If there was one moment in Kamala Harris’s glitzy convention that illustrated how much has changed in US politics — and at what speed — it was a social media post from faraway Mar-a-Lago. “WHERE’S HUNTER [Biden]?” asked the Republican nominee as Harris prepared to take the stage.
That Donald Trump would pick the finale of Harris’s coming out party to lament the absence of Joe Biden’s son was not on most people’s bingo card. Just five weeks ago, Trump was acting as though he had already won the election. There was even talk of a landslide. In what feels like an eye blink, Trump is suddenly the old man running on a familiar script. The frequency with which he targets Biden shows he is still struggling with Harris’s lightning ascent.
To be fair to Trump, Harris is making his adjustment very hard. The Democratic National Convention in Chicago bucked tradition on many levels. The most striking of these was her party’s display of unity. All of the Democratic psychodrama of the last three decades took to the stage — from Bill Clinton, who was elected president in 1992, to Biden, who until last month was vowing he would serve out a full two terms. The star turns were the two Obamas, Barack and Michelle, who were consciously passing the torch to Harris. Even Jimmy Carter, the oldest living US president, who turns 100 in October, let it be known that he wanted to vote for Harris. From the populist left to traditional centrists, Democrats have called a truce on their fissures and personality tensions for the next 70-odd days. They have Trump to thank for that. The spectre of his return has concentrated minds.