New Democratic Enthusiasm

Democrats are now dreaming about using all of the past to politically bash their Republican rival.

The prosecutor versus a convicted felon.

You can boil down the Democratic Party’s presidential campaign to that phrase, part truth and part mockery, and it somewhat summarizes the new enthusiasm with which President Joe Biden’s party greeted the change of candidate and the virtual nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris in his place.*

And it’s not that Harris is particularly popular or that she has distinguished herself in the role of vice president, a position that is not made for standing out and that only in the last 40 years has achieved prominence thanks to George H.W. Bush, Al Gore, Biden himself, and the dignity of Mike Pence, the one-time vice president of the once-again candidate Donald Trump.

But Harris, at 59 and with a political career that is nowhere near as long as Biden’s, gave Democrats a much needed shot in the arm that is now reflected in renewed enthusiasm, polling and fundraising. Suddenly, a campaign that seemed doomed to many Democrats because of Biden’s frail and aging image in the face of an energetic Trump, has changed dramatically. Biden’s faltering performance in the June 27 debate sparked a rebellion among Democrats and effectively obscured a torrent Trump’s lies and exaggerations.

Biden withdrew from the race on July 21, and by July 24, Harris was the virtual heir apparent with support from Biden and the party.

Fifteen days later, the image that Republicans and the United States face is that of a reinvigorated Democratic Party, with growing enthusiasm and engagement.. And now Trump is the old candidate, while what once looked like a triumphal parade seems to have turned into a dead heat with a serious possibility of defeat.

What looked like a campaign between a candidate who was strong and decisive and one who was old and weak is now a contest with an aging candidate who has a shady business history, who is a political ally of conservative, right-wing and racist religious groups, a man accused of being an authoritarian and narcissistic president, someone who boasts about helping to repeal abortion rights and a man convicted of business fraud who claims he is immune to further prosecution.

Democrats are now dreaming about using all of that to politically bash their Republican rival. For better or worse, they seem to be planning a campaign that will prominently feature mocking what the egocentric Republican candidate has said.

But the Democrats will certainly get a response from Trump, famous for his tendency to define his opponents in derogatory terms, and who has already begun to question Harris’ African American background.

Democratic enthusiasm is at an all-time high. But the party will need to keep it up for three more months.

*Editor’s note: Kamala Harris officially secured the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination on Aug. 4, after this article was published.