they are accused of not being authentic. ... If they don't behave in a loving and motherly way towards basically everyone around them, they are seen as tough, selfish careerists. The fact that Harris has no biological children will certainly be held against her. ... It will be interesting to see how easy it is in 2024 to use these tools, which have been tried and tested over decades to rein in women who step out of line.”
She must be charming but tough
Postimees weighs up the pros and cons:
“Harris has some strengths and some weaknesses in this campaign. First off, she would be the first female president in US history, and it will be much harder for Donald Trump to attack a female presidential candidate in the campaign. Secondly, she's already a well-known Democratic figure and a familiar face on television. On the other hand, her weakness is that she is not a novelty and has not distinguished herself as vice president by doing anything extraordinary, although she displays undeniable charm on television. We'll soon see if this charm is accompanied by an iron toughness that could thwart Trump's plans.”
Biden should step down
The Republicans have called on Biden to resign as president. The Democrats should consider this for tactical reasons, Ilta-Sanomat suggests:
“Biden could announce his resignation citing health problems, in which case the vice president would be sworn in immediately. ... The old adage in US politics is that a sitting president is hard to beat in an election. If Kamala Harris was unpopular and in the background as vice president, as president she would have the opportunity to make an impact. By going on the campaign trail with Air Force One and the Beast, Madam President would have time to rebrand herself as the mother of the nation. And she would have time to show that she is different from Biden by issuing a few executive orders.”
Let's see what the new polls say
The current poll results are of limited relevance, Hospodářské noviny observes:
“All available polls on the showdown between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have so far been hypothetical, nevertheless they give Donald Trump a slight advantage over the vice president nationwide. In the July polls, Harris was almost neck and neck with Joe Biden, indicating that her chances of winning are very similar to his and relatively low. However, Kamala Harris has several trump cards compared to Biden as presidential candidate. The polls carried out so far were hypothetical; she may fare better in future polls. And, with all due respect to Biden, she's in a better position to run a very gruelling campaign.”