INTERVIEW – Journalist Dominique Simonet, a specialist in American politics, analyzes the candidacy of the vice president, who was thrown into the race for the White House overnight.
Have we underestimated him too much? Since 2017, Kamala Harris has exercised her functions as the Vice President of the United States with the greatest discretion. Remaining in Joe Biden’s shadow, behind the scenes, he nevertheless waged several battles, sometimes busy in the Senate, sometimes in charge of the explosive “immigration” dossier or on the spot to protect abortion rights. His fate changed last Sunday. With Joe Biden’s sudden exit from the presidential race, Kamala Harris finds herself in the running for the White House against a still defiant Donald Trump, and buoyed by the assassination attempt she survived. Before the November election, she will have one mission: to prove that she is the right person to become the first woman to lead the United States. Journalist Dominique Simonet, a specialist in American politics, analyzes the political storm that represents his candidacy, particularly for Trump.
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Kamala Harris’s youth is indeed a great asset to the Democrats
Madame Figaro .- Kamala Harris is Donald Trump’s worst opponent.
Dominique Simonet: The replacement of Joe Biden with Kamala Harris is very bad news for Donald Trump, who had prepared an entire strategy that was relatively easy to implement against a weakened Joe Biden, whose weakness he never stopped mocking and whom he accused of “being”. failing to pursue a second presidential term. From now on, the situation has changed. facing his new opponent, 59 years old, he is really getting old and needs to rethink his angles of attack.
Sure, you mention the age of Kamala Harris, who is an anti-Trump activist, 78. What are his other strengths?
Kamala Harris’s youth is actually an asset for the Democrats, as she can succeed in attracting a young, undecided or abstaining electorate that is not necessarily willing to vote or is vacillating or opposed to Joe Biden’s policies. Israel and wanted to sanction it. A section of young people could be tempted by the candidacy of Kamala Harris. Beyond her age, she is a woman of mixed descent. Indian mother, Jamaican father, which is also an advantage to represent communities who wanted a candidate other than an “old white man”. Kamala Harris has another advantage, Joe Biden’s running mate, she was already fully involved in the campaign, so she had already been in place for several months. Therefore it does not start from scratch. He may also be using campaign funds that paid for the Biden-Harris ticket, and we’re seeing an influx of donors to his candidacy within hours, a testament to his enthusiasm. But Kamala Harris has another advantage: the fact that she is a woman who is also committed to the freedom of abortion. This is a very sensitive topic for women voters, and not just for Democrats.
Should we wait for that? right to abortion Is it a central theme of the campaign?
Yes, because the Supreme Court returned abortion freedom to the states (this right was previously protected at the national level in Roe v. Wade, Editor’s Note), some American women find themselves in dire situations, forced to seek help in other states, jeopardizing legal convictions. It’s chaos at this level in the US, and Kamala Harris represents the hope of restoring a dignified situation for women in trouble. She has been very present on this issue and has made a lot of progress on reproductive rights. His speech. the practice of abortion and the right of women to dispose of their own bodies are part of individual liberties, time. Donald Trump, for his part, is not clear on abortion. He digresses. On the one hand, he wants to give guarantees to his most radical and anti-abortion voters. on the other hand, he carefully uses his words to persuade the female electorate.
As a former California attorney general, will he give Donald Trump a hard time during the debates?
It is certain that if there will be TV debates, they will be eagerly awaited. Kamala Harris has to be careful not to get too caught up in Donald Trump’s attacks, which are often disturbing. That being said, he has already shown some rudeness in the past. In September 2018, during the Senate confirmation hearing for Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, he looked formidable. Therefore, he has a certain habit of confrontation. She is a strong woman, as she demonstrated when she was the Attorney General of the State of California. There is no reason why he cannot rule. Many believe it, and it explains the historic fundraising for Kamala Harris. So far, he has raised $250 million, $100 million from small donors (about 1 million people) and $150 million from super PACs (donor groups and large entrepreneurs, particularly from Silicon Valley).
Trump’s strategy? Smear the woman in every possible way
After all, we have the impression that he is the best candidate in the Democratic Party to challenge Trump…
Today, he is arguably the best candidate to take on Trump. Especially given the state of denial and panic in which Democrats have fallen, who have not undertaken the extent of Joe Biden’s weakening. She has been described a bit too much as a self-absorbed woman, remaining in the shadow of Joe Biden, but such was her role as vice president, which mainly consisted of deputizing for the president in case of problems. In addition, he played an important role as president of the Senate, especially when his vice-presidential vote was decisive, namely in the first two years of Biden’s term. (at this moment, The Senate was perfectly aligned with 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats. and in this case it is the vice president’s vote that allows the issues to be decided, editor’s note). It should also be said that Joe Biden assigned him ungrateful issues such as immigration, which forced him to try to negotiate with the leaders of Latin and Central American states. The problem was not easy, and the least we can say is that the topic is not resolved. This remains one of the failings of the Biden administration (though the Trumpists’ refusal to compromise didn’t help).
What will be Donald Trump’s strategy to counter his now main rival?
Trump’s method remains the same: we hammer, we accuse, we debate not facts, but people and discredit them. It is not about fighting against the candidate, but about smearing the woman by all possible means. By repeating a lie, it eventually becomes the truth in the eyes of the most gullible. This is Trump’s strategy, hardly in line with the Republican tradition, in the “law and order” party of Nixon and Reagan, which has become the party of Donald Trump today. These are populist methods and very effective. So, as always, Trump will choose to take offense. He wasted no time. Neither did his candidate, JD Vance. On Fox News, he didn’t hesitate to accuse Kamala Harris of “childless cat lady” (read: the cat grandma who can’t have kids) adding that she is “1 million times worse than Joe Biden.” OK, this is insulting and childish, but it cheers up his supporters. We can also imagine Donald Trump attacking his origins, as he did with Obama, trying to sow doubts about his American identity with subtle hints. He also needs to highlight his failure on “immigration” and his silence on the health of Joe Biden, who saw him every day at the White House. Donald Trump will do everything to discredit and delegitimize it. Kamala Harris needs to prove she has the strength to stand up to herself and refocus the political debate on the real issues, especially the issues of affordability and security that concern all Americans.
Source: Le Figaro
