It was impossible to predict the explosion of relief, enthusiasm, and sense of mission that has greeted Kamala Harris’s presumptive—and now, as of Friday, official—nomination for president. I choose those three descriptors with special care because each represents a critical component of a political phenomenon that has been greater than any of us—most definitely including Donald Trump—could have imagined.
The relief came from Joe Biden’s decision to stand down and not seek reelection. The enthusiasm is for Harris herself—who is, so far anyway, a much more polished and confident candidate than she was in 2019 and early 2020. And the sense of mission derives from what is probably the most important element at work here: the idea that Biden’s departure and Harris’s ascent has presented an opportunity for non-MAGA America to link arms to keep Trump and all his dark designs (you know, the ones he simultaneously praises and denies knowledge of) out of the Oval Office.
The switch to Harris has totally rearranged the chemistry of the race. To take one telling example: Would “weird” have caught on as a meme if Biden were still in the race? First of all, it never would have happened, because Minnesota Governor Tim Walz wouldn’t have had the chance to say it on national television. But even if he had, I’d wager that no, it wouldn’t have taken off. It fed off an online energy, a joyous spirit taken into battle, that just didn’t exist before.
The switch has also opened up new lines of attack against Trump and new positive arguments for Harris and the America she represents. In the former category, most obviously, it’s now Trump who’s the doddering old man, and if the Democrats exploit the issue effectively, the media will highlight his slurred words and malapropisms. His shtick is old too, as E.J. Dionne noted Sunday in The Washington Post. His decision to launch a racial attack on Harris in front of an audience of Black journalists showed—even, I think, to many swing voters—a man who is petty and low-minded and of the past.
And that gives Harris tons of room to pit her America against his. She doesn’t have to do this frontally. She does it to some extent by just being who she is. She does it by being more tapped into the culture and younger people than poor Biden ever could have been. The TikTok videos, the voter registration drives, the Swifties for Kamala effort; these and other expressions of engagement speak to the presence of millions of Americans whose passion to stop Trump is deep. They just needed a vehicle for that energy, and Harris is it.
It’s so heartening to see our America—the one not slavishly devoted to Trump—energized and united. Think back to the end of the GOP convention. Republicans left Milwaukee 100 percent convinced they were going to win. Democrats were 100 percent convinced of that too. Today, just two weeks later, that script is maybe not completely reversed, but Democrats certainly see a clear path to victory, and Republicans are nervous.
Now Harris makes her first big decision—her running mate. They’re all good choices in different ways. My two cents is that two main factors should guide her choice.
The first: Do no harm. Don’t create or invite unneeded controversy. There’s going to be controversy enough. And yes, I’m referring here mainly to Josh Shapiro. I love Shapiro on economics. Love. By redefining freedom in economic terms, he’s making an argument that is philosophically spot-on and politically powerful. A part of me chuckles to see him referred to in media shorthand as a “moderate,” because his economic message is an aggressively progressive frontal assault on conservative free-market economics and the right-wing definition of “freedom” that even Bernie Sanders hasn’t articulated. And of course he’s very popular in arguably the most important state on the map, Pennsylvania. If he’s the choice, there are good reasons to justify it.
But enough questions have arisen now about Shapiro on other matters that I fear he’s become a complicated choice. It’s not just Israel-Gaza; it’s the school vouchers and the silence on the aide accused of sexual harassment. All of these questions are answerable. They’re not disqualifying. But if I’m advising Harris, I’m thinking, why even let these questions be raised? Harris is hitting the road with her running mate this week. Why spend the week having to answer questions about whether this ticket has exacerbated divisions within the party? Do no harm.
Factor two: The anti-Vance. It now seems to be universally agreed outside of MAGA circles that J.D. Vance was an awful vice presidential choice. He’s dull, he’s inexperienced, he’s small-minded, he’s completely unprincipled. Harris should choose someone who contrasts favorably with this fraud.
That’s any of the leading contenders to be her running mate, but most especially, it’s Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. He had a killer riff about Vance on Morning Joe several days ago. “I want the American people to know what a Kentuckian is, and what they look like, because lemme just tell you that J.D. Vance ain’t from here. The nerve that he has to call the people of Kentucky, of eastern Kentucky, lazy. Listen, these are the hardworking coal miners that powered the Industrial Revolution. That created the strongest middle class the world has ever seen. Powered us through two world wars. We should be thanking them, not calling them lazy.”
Imagine him on a debate stage with that shallow, callow opportunist. A Democrat lecturing a Republican about talking down to working-class people! That, my friends, is gold. And to those who say he doesn’t bring a state … well, that may be. But there are a lot of spiritual Kentuckians in Pennsylvania and Michigan and Wisconsin, and there’s a reason that the non-Philadelphia-and-Pittsburgh regions of the Keystone State are known as “Pennsyltucky.” (Also, there’s scant evidence that veep picks actually deliver their home swing states.)
But all the options are good—Walz brings small-town high school football coach familiarity; Mark Kelly is a soldier and an astronaut (and is married to Gabby Giffords). Each of them brings something positive to the ticket.
This third week of the Harris candidacy is a crucial one. The initial burst of excitement is fading, a little, which is inevitable. The veep announcement and whistle-stop tour are well timed to regenerate excitement and keep the money rolling in. Non-MAGA America is united and energized. The mission this week is to keep it that way.
