Have you heard? Democrats are "energized." They're "engaged." The latest Morning Consult poll shows "Democratic voters are more likely than Republicans (27% to 24%) to say they’re 'much more motivated' to participate in the political process this election."
Vice President Kamala Harris is the Democratic Party's savior and everyone is wild to vote for her, right? Not exactly.
The lack of enthusiasm among Democrats for Joe Biden was a telling factor in his disappearance from the ticket. The enthusiasm gap was most pronounced among young voters and minorities.
Right now, Democrats are talking a good game.
"I was feeling really, really discouraged after the debate, and I just felt so much excitement seeing Kamala come in and seeing the fundraising numbers," said Anitra Appa of Berkeley.
Harris has raised $81 million in the 24 hours after Biden dropped out. She got another $70 million in pledges from rich donors. But those donations were like a dam breaking. The big money donors had stopped giving to Joe Biden and the grassroots fundraising had fallen off 20% in the aftermath of Biden's disastrous debate performance.
In other words, there's no evidence of a surge in enthusiasm for Kamala Harris. This was made clear during Harris's first public remarks since Biden stepped away from the campaign.
“Joe Biden’s legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern history. In one term, he has already —” Harris said in a speech on the White House South Lawn, before stopping mid-sentence to add, “Yes, you may clap.”
Kamala Harris: “Joe Biden’s legacy of accomplishment over the past three years is unmatched in modern history. Yes, you may clap.” pic.twitter.com/OK3anNVQkx
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) July 22, 2024
Lordy, the Republicans have to do something with that cackle. Maybe take all the cackles in the last three years and put them on a continuous loop so that by election day, Americans will vote against her just to keep her from cackling for the next four years.
Siena College pollster Don Levy thinks the "new blood" supplied by Harris's candidacy "will have a chance to speak to those groups" (blacks and young people.).
It’s all still under the heading of "maybe" and "potentially" as the Democrats try to sort out their new ticket and hold their convention.
Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to take on Republican Donald Trump, and … many Democrat leaders have coalesced behind her.
Levy and others said many of the issues will remain the same in the presidential campaign: Economy, jobs, abortion, immigration, foreign policy/Russia, democracy/rule of law.
But a new candidate can change the dynamic of how issues are viewed and which ones are effective.
"We’ve been locked into this Biden-Trump matchup for so long. Now, it’s all different," Levy said. "Those questions that were dragging Biden down — questions about his age, his acuity, his stamina — that’s all gone in an instant."
Yes, the age issue has disappeared. It's been replaced by the competence issue, the leadership issue, and the "cackle" issue.
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There's a reason that Kamala Harris has the worst polls of any vice president in history. It won't matter to Democrats, They're satisfied with an incoherent, uninformed failure to head their ticket.
But independents and Republicans aren't going to go along. And after a few weeks of the kind of scrutiny a presidential candidate receives, Harris's gaffes will make Joe Biden look like Einstein by comparison.
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