Kamala Harris’ presidential bid a done deal, specialist says

FRANCE 24 English

Visit our website: http://www.france24.com  Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English  Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/France24_en

Transcript

00:00Focus more on the situation in the U.S. now with Scott Lucas, a U.S. politics expert who joins me

00:04from Dublin. Scott, let's get back to Kamala Harris's potential as a candidate for you.

00:10Is it a done deal? Yes, I think it is. Even though Joe Biden only stepped aside yesterday,

00:19I think there had been days of preparation. Harris was getting a much higher profile

00:24with key speeches. And then as soon as Biden stepped aside, he endorsed Harris,

00:30and so did other Democrats. Significantly, not just Democrats who are her supporters,

00:35but also those who have been her critics, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from the progressive

00:40wing of the party. And then I think the real telltale sign was that other potential

00:45challengers for this nomination, such as Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and

00:49Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, stood aside and said, you know, we're not going to

00:54contest this. The Democratic convention on the 19th of August still has to formally confirm

01:00Harris as the candidate. But I think this is going to be more of a confirmation rather than

01:05a contest in Chicago. Right. So then that means the real question now will be how she's going to

01:11organize her campaign and crucially, who is she going to pick to be her vice president? So how

01:16do you see that playing out? I think you're talking about a white male to balance the ticket

01:23in terms of gender and race, but there's no shortage of talent that the Democrats and Kamala

01:27Harris could go for. At the governor's level, you could talk about Governor Roy Cooper of North

01:33Carolina, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, which, of course, is a key swing state,

01:38Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, long established as a very influential Democratic,

01:44basically, you know, able to maneuver and to arrange things. And then at the level of senator,

01:50you could talk about Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, but also possibly Senator Mark Kelly,

01:56the former astronauts, the husband of Senator Gabby Giffords, who had to leave office after

02:01being seriously wounded by gunfire more than a decade ago. All of these, I think, are candidates

02:07who have visibility, who have energy, and who I think could balance a ticket which will be much

02:12younger and much more dynamic, at least than the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.

02:18Indeed. Some Democrats, though, are concerned that over the past four years, we haven't really seen

02:23that much of Vice President Harris. She hasn't made a huge impact. And also,

02:28some say she isn't hugely popular. I mean, are those criticisms fair?

02:33Well, let's be blunt. Once Joe Biden decided to go for a second term, he was only going to be a

02:39one-term president. The Biden team hid Kamala Harris, and they only let her out, as it were,

02:45to take on poison chalices, such as making an appearance at the border

02:49amidst the heated immigration issue. But now that Biden has stepped aside,

02:54now she has that space to establish her profile, to establish her policies, to establish her

03:00record in the administration and its achievements. And contrary to the narrative put out by the

03:05Trumpists that she has low popularity ratings, she runs neck and neck with Trump in the polls

03:10already. If this campaign focuses on issues rather than spectacle, I think she gets a further boost.

03:16Indeed. So for you, what are going to be the biggest issues where she can win?

03:19Is it going to be on things like abortion?

03:23I think women's rights and abortion rights are going to be one of the key issues.

03:26Two-thirds of Americans support the right to choose for women. A lot of those are, of course,

03:31women who happen to be swing voters in key states. I think it's also an issue of great

03:37interest to younger voters. I think Harris's record in terms of being the first Black president,

03:44first woman president, first Asian-American president, stands as well in terms of issues

03:49that are of interest to America's minorities. I think she can point to the Biden administration's

03:54accomplishments on the economy. I think she can talk about steadiness in foreign policy.

03:59And then this big advantage, she's a former prosecutor. So this sets up the narrative of a

04:04prosecutor running against a convicted felon who tried to hold office illegally in 2021

04:11with what effectively was an attempted coup. That's a pretty powerful narrative.

04:16Indeed. And it'll be interesting in the optics there, if ever it comes to her being the candidate

04:20and the two of them with Donald Trump begin to debate, where will the Republicans attack her?

04:26What's her Achilles heel?

04:27They've already started. Donald Trump will attack with character insults. He's already

04:32going to try to stick the nickname on her, Laughing Kamala, as if her laugh is offensive.

04:37Not sure that'll matter to many voters, but there you go. He is already being misogynist

04:41in his attacks on her. The risk there is that that line of attack could alienate voters who

04:48are undecided, especially women voters. I think the Trump campaign probably is on better ground

04:54if they go this way in terms of going with the issues of the economy and immigration,

04:58quite often putting out misinformation. The United States is actually much better

05:02economically than it was four years ago. But trying to run the line to Americans,

05:06do you feel like you're better off? And of course, they'll run the false line that America

05:10is being invaded by millions of immigrants and hope that that fear factor scares people.

05:16But let me just add this. Donald Trump was able to bully Hillary Clinton in 2016.

05:22He actually stalked her against the debate stage. Donald Trump won't be able to bully Kamala Harris.

05:29Just a final word on J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's vice presidential candidate. He's already now

05:35calling for Biden to resign after Biden said he was not going to be reelected. Vance saying Biden's

05:41not fit to run, not fit to serve. What are your thoughts on that? Are there any grounds to call

05:45for Biden's resignation at this point, before the end of his term?

05:48No, because even though Joe Biden, you know, struggled for words in public, almost froze on

05:53that debate stage, he's been competent, more than competent at running an administration,

05:58which can boast probably the most important domestic achievement since the 1960s.

06:03You know, there's no evidence he can't do that job. In fact, he's been quite effective,

06:07for example, at the NATO summit, in terms of talking to allies beyond the headline slips,

06:13like calling President Zelensky, President Putin. Let's be honest here, J.D. Vance is

06:19the Trump campaign's attack dog. He's loud, he's vociferous, he's there to get clickbait headlines.

06:25But I think they made a mistake, because they've got two white guys at the top of the ticket who

06:29are a lot like each other. If the Trump campaign had gone for a woman as the vice presidential

06:34candidate, that's a much different dynamic when they face the person who could be America's first

06:40black woman president. All right, Scott, thanks for that.

06:43Scott Lucas there speaking to me from Dublin. Thanks so much.

Category

Transcript

Recommended