Kamala Harris: The candidate who breaks glass ceilings and refuses to talk about them usa elections

“When I’m elected, I will arrive at the Oval Office with a list of priorities for everything I will do for the American people,” Vice President Kamala Harris promised on the Ellipse this week. the White House. Behind him, a row of American flags and, at the top, the illuminated Presidential Palace. Before him, 75,000 people – according to his campaign – exceeded the venue’s capacity and spilled out onto the grass of nearby parks. As the Democratic nominee hoped, the image was a preview of what might happen after next Tuesday’s elections: the first woman, and second Black man, president of the United States in a speech to the nation.

In the last two weeks of the campaign finale, Democratic candidates have appeared at many of their rallies surrounded by stars, each one becoming more famous. From Tigres del Norte and Mana to Bruce Springsteen. Going by Beyonce. It’s all about delivering a message of optimism and strength in the polls about protecting democracy and rights — especially abortion — when polls point to a stubborn relationship between them and Trump.

Neither he nor his party have ever emphasized the historic nature of his career. “He’s there because he’s the best possible candidate for the position, period. The fact that she’s a woman is just icing on the cake,” former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi told reporters during the Democratic convention in Chicago in August. When asked about the matter, Harris herself appeared nervous at times: “Next question,” she responded in her first television interview since assuming the candidacy in August, about her identity as a black woman, whom Trump Was put under suspicion a few days ago. , He assures that his intention is to demonstrate that he wants to govern for everyone, not just a portion of the electorate.

To some extent, this is due to the idea that there is no need to emphasize the obvious. Lessons have been learned after the 2016 defeat of Hillary Clinton, who during her campaign, under the slogan “I’m with them”, promised to break “the hardest glass ceiling” and failed. But it is also a matter of personality: during her first term as Vice President she wanted to avoid being awarded gender-related portfolios, so as not to betray herself. And this is a case not to argue with the Republican Party that has tried to portray her as a candidate who was chosen not for her virtues, but for meeting gender and minority representation quotas.

“My experience is that it’s clear that regardless of (the candidate’s) gender, voters want to be sure that there will be someone in the presidency who has a plan to reduce costs, guarantee the security of the United States. In reference to our position in the world, Harris recently announced in an interview for NBC. “But the thing is that most people are concerned about that. Are you qualified for the position and do you have a plan that will solve their problems.

Behind his reluctance to exploit the historic nature of his candidacy is also a concern about not alienating the share of the male vote, where among groups such as African-American men – who have traditionally supported Democrats by large majorities – It may be more difficult to accept the idea of ​​a woman being a leader.

“There is still a small, but not insignificant, number of Americans in the United States who believe that men are better political candidates than women,” Diana O’Brien, a professor at the University of Washington in Washington, said in a conversation. Foreign journalist. St. Louis and expert in women’s political representation.

Former President Barack Obama himself, while campaigning for Harris, had urged African-American men to support the vice president, amid polls indicating that this electoral group’s support for the Democratic ticket is lower than in previous elections. , while being sympathetic to Trump.

The first black head of state in the United States appealed in a speech, “Part of me fears that they don’t like the idea of ​​making a woman president, and they allege other options and reasons to justify it. ” In Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania).

Trump himself has tried to suggest that Harris would be a weak leader on the global stage because she is a woman. “There are voters who will not support Harris because of the gender issue. Trump has attempted to make gender an issue by expressing the view that world leaders will not take him seriously as president. “Harris has avoided talking about how her victory would be a historic event,” says Katherine Tate, a political science professor at Brown University.

But, although she avoids influencing her gender, she has, and has abundant, influence on the preferences of women voters, especially on abortion rights: for the youngest, a great electoral factor. Harris makes frequent references to the issue at her campaign events and has called entire rallies dedicated to the issue, such as the one she held with Beyoncé in Houston 10 days ago. In interviews, where she may sometimes respond with what some journalists call “word salad”, this is by far the area in which she feels most secure.

Women have rallied to her side: All polls indicate that the female vote, which has historically tilted toward the Democrats, is more tilted in favor of Harris in this election than ever before. If 55% of women supported it in 2022, now the gap with respect to men is between 14 and 30 points. The gender gap is particularly stark among people under 30: Statistician John Zogby has calculated that the gap between women and men who support Harris in this group is 60 percentage points.

“Women, especially young women, appreciate them,” this expert says. “In fact, from many perspectives, having multiracial and multiracial backgrounds represents a good portion of the Millennials and Z generation, including those in the United States. has the highest proportion of multi-ethnic backgrounds of all voting groups.”

Today, polls point to a stubborn tie between Harris and Trump, which will clearly be decided by a handful of votes in seven crucial states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina.

It’s something that would have seemed almost unimaginable just hours before Sunday, July 23, when frustration was spreading among Democratic supporters. President Joe Biden is clinging to the candidacy despite pressure from his own party and after making a terrible impression in his disastrous debate against Republican Donald Trump. Polls predict disaster in the November elections. Donations were drying up.

The Vice President, an avid cook, had just had breakfast with her family at the Naval Observatory, her official residence in Washington, and was preparing to complete a puzzle with her nieces. The phone rang. It was Biden. The President wanted to tell her that he was preparing to announce his resignation from re-election and was going to endorse her as his replacement. This was an unprecedented move in the history of the United States, placing the Democratic nomination in Harris’ hands just three months before the election.

His first reaction, he later said, was to think about Biden himself and ask him if he was sure about what he was doing. And then call his spiritual advisor, Baptist pastor Amos Brown in San Francisco. “Instinctively, I understood the gravity of that moment, the gravity of that moment. “I didn’t anticipate or know exactly what that day was going to be like,” the 60-year-old former California attorney general, the daughter of a Jamaican father and Indian mother, told CNN last month.

This replacement was a major blow to a Democratic campaign, which by then was having trouble uniting even its own loyalists, who were concerned about the physical and mental suitability of their candidate and, in the case of progressive groups, about the government’s position. Was plagued with doubts about. War in Gaza. Suddenly, they began to take the election malpractice for granted and see it as gone.

The vice president, who had gone almost unnoticed for three years in office, transformed almost overnight into a formidable political force, drawing crowds to her rallies, raising millions of dollars, gaining ground in the polls and losing ground to Trump. Went ahead. He accepted the nomination in front of an enthusiastic audience at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago in August. His finest moment came with the only debate against his opponent, when he made fun of the size of the crowd attending the former President’s election programs and his desire to leave before the conclusion, prompting him to take the field.

But after heightened excitement over the first six weeks of his campaign, the race has entered impasse In which there is no comment, no election work, it seems to be promoting equality. Any outcome seems possible.

Both Harris and Trump plan to complete an intensive tour of seven states. The vice president will wrap up her visit this Monday in Philadelphia, when she’ll hold a new mass shower as the final message of her campaign.