The Harris campaign failed in 2020 because, like most of the candidates, she didn’t know how to posture herself as a unique and compelling figure between the extremes of Sanders on the left and Biden on the right. That won’t be a problem in this election; the Democratic Party is united in its opposition to Trump, and Harris doesn’t deviate from it on policy in any meaningful way. As a result, fears that this campaign will be a rerun of the last are misplaced. The task is much more straightforward this time, and Trump is an unpopular opponent with little experience trying to woo centrist voters.
To date, there have been no major missteps by the campaign even under remarkably unusual circumstances. Harris replaced Biden without knifing him in the back. She united the party behind her in a matter of a few days. Her commercials are sharper than Biden’s. The race is now a dead heat even before the convention. Can the good news last?
Yes, it can. Will it? I don’t know.