Can Kamala Harris win the US election?
In two months – on 5 November – Americans will head to the polls to vote for their next president. The latest polling suggests a neck-and-neck race between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
The race for the White House could come down to just a few swing states and with the economy at the top of the concerns for the American people, it’s hard to predict the likely outcome.
European commentators are debating whether Harris can win – and what her best strategy will be.
KEY FACTS
- 2024 Presidential election is two months away
- Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be the next US president
- Polls suggest Harris has a slight advantage but the race is tight
“Pollsters claimed Harris’s consolidation of the Democratic base, especially with voters of colour and young people who drifted from the party in Biden’s final months as the presumptive Democratic nominee, had brought these states back into play.”
“… One should never forget is the country’s obsession with fame. After all, they invented fame, and they did it very well … Fame in America is rightly celebrated, and no matter why, or how, someone becomes famous, they are lauded for it. Fawned over. Worshipped. Turned into breakfast cereals, TV specials and quite possibly monuments. If America has contributed anything to the world it’s fame; because, let’s face it, they do fame better than anyone else.
“Which is why so many Americans think Kamala Harris is going to win the election.”
“Trump, clearly, is rattled. He’s used to being the bully who comes up with the mean jokes rather than being the butt of them. And while I confess to having found some of the nicknames he’s used on previous opponents very amusing… “Laffin’ Kamala” just doesn’t have much ring, or sting, to it. It is particularly ineffective given that her laugh is a selling point, while Trump never seems to laugh at all, which, if we are being honest, is a little … weird.
“The ironic thing about Trump’s apparent allergy to the word is that his natural weirdness – his way of pronouncing words such as “Chainah”; his hand gestures and dance moves; his enduring attachment to the song YMCA – is actually a large part of his appeal. It makes him come across as authentic, and means that he is entertaining and instantly recognisable. So why is he so bothered by it, and why is it so effective?”
“Average Americans blame the Biden government for inflation. Kamala Harris has a remedy: as part of her economic plan, she wants to introduce a federal ban on soaring food prices. … This is shocking populism. The Democratic presidential candidate is demonising companies that operate along free-market principles, and proposing a reform that amounts to restricting companies’ business activities by giving the government greater powers of control.”