Trump’s worst nightmare
As with 9/11, as with the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that Sunday when I first learned Joe Biden had withdrawn from the race. As with those other disasters I had an icy frisson of impending doom. We had an even chance to win, I thought, now it’s gone. Who was going to replace him?
No one else had Biden’s unbroken record of successes. No one else had Biden’s name recognition. Above all, no one else had Biden’s incumbency. In the latter we had an even playing field. Even better, Biden’s incumbency was more recent and far more successful than Trump’s.
Eight days before, Trump had nearly been assassinated. He was still riding high on the unexpected tidal wave of that popular uptick. The press would not permit us to forget Biden’s unfortunate performance in the debate, and still refused to highlight the indisputable fact that Trump’s performance was worse — and full of lies.
Then, a miracle happened. After Biden stepped down Kamala Harris took the stage like a champion. She put on Biden’s incumbency like a perfectly-fitting golden robe. Like Napoleon, she didn’t usurp the crown, she picked it up with her sword and the People placed it on her head. She was and remains magnificent. The Democratic National Convention was an unparalleled triumph. What’s more, it made the RNC look by contrast like it was, small, unpopular, divisive, full of hate, chickenshit.
I don’t think anyone could have foreseen the Harris juggernaut. I think Kamala herself is just as surprised as we are. Everyone on the stage at the DNC looked like underdogs who had just won an Olympic gold medal. They were the “miracle on ice” 1980 American hockey team. They were Billy Mills. They were Joan Benoit. They were Cole Hocker. Glory arrived from nowhere and settled on their heads. The question changed overnight from “how can we win?” to “who can stop us?”
But it gets even better. Not only is Kamala Harris popular, inspiring, charismatic and absolutely perfect as a candidate, she is that one thing Donald Trump dreads more than anything else. Kamala Harris is a strong, intelligent and powerful woman of colour that Donald Trump cannot intimidate. We don’t merely have a popular candidate that is going to absolutely kick Trump’s ass, we have a candidate that will utterly humiliate him in the process. We get to have, in short, our schadenfreude cake and eat it too.
Then there are the added flourishes. Normally running mates are place fillers, adjuncts, afterthoughts, strategically-placed drones. Tim Walz is the best running mate I have ever seen. Kamala didn’t need him to win, but he’s going to make our win that much more decisive. He is more than charismatic, he is real. He’s a real human being that you would instantly admire if he lived in your community. He’s someone you would immediately trust.
But it doesn’t stop there. JD Vance (if that is indeed his real name) is the worst Veep choice I have ever seen. He makes Sarah Palin look like Joan of Arc. He can’t even make a human connection with people who work the counter in a donut shop. He makes Ron DeSantis look like Barack Obama.
I cannot tell you how happy I am with Kamala Harris’ pick in Tim Walz. I cannot tell you how happy I am in Trump’s pick of JD Vance. Both are perfect.
What a difference a month makes! One month ago I was in despair. Now it looks like nothing can stop us. Of course I’m aware that in politics things can change on a dime. But Trump is running out of everything: energy, support, things to say. He looks positively ghastly, like death warmed over. He’s about to be criminally sentenced, possibly to prison. I don’t think there’s any doubt that we will win.
Best of all, we get to enjoy our win because Kamala Harris represents everything Trump hates and fears. Again, she’s a strong, intelligent, competent, brilliant woman of colour, and she’s in Trump’s face. Let’s enjoy his suffering. After the four years of hell that bastard gave us we have earned it. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.
Robert Harrington is an American expat living in Britain. He is a portrait painter.