Behind the Democratic Reboot: Joy, Hope, and Fear
Biden's withdrawal eased the atmosphere within the party, yet Kamala Harris faces a limited window to shift the focus from her actions to Trump's behavior.
TroibNews 
The circumstances could not have been more different. One president was nearly assassinated, and the other president reluctantly quit his reelection, ending his career. However, the reaction from their parties to back-to-back historic weekends has been identical: euphoria.
When former President Trump, bleeding from a bullet to his ear, raised his fist and urged his supporters to “fight” a week ago Saturday, Republicans felt the weight of history — and, they hope, destiny. Rallying to their nearly martyred leader, GOP voters instantaneously transformed their alarm into outrage and then joy.
On Sunday, after President Biden finally withdrew his candidacy, Democrats felt they had been given a new lease on life for this campaign. Unburdened by an incumbent widely considered too old, the party burst with optimism and excitement.
The sounds of “Happy Days are Here Again” could almost be heard in Chicago.
“It’s really palpable,” Representative Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), the lone Democratic lawmaker last year to publicly voice concerns about Biden, said Sunday night. “He’s heroic for doing this, even if it took longer than expected, and it has lifted the angst that was like a pall over our party.”
After nearly a month of trauma, Democrats, who have become as hierarchical as the Republicans once were, turned from relief to hope to certainty: Vice President Kamala Harris must be the standard-bearer. No contested convention or further internal conflicts can be allowed.
The future remains uncertain, as another observer of political upheavals noted, so it’s premature to suggest fate is done with this campaign.
Nevertheless, if the events of one week in July shape the remainder of the race, the campaign strategies of each party are now clear.
Trump, having narrowly dodged death and attempting to reclaim power against a woman, will run as a strongman — an American caudillo who can return order to a country more receptive to the old regime.
Democrats will almost certainly elevate Harris to do what Biden could not: make the race more about Trump than the current occupant of the White House. With a unified party and a chance to mobilize dejected constituencies, Harris will remind voters that Trump represents the chaos and extremism they have been rejecting since 2017.
It’s unclear which of these appeals will prevail. However, make no mistake: Harris’s task is as formidable as Trump’s was four years ago, one of the few times an incumbent party faced such a daunting reelection path. She aims not just to break a glass ceiling but serves as an emergency candidate propelled by a desperate party.
As his party’s nominee for a third consecutive election, Trump enjoys a solid base and multiple paths to 270 electoral votes, while Harris, who has only previously appeared on a national ticket, faces a steep challenge.
Biden’s decline had alarmed Democrats, fearing he might endanger more blue states, but Harris could have the same effect if her campaign falters. This has been the backstage chatter among Democrats ever since the fateful June 27 debate: which is riskier in swing states, a weakened Biden or a healthy Harris?
We may know by Labor Day.
If Harris can unify her party, which she was on the way to doing by Sunday evening, choose a strong running mate, and use the lead-up to the convention to go on the offensive against Trump, she will have a chance to win.
If she fails, Trump may follow through on his hint not to debate her, turning the fall campaign into a repeat of her last presidential bid, which ended before the Iowa caucuses.
“She’s got to kill it out of the box, she can’t be defined by Trump before Chicago,” said James Carville, the Democratic strategist. “Trump is not popular, but she’s just not known.”
Harris’s allies also undermine her by focusing on her race and gender, giving Trump and his allies ammunition to portray her as a “DEI Candidate.” These appeals could be detrimental by fall.
“You don’t hear that coming from me,” Donna Brazile, a former DNC chair, said of the identity appeals. “She’s a proven leader who has been battle-tested and knows the job. I want them to lean into the fight for a country where people who work hard get ahead, where our basic rights are secure, and where everybody, including the president, plays by the same set of rules.”
Trump will likely not resist invoking Harris’s race and gender. Let him face backlash for that: Many Americans are uneasy with identity politics, but many more will recoil from race baiting and misogyny.
Gender will inevitably play a role in the campaign, and some skeptical Democrats doubt the country’s first female president will be a California liberal of Jamaican and Indian descent. However, Harris could benefit from her gender, particularly on the issue of abortion rights, which has energized voters since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“The fact that she is a candidate able and willing to say the word ‘abortion,’ should not be underappreciated,” said Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic campaign veteran.
Viewed optimistically, the 59-year-old Harris may not be perfect, but she’s not turning 82 this fall.
Pressed on her prospects, Carville emphasized the party now has a chance. “I know one thing, we were in a ditch before,” he said.
“The Democratic Party is not falling apart — if we were, how come we keep winning so many elections?” he asked. “People want to vote for Democrats, or against Republicans, but we had Biden’s age, that was it.”
Democrats face the challenges of inflation and immigration, the latter of which Trump campaign chief Chris LaCivita identified as Harris’s most significant vulnerability.
Harris’s candidacy may recall Gerald Ford’s 1976 race, where he was hurt by the president who appointed him. He mounted a strong comeback but ultimately fell short.
How Harris runs — and her ideological direction — will partly determine her fate and that of down-ballot Democrats who were anticipating a Biden-led wipeout.
“Right now, nobody could articulate what the Biden-Harris plan was for the next four years,” Phillips said, urging Harris to offer “not just red meat for the base but something medium-well for the middle.”
Four summers ago, when Biden was deciding on a running mate, Alex Burns and I noted the significant implications. “Should Mr. Biden win and not seek reelection, the Democratic nomination might not be up for grabs for another 12 years — an eternity for the party’s many ambitious up-and-comers,” we wrote.
Now, that moment has arrived. Biden is not running again, but the nomination is not truly up for grabs. By waiting this long, Biden effectively ensured Harris’s nomination in Chicago. All potential challengers have fallen silent or quickly aligned: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined one of the initial Harris for President staff calls Sunday night, according to a source.
If Harris wins in November, Whitmer and others may wait until 2032.
Yes, that’s a big if. But it’s a chance, something Democrats scarcely had before Biden’s decision. And it’s why they are suddenly so energized.
The party now embodies the ethos of Lyndon Johnson, who explained to Clare Boothe Luce why he would submit to the vice presidency: “I’m a gambling man, darlin’, and this is the only chance I got,” Johnson said.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
When former President Trump, bleeding from a bullet to his ear, raised his fist and urged his supporters to “fight” a week ago Saturday, Republicans felt the weight of history — and, they hope, destiny. Rallying to their nearly martyred leader, GOP voters instantaneously transformed their alarm into outrage and then joy.
On Sunday, after President Biden finally withdrew his candidacy, Democrats felt they had been given a new lease on life for this campaign. Unburdened by an incumbent widely considered too old, the party burst with optimism and excitement.
The sounds of “Happy Days are Here Again” could almost be heard in Chicago.
“It’s really palpable,” Representative Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), the lone Democratic lawmaker last year to publicly voice concerns about Biden, said Sunday night. “He’s heroic for doing this, even if it took longer than expected, and it has lifted the angst that was like a pall over our party.”
After nearly a month of trauma, Democrats, who have become as hierarchical as the Republicans once were, turned from relief to hope to certainty: Vice President Kamala Harris must be the standard-bearer. No contested convention or further internal conflicts can be allowed.
The future remains uncertain, as another observer of political upheavals noted, so it’s premature to suggest fate is done with this campaign.
Nevertheless, if the events of one week in July shape the remainder of the race, the campaign strategies of each party are now clear.
Trump, having narrowly dodged death and attempting to reclaim power against a woman, will run as a strongman — an American caudillo who can return order to a country more receptive to the old regime.
Democrats will almost certainly elevate Harris to do what Biden could not: make the race more about Trump than the current occupant of the White House. With a unified party and a chance to mobilize dejected constituencies, Harris will remind voters that Trump represents the chaos and extremism they have been rejecting since 2017.
It’s unclear which of these appeals will prevail. However, make no mistake: Harris’s task is as formidable as Trump’s was four years ago, one of the few times an incumbent party faced such a daunting reelection path. She aims not just to break a glass ceiling but serves as an emergency candidate propelled by a desperate party.
As his party’s nominee for a third consecutive election, Trump enjoys a solid base and multiple paths to 270 electoral votes, while Harris, who has only previously appeared on a national ticket, faces a steep challenge.
Biden’s decline had alarmed Democrats, fearing he might endanger more blue states, but Harris could have the same effect if her campaign falters. This has been the backstage chatter among Democrats ever since the fateful June 27 debate: which is riskier in swing states, a weakened Biden or a healthy Harris?
We may know by Labor Day.
If Harris can unify her party, which she was on the way to doing by Sunday evening, choose a strong running mate, and use the lead-up to the convention to go on the offensive against Trump, she will have a chance to win.
If she fails, Trump may follow through on his hint not to debate her, turning the fall campaign into a repeat of her last presidential bid, which ended before the Iowa caucuses.
“She’s got to kill it out of the box, she can’t be defined by Trump before Chicago,” said James Carville, the Democratic strategist. “Trump is not popular, but she’s just not known.”
Harris’s allies also undermine her by focusing on her race and gender, giving Trump and his allies ammunition to portray her as a “DEI Candidate.” These appeals could be detrimental by fall.
“You don’t hear that coming from me,” Donna Brazile, a former DNC chair, said of the identity appeals. “She’s a proven leader who has been battle-tested and knows the job. I want them to lean into the fight for a country where people who work hard get ahead, where our basic rights are secure, and where everybody, including the president, plays by the same set of rules.”
Trump will likely not resist invoking Harris’s race and gender. Let him face backlash for that: Many Americans are uneasy with identity politics, but many more will recoil from race baiting and misogyny.
Gender will inevitably play a role in the campaign, and some skeptical Democrats doubt the country’s first female president will be a California liberal of Jamaican and Indian descent. However, Harris could benefit from her gender, particularly on the issue of abortion rights, which has energized voters since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“The fact that she is a candidate able and willing to say the word ‘abortion,’ should not be underappreciated,” said Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic campaign veteran.
Viewed optimistically, the 59-year-old Harris may not be perfect, but she’s not turning 82 this fall.
Pressed on her prospects, Carville emphasized the party now has a chance. “I know one thing, we were in a ditch before,” he said.
“The Democratic Party is not falling apart — if we were, how come we keep winning so many elections?” he asked. “People want to vote for Democrats, or against Republicans, but we had Biden’s age, that was it.”
Democrats face the challenges of inflation and immigration, the latter of which Trump campaign chief Chris LaCivita identified as Harris’s most significant vulnerability.
Harris’s candidacy may recall Gerald Ford’s 1976 race, where he was hurt by the president who appointed him. He mounted a strong comeback but ultimately fell short.
How Harris runs — and her ideological direction — will partly determine her fate and that of down-ballot Democrats who were anticipating a Biden-led wipeout.
“Right now, nobody could articulate what the Biden-Harris plan was for the next four years,” Phillips said, urging Harris to offer “not just red meat for the base but something medium-well for the middle.”
Four summers ago, when Biden was deciding on a running mate, Alex Burns and I noted the significant implications. “Should Mr. Biden win and not seek reelection, the Democratic nomination might not be up for grabs for another 12 years — an eternity for the party’s many ambitious up-and-comers,” we wrote.
Now, that moment has arrived. Biden is not running again, but the nomination is not truly up for grabs. By waiting this long, Biden effectively ensured Harris’s nomination in Chicago. All potential challengers have fallen silent or quickly aligned: Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer joined one of the initial Harris for President staff calls Sunday night, according to a source.
If Harris wins in November, Whitmer and others may wait until 2032.
Yes, that’s a big if. But it’s a chance, something Democrats scarcely had before Biden’s decision. And it’s why they are suddenly so energized.
The party now embodies the ethos of Lyndon Johnson, who explained to Clare Boothe Luce why he would submit to the vice presidency: “I’m a gambling man, darlin’, and this is the only chance I got,” Johnson said.
Aarav Patel contributed to this report for TROIB News
