Harris, the Democratic Hope

During his administration from 2016 to 2020, Donald Trump did whatever he could to dismantle measures that Barack Obama implemented.

Michelle and Barack Obama used their appearance Tuesday evening at the Democratic National Convention to name an heir. And no, I’m not referring to their daughters, Malia or Sasha, but rather Kamala Harris, U.S. vice president and Democratic presidential candidate by acclamation.

And on top of that, former President Bill Clinton, another popular Democrat, came out on Wednesday night to reinforce Harris’ image, strengthen that of of her running mate, Gov. Tim Walz, and fan the flames of what already looks like passionate enthusiasm.

Harris and Walz have made it their mission to beat Donald Trump, the Republican hopeful that the Democrats, and some Republicans, consider to be a threat to the U.S.

It’s no accident. Harris is now the greatest hope to challenge Trump, the billionaire who has emerged as the leader of right-wing extremist movements, thanks to a boost from television and social media. True, Harris is a woman of color, the daughter of immigrants — an Afro-Caribbean father and a mother from India — a feminist from the get-go, and almost 20 years younger than Trump.

But it’s not just political, the experts say. Clinton and the Obamas all have scores to settle with Trump. For Clinton, it’s the boorish and uncivilized way Trump treated his wife, Hillary Clinton, the first woman presidential nominee of a major party. Trump beat her in the Electoral College, but not in the popular vote.

For the Obamas, it was a dozen years ago when Trump, then a businessman, questioned whether Barack Hussein Obama had been born in the United States. Trump had endured a sarcastic public onslaught from Obama at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in 2011.

And then in 2016, there was Trump’s absurd comparison between the size of the crowd attending his inauguration and the crowd at Obama’s 2008 inauguration.

But it is also political. During his administration from 2016 to 2020, Trump did whatever he could to dismantle measures that Obama implemented. These were often in the form of administrative actions, the equivalent of executive orders, because of blockage in Congress by majorities and minorities with little difference between them.

Important issues that Trump weakened or nearly demolished included access to health care; immigration reform and addressing young people like the DREAMERS, whose parents were undocumented but who grew up and were educated in the U.S. but are not U.S. citizens; and environmental protections.

And the Obamas, a couple revered in U.S. liberal and Democratic circles, handed Harris the key. They named her their heir in real terms. Clinton, who is considered one of the country’s most accomplished political leaders, provided the key ring. Harris and Walz will have to do the rest, and win over the majority of American states.