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There’s no denying it: Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launch has been a smooth transition. A clean handover from President Joe Biden? Check. A loyal and supportive team falling in line? Double check. A positive polling bump, an increase in activist interest, and, on Friday, endorsements from the most popular Democrats in the country, former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama? Check ‘em all.
Everything’s coming up Kamala in this midsummer reboot of a campaign that had been losing momentum for months. Suddenly, Democrats are feeling optimistic about their chances of keeping the White House and winning a narrowly divided Congress. Republicans, on the other hand, are facing an unexpectedly close contest. Their attacks on 81-year-old Biden—his age, his mental acuity, his ability to articulate ideas—can now be easily directed back at 78-year-old Trump. The new political landscape is so uncertain that Trump’s allies are now hesitant to say if he’ll participate in the September debate that was originally planned as a Biden-Trump rematch but now features Harris as the leading candidate.
But like all good fairy tales, there’s always a complication lurking in the shadows. And instead of sorceresses or dragons, the spoiler in this story is the global spectacle of the Olympic games.
Starting Friday, most Americans—and indeed, connected citizens of the world—will be captivated by the sporting events taking place in Paris and across France. It’s a distraction from politics, for sure, and it comes at a critical moment when Harris’ momentum is growing by the day. The torch lighting ceremony and nearly three weeks of athletics are likely to steal Harris’ thunder. It’s impossible to compete with the more than hours of live coverage on broadcast television, no matter how much money is raised for a political campaign. Yes, the first debate—the one that knocked Biden off the ticket after three weeks of uncertainty—attracted an audience of 51 million, but the Olympics will capture billions of eyeballs. In the competition for TV viewership, it’s Harris versus the global games, and it’s not even close.
Harris’ allies emphasize that she has no plans to slow down. Since she took over for Biden, the campaign reports that over 100,000 new volunteers have signed up and another 2,000 people have applied for full-time campaign jobs—a surge of interest and talent that would never have materialized with Biden at the helm. Her team intends to keep Harris on the road when it makes sense, like next week’s trip to Georgia, but also capitalize on the reduced public attention—at least from the general public, if not the political press—to revamp parts of the Biden campaign, bring in new talent and perspectives focused on Harris, and test the campaign machinery with just over 100 days until the election. Oh, and she has to choose a running mate, with Democrats quietly anticipating August 7 as the last possible day to make the announcement.
There are plenty of reasons for Harris’ supporters—an expanding K-Hive is part of the play, of course—to feel optimistic. A New York Times/ Siena College poll conducted after Biden’s departure shows Harris’ favorability ratings have increased, with 46% of registered voters having a positive view of her compared to 36% in February. Among those who hold an unfavorable opinion of the Vice President, the number has dropped to 49% from 54% in February. And the so-called Double Haters—the voters who dislike both candidates—have declined to 8% from 20% earlier this year. Simply put, people are warming up to Harris now that she’s a real contender, Democrats have stopped expressing their concerns about her occasional gaffes, and voters are realizing they have a choice between a convicted and a steady .
A cynic might say that Biden and his allies orchestrated this to launch Harris with a clean slate and reset the race against Trump, but all indications that this was far from a master plan and more of a family therapy session with geopolitical implications. Until Biden announced his intention to step aside on Sunday afternoon, the Harris campaign was largely kept in a holding pattern of loyal support.
Harris’ campaign, however, quickly gained momentum. In addition to essentially eliminating any competition for the nomination and securing the support of potential rivals as steadfast allies, Harris has been actively engaging with voters, reaching out to key figures, and collaborating with political heavyweights like the and with an intensity not seen since the summer of 2007 when Barack Obama, struggling to gain traction in his race against Hillary Clinton, pulled ahead with an organizational that took everyone by surprise.
Harris’ challenge, however, is to stay in the game as much as possible over the next three weeks. The Olympics will dominate—and —American attention in a way that hasn’t been seen since, well, last week when Biden announced his exit. (A 87% of Americans support his decision, although Democrats and Republicans have vastly different reasons for sharing this view.) Harris has the opportunity to take a step back and ensure that her early days as the Democratic leader are sustainable and not a fleeting moment in the spotlight. Judging by her confident and decisive ascent, it’s safe to say that her campaign launch was far from a fluke. Now, she just needs to wait for the excitement surrounding the Paris games to fade and be prepared for a second reboot.
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