Kamala Harris for President appreciation thread

[kingofthepirates]

Oh my, what has this thread become, rating candidates based on attractiveness? That certainly took a turn for the unexpected...

[Trigfea63]

The latest NY Times / Siena poll shows Harris already narrowing the gap against Trump to just 1 percentage point among likely voters. Still a long way to go before November ...

[Octavious]

Closed what gap? She hasn't been a candidate for long enough to establish what the gap even is, surely?

[Jamiet99uk]

Closed what gap? She hasn't been a candidate for long enough to establish what the gap even is, surely?

It means the gap between Trump and Biden based on the last polling done while Biden was still expected to be the Democrat candidate...

[Jamiet99uk]

Oh my, what has this thread become, rating candidates based on attractiveness? That certainly took a turn for the unexpected...

Vote ZAPP BRANNIGAN in 2024!

[Trigfea63]

Closed what gap? She hasn't been a candidate for long enough to establish what the gap even is, surely?

It means the gap between Trump and Biden based on the last polling done while Biden was still expected to be the Democrat candidate...

No, they've had "what if" Trump vs Harris polls out for quite a while, when Biden was still the candidate.

[Trigfea63]

Actually, you are right. The news stories about "narrowing the gap" are indeed referring to Trump vs Harris today compared with Trump vs Biden before Biden dropped out. That said, they have also had Trump vs Harris "what if" polls for months now and they've always shown Trump with the same 4-5 point lead over Harris as over Biden. Something may have changed in voters' minds in the last few days.

[Crazy Anglican]

Something may have changed in voters' minds in the last few days.

They realized that one of the candidates has a reliable pulse?

[Pennsta7]

The sole benefit of the current USA election crise:

The electorate, so dormant until September Labour Day holiday, realizes that - if France, Germany and England can keep the electoral cycle to a bare minimum [think: 'snap elections'], then the United States would be favoured by eliminating the 2-year or longer flapdoodle advertisement of selves and a recognition would dawn on the Elites and-or the 'Establishment' that a parliamentary style such as is now conducted in the Congress benefits from not spending the 2-years in office (Constitutional requirement for the members of the lower House) posturing, pandering and pissing around to get reelected.

[Jamiet99uk]

The sole benefit of the current USA election crise:

The electorate, so dormant until September Labour Day holiday, realizes that - if France, Germany and England can keep the electoral cycle to a bare minimum [think: 'snap elections'], then the United States would be favoured by eliminating the 2-year or longer flapdoodle advertisement of selves and a recognition would dawn on the Elites and-or the 'Establishment' that a parliamentary style such as is now conducted in the Congress benefits from not spending the 2-years in office (Constitutional requirement for the members of the lower House) posturing, pandering and pissing around to get reelected.

You have a strange way of talking, but you're right.

It has always seemed absolutely absurd to me that a US President (especially in their first term, if they hope for two) spends 50% of their premiership on the campaign trail instead of running the country. America has a horribly undemocratic two-party state, yet those two parties spend an inordinate amount of time and money preparing for the next election.

[Pennsta7]

They don't do it for the salary, US$:
Prez.: $400K per annum plus expenses, & travel allowance.

The congressmen receive health insurance of a Rockefeller level; on leaving office (the Democratic Senate Majority Leader's been - minority or majority - a floor leader ever since 2017; his Republican counterpart since 2015; senators serve for 6 years) -, congressmen often consult/work in Lobbying - they may enter the House/Senate floor after a year after 'retirement'.
And then there's the famous, unvetted ex-Rep. 'George Santos' ... allegedly had a bogus CV that not only fooled the electorate but also the professional political high honchos, according to reports & SNL satire.
Often solicitors or barristers - and creatures of new & old media -, they can be Recalled by vote or Expelled by their own house.
Impeachment (or prosecution, until recent rulings of the Roberts Supreme Court) is a remedy for the vice prez. or the prez. and for the Judiciary. There is one such attempt against JJ. Alito and Thomas, by NY Rep. AOC of the 'Squad'.
And if parliamentary-like, or 'dysfunctional' - LOL if only.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

I'm becoming tentatively hopeful about Harris' prospects.

The race is again neck-and-neck after a prolonged Republican surge: https://www.predictit.org/markets/detail/6867/Which-party-will-win-the-2024-US-presidential-election

The assassination attempt on Trump doesn't seem to be as impactful as I thought it would be. Harris has shortcomings as a candidate, but her relative youth looks like a huge asset.

If I were a card carrying Democrat I'd mad at the party for the strategic blunder of putting Biden on the ticket then gaslighting everyone about his health. I'd be mad there wasn't a proper competitive primary to pick his successor. I'd wonder whether Harris were really the best possible opponent to defeat Trump. But I'd vote for Harris regardless, which seems to be a commonly held point of view given the evolution of the polls.

[Octavious]

We shall see. I think we we're witnessing is the Democrat natural level without the massive drag factor of Biden. I don't think we're seeing much impact from Kamala herself. Anyone with the right colour hat and no obvious defects would probably be doing as well... possibly slightly worse due to name recognition, but that would be pretty temporary. As the campaign goes on we will start to see how well the idea of President Kamala sits with people, and get a better feel about her strengths and weaknesses. I wouldn't like to make any bets about what the polls will be in a couple of months

[Octavious]

A question for people more knowledgeable about US campaigning mechanics.

Does Kamala essentially inherit a Democrat campaign machine from Biden aside from a few close advisors, or is she expected to put a lot of it together herself?

[learnedSloth]

There are 2 well funded organizations that want their man for president. Each is going to help their respective candidate as much as they can.

[Crazy Anglican]

A question for people more knowledgeable about US campaigning mechanics.

Does Kamala essentially inherit a Democrat campaign machine from Biden aside from a few close advisors, or is she expected to put a lot of it together herself?

She was on the Biden ticket, so when he bowed out there was no issue even with donations because those donations went to Biden Harris. That’s part of how she’s inherited a sizeable war-chest. She could start from scratch, but wouldn’t gain anything in the attempt.

[Trigfea63]

This article discusses more on the "campaign machinery" side of things. Looks like she asked some of the top Biden people to stay on with her, and they said yes. (Frankly, these are political operatives, what else would they be doing during a presidential election campaign?)

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-kamala-harris-is-still-building-her-team-with-100-days-to-go

[Jamiet99uk]

And now Trump is making up lies about her racial identity. What a fat racist fuck.

[Esquire Bertissimmo]

Biden stepping down has been a very interesting shake up.

Now that Trump can't bash his opponent's senility, he's resorted to very out-of-touch attacks on Harris' racial identity.

Whereas the Biden campaign was all about "save democracy", the focus of Harris' narrative seems to be "these Republicans are really weird". It's a dumbing down of the issues, but it's probably a useful pivot. Anyone who isn't already convinced that Trump would be damaging to US democratic institutions probably won't change their mind before November anyhow.

[Octavious]

Now that Trump can't bash his opponent's senility, he's resorted to very out-of-touch attacks on Harris' racial identity.

I suppose how out of touch it is largely depends on his intended audience. It doesn't speak to your traditional white middle class Democrat audience, but nothing he says ever will. It's also not the sort of thing that will make an impression on your core Republican voter one way or the other. My suspicion is that it is targeted at elements of the working class black community who are already wary of how a multi-millionaire lass with a mixed race family is going to understand their reality.

It's entirely possible that I'm way off the mark here, but I'd be somewhat surprised if this angle of discourse hadn't been well researched for potential impact prior to Trump saying it.