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      Unlike Joe Biden, Kamala Harris will be a genuine champion for abortion rights | Moira Donegan

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      When he was still the nominee, Joe Biden’s preferred euphemism for abortion was “Roe”. He would talk about “upholding” Roe v Wade even after June 2022, when the US supreme court struck it down. Reproductive rights advocates bristled at this, pointing out how many people had been denied abortions under Roe, and how flimsy the decision’s protection of reproductive rights had been on personal-autonomy or sex-equality grounds.Frankly, it was hard to get the president to talk about abortion at all. He seemed to avoid even the word “abortion”. When he did talk about the procedure – and the bans on it that Republicans have unleashed across the country – he preferred to focus on women who had been denied emergency abortions for wanted pregnancies in the midst of tragic health complications.Abortion, in his hands, became an issue in which sad, troubled and helpless women could be aided by the mercy of heroic men like himself – or like that of the imagined doctor he referenced in his disastrous June debate with Donald Trump, a man, Biden said, who would determine whether an abortion seeker “needed help or not”. Abortion, in his telling, was an unpleasant but necessary evil that men mediated for women. It was decidedly not a matter of adult women’s rights, dignity or right of autonomy over their own bodies and lives.Kamala Harris, Biden’s successor at the top of the Democratic ticket following his withdrawal last Sunday, has taken a different approach. The Biden administration had largely delegated abortion rights messaging to the vice-president, out of deference both for Biden’s obvious personal discomfort with the issue and his growing inability to campaign effectively at all. (The anti-choice group Susan B Anthony Pro-Life America named Harris as Biden’s “abortion czar”, a name that perhaps sounds a little cooler than they intended.) She made a multistate tour focusing on the issue earlier this year, which included what is believed to be the first public visit to an abortion clinic by a president or vice-president: a stop at a Planned Parenthood in St Paul, Minnesota, where Harris appeared with the clinic’s medical director, and commended the clinic’s staff for their “true leadership”.“It is only right and fair that people have access to the healthcare they need,” she said.The result was a divergence of abortion messaging within the White House, with Harris making a much more robust case for abortion, and for reproductive justice more broadly, in much more affirmative and unapologetic terms. The preferred catchphrase that she repeated when speaking about the issue was not Biden’s tepid and euphemistic “restore Roe”. Instead, Harris has made apparent reference to Dr George Tiller, an abortion doctor who was murdered by anti-choice extremists in 2009, who summarized his own approach to abortion in two words: “Trust women.”Before Biden dropped out of the race, November’s presidential election was set to be little more than a referendum on his age. But now that he has stepped aside, Harris has an opportunity to make a much stronger case for a Democratic policy vision. And reproductive rights, an issue that has motivated women voters in large numbers even in deep-conservative states since the Dobbs decision, appears to be at the center of her agenda.The move is good politics. Abortion rights are extraordinarily popular, and have only become more so in the years since Dobbs, mobilizing voters who would stay home or vote for Republicans when other issues are more salient. A new poll from the Associated Press finds that six in 10 Americans support abortion for any reason; other polls show even higher levels of support for abortion, especially early in pregnancy.It’s not just that abortion, in the abstract, is popular: abortion bans, in particular, are profoundly unpopular. The reality of post-Dobbs bans has dramatically moved public opinion on the issue: since May 2019, the percent of Americans who say that abortion should be legal under all circumstances has increased by 10 points, to 35%. The percent who say it should be illegal under all circumstances – the position advocated by the Republican party platform, which supports recognition of fetuses and embryos as persons under the 14th amendment – has fallen dramatically during that same period, to just 12%.These shifts in public opinion have had a marked impact at the ballot box. Democrats’ better-than-expected showing in the November 2022 midterms is credited to outrage against the Dobbs decision that June. But a desire to protect or restore abortion rights has driven large turnout even in heavily Republican states: Kansas, Kentucky and Ohio have all voted overwhelmingly in favor of abortion rights since Dobbs. Harris has seized on this shift in a way that Biden has not been able to, speaking passionately – and credibly – about abortion as a matter of not only health, but also dignity.Harris has also cannily and repeatedly drawn connections between Trump’s last term, in which three anti-choice zealots were appointed to the US supreme court, and the suffering that abortion bans have caused in Republican-controlled states. She refers to the state laws prohibiting the procedure as “Trump abortion bans”. This focus could bear fruit in November: alongside Harris’s presidential bid, a total of five states – Nevada, Colorado, South Dakota, Maryland and Florida – will have abortion-rights measures on the ballot.The Republican ticket, meanwhile, has leaned further and further into an ideology of misogyny and gender reaction. Trump’s vice-presidential pick, JD Vance, is a passionate and lurid misogynist; he recently referred to Harris and other Democratic women as “childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives”, and that childless women “have no direct stake” in America’s future. He has also suggested that citizens without children should have their votes diluted.Childless women seem to be a particularly irksome demographic for the Trump camp’s army of prurient creeps: both the media personality Laura Loomer and the lawyer and thinktank gadfly Will Chamberlain quickly joined Vance in attacking Harris for not having biological children. It’s a fitting line of attack; after all, the very reason why Republicans are pursuing abortion bans in the first place is because they have an extremely narrow view of what women should be, one they want to enforce with the law.Abortion-rights advocates will certainly seek to push Harris for even more commitments for reproductive freedom and justice. But Harris, at least, is willing to argue that women can be things other than mothers. Like maybe the president.

      Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist More

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      Biden’s address was a moving piece of political theatre and a rebuke of Trump

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      There was 6 January 2021, and a violent coup attempt by a president desperately trying to cling to power. Then there was 24 July 2024, and a president explaining why he was giving up the most powerful job in the world.Joe Biden’s address on Wednesday night was a moving piece of political theatre, the start of a farewell tour by “a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings” who entered politics in 1972 and made it all the way to the Oval Office. For diehard Democrats it was a case of: if you have tears, prepare to shed them now.The speech was also a rebuke of his predecessor Donald Trump’s authoritarian impulses in both word and deed. Although he never mentioned his predecessor by name, Biden laid out two radically different visions of the US presidency set to clash again in November.Last Sunday the 46th president bowed to a chorus of fellow Democrats questioning his age and mental acuity and announced that he would drop out of the presidential election. On Wednesday, recovered from the coronavirus, the 81-year-old made his first public remarks to explain why.Speaking against the backdrop of window, two flags, gold curtains and family photos including his late son Beau, Biden began by citing the Oval Office portraits of former presidents Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt.“I revere this office but I love my country more,” he said. “It’s been the honour of my life to serve as your president. But in the defence of democracy, which is at stake, I think it’s more important than any title.”It was a definitive rebuke of Trump, a man who has slapped his name on countless buildings and for whom the title is everything. Backed by the conservative Heritage Foundation thinktank, the Republican nominee is intent on an expansion of presidential power. But by giving power away – in what Hillary Clinton described “as pure an act of patriotism as I have seen in my lifetime” – Biden demonstrated he will always be the bigger man.Indeed, despite having months to prepare for this contingency, the Trump campaign has been struggling to find a strategy to take on the new Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris. Perhaps they were not quite able to believe that Biden would step aside because they know Trump never would.Biden wore a dark blue suit, white shirt, blue tie and US flag pin. There were no major gaffes but there were slight stumbles over certain words. Sitting off-camera to his left were his son Hunter and other family members. According to a pool reporter in the Oval Office, at one point Biden’s daughter Ashley reached for the hand of her mother, Jill Biden, who was sitting next to her.(Trump, who claims he recently “took a bullet for democracy”, watched the address on his plane after a characteristically mendacious and narcissistic campaign rally in North Carolina.)Biden is the first incumbent to announce he would not seek re-election since Lyndon Johnson in 1968, although some historians argue that Johnson secretly hoped for a breakthrough in the Vietnam war and for his party to come begging for him to make a comeback.Still, some of the parallels are irresistible. For Johnson, coming after the younger, more glamorous John F Kennedy, remarkable legislative achievements at home were clouded by the war in Vietnam. For Biden, coming after the younger, more glamorous Barack Obama, remarkable legislative achievements at home have been clouded by the war on Gaza. Just as in 1968, expect protests at next month’s Democratic national convention in Chicago.But whereas Johnson announced that he would not seek re-election at the end of a long and winding 40-minute speech, Biden, recovering from Covid-19, first did so via Twitter/X. And he quickly anointed a successor in Harris.Biden reportedly has mixed feelings about being pushed aside by some of those same Democrats now singing his praises. The presidency had been his lifelong ambition – he first ran in 1988 – and his victory in 2020 was a vindication of everyman strivers everywhere. On top of that, he did the job rather well. Yet now they were telling him enough. In his Oval Office address, he buried those resentments deep in his soul, though he could not resist a pointed comment about his qualifications.“I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term,” he said. “But nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition.”He made a call for generational change in a country facing its first presidential election without a Bush, Clinton or Biden on the ticket since 1976. “I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.“It’s the best way to unite our nation. I know there was a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.”That may seem to leave Biden a lame duck for his final six months. But he vowed to continue to pursue his agenda and slipped in an important line about calling for reform of the supreme court – a court that became embroiled in ethics scandals, overturned the constitutional right to abortion and declared presidents immune from prosecution for official acts.“The great thing about America is, here kings and dictators do not rule – the people do,” Biden concluded. “History is in your hands. The power’s in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. You just have to keep faith – keep the faith – and remember who we are.”In 2020, the year of a global pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests and Trump trauma, Biden’s signature empathy born of personal tragedies made him the right man at the right time to heal hearts and defend democracy. In 2024, his time has passed. That he came to recognise it reluctantly, and decided to pass the baton, taught a lesson about the presidency that Trump will never learn. More

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      Read a transcript of Biden’s speech on dropping out of the presidential race

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      Joe Biden has explained his decision to drop out of the presidential race, saying it was the “best way to unite our nation”.The US president’s remarks were broadcast from the Oval Office, his first televised appearance since announcing he would end his bid for re-election, and conveyed a reflective and hopeful message.The following is a transcript of his speech.
      My fellow Americans, I’m speaking to you tonight from behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office. In this sacred space, I’m surrounded by portraits of extraordinary American presidents.
      Thomas Jefferson wrote the immortal words that guide this nation. George Washington showed us presidents are not kings. Abraham Lincoln, who implored us to reject malice. Franklin Roosevelt, who inspired us to reject fear.
      I revere this office, but I love my country more.
      It’s been the honor of my life to serve as your president, but the defense of democracy, which is at stake, I think is more important than any title.
      I draw strength and I find joy in working for the American people, but this sacred task of perfecting our union is not about me. It’s about you, your families, your futures. It’s about We the People. We can never forget that, and I never have.
      I’ve made it clear that I believe America is at an inflection point, one of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now determine our fate of our nation and the world for decades to come. America is going to have to choose between moving forward or backward, between hope and hate, between unity and division.
      We have to decide, do we still believe in honesty, decency, respect, freedom, justice and democracy? In this moment, we can see those we disagree with not as enemies but as fellow Americans. Can we do that? Does character and public life still matter? I believe I know the answer to these questions, because I know you, the American people, and I know this: we are a great nation because we are good people.
      When you elected me to this office, I promised to always level with you, to tell you the truth. And the truth, the sacred cause of this country is larger than any one of us. Those of us who cherish that cause, cherish it so much. The cause of American democracy itself. We must unite to protect it.
      You know, in recent weeks, it’s become clear to me that I need to unite my party in this critical endeavor. I believe my record as president, my leadership in the world, my vision for America’s future, all merited a second term, but nothing, nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. That includes personal ambition.
      So I’ve decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. That’s the best way to unite our nation. You know, there is a time and a place for long years of experience in public life. There’s also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices, and that time and place is now.
      Over the next six months, I’ll be focused on doing my job as president. That means I’ll continue to lower costs for hardworking families, grow our economy. I’ll keep defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights, from the right to vote to the right to choose. I’ll keep calling out hate and extremism. Make it clear there is no place, no place in America, for political violence or any violence, ever, period. I’m going to keep speaking out to protect our kids from gun violence, our planet from climate crisis as an existential threat, and I will keep fighting for my Cancer Moonshot, so we can end cancer as we know it, because we can do it. I’m going to call for supreme court reform, because this is critical to our democracy, supreme court reform.
      You know, I will keep working to ensure America remains strong, secure and the leader of the free world. I’m the first president of this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world. We’ll keep rallying a coalition of proud nations to stop Putin from taking over Ukraine, doing more damage. We’ll keep Nato stronger, and I’ll make it more powerful and more united than any time in all of our history. I’ll keep doing the same for allies in the Pacific.
      You know, when I came to office, the conventional wisdom was that China would inevitably, would inevitably pass, surpass the United States. That’s not the case anymore, and I’m going to keep working to end the war in Gaza, bring home all the hostages and bring peace and security to the Middle East and end this war. We’re also working around the clock to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world.
      You know, we’ve come so far since my inauguration. On that day I told you, as I stood in that winter, we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities, parallel possibilities. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in the century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. We came together as Americans. We got through it, we emerged stronger, more prosperous and more secure.
      Today, we have the strongest economy in the world, creating nearly 16m new jobs – a record. Wages are up. Inflation continues to come down. The racial wealth gap is the lowest it’s been in 20 years. We’re literally rebuilding our entire nation, urban, suburban, rural, tribal communities. Manufacturing has come back to America. We’re leading the world again in chips and science and innovation. We finally beat Big Pharma, after all these years, to lower the cost of prescription drugs for seniors. And I’m going to keep fighting to make sure we lower the cost for everyone, not just seniors. More people have healthcare today in America than ever before. I signed one of those significant laws, helping millions of veterans and their families, who are exposed to toxic materials.
      You know, the most significant climate law ever, ever in the history of the world, the first major gun safety law in 30 years. Today, violent crime rate is at a 50-year low. We’re also securing our border. Border crossings are lower today than when the previous administration left office.
      I’ve kept my commitment to appoint the first Black woman to the supreme court of the United States of America. I also kept my commitment to have an administration that looks like America and be a president for all Americans. That’s what I’ve done.
      I ran for president four years ago because I believed, and still do, that the soul of America was at stake. The very nature of who we are was a stake, and that’s still the case.
      America is an idea. An idea is stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant.
      It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident. We’re all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.
      We’ve never fully lived up to it, to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either, and I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.
      In just a few months, the American people choose the course of America’s future.
      I made my choice. I made my views known. I would like to thank our great vice-president, Kamala Harris. She’s experienced. She’s tough, she’s capable. She’s been an incredible partner to me and the leader for our country.
      Now the choice is up to you, the American people. When you make that choice, remember the words of Benjamin Franklin, hanging on my wall here in the Oval Office, alongside the bust of Dr King and Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez.
      When Ben Franklin was asked, as he emerged from the convention going on, whether the founders have given America a monarchy or republic, Franklin’s response was: ‘A republic, if you can keep it.’ A republic, if you can keep it.
      Whether we keep our republic, is now in your hands.
      My fellow Americans, it has been the privilege of my life to serve this nation for over 50 years. Nowhere else on earth could a kid with a stutter from modest beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Claymont, Delaware, one day sit behind the resolute desk in the Oval Office as president of the United States. Here I am.
      That’s what’s so special about America. We are a nation of promise and possibilities, of dreamers and doers, of ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things. I gave my heart and my soul to our nation, like so many others.
      I’ve been blessed a million times in return with the love and support of the American people. I hope you have some idea how grateful I am to all of you.
      The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do.
      History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. You just have to keep faith. Keep the faith and remember who we are. We’re the United States of America. And there is simply nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together.
      So let’s act together, preserve our democracy. God bless you all. And may God protect our troops. Thank you. More

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      Netanyahu says Israel aiming for ‘total victory’ in Gaza as number of protesters arrested in Congress – live

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      Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel will achieve “total victory” and that it will settle for “nothing less”.Total victory, he says, means that Israel will fight until it destroys Hamas’s military capability, end its rule in Gaza and bring all the hostages home.The Israeli prime minister moves on to talk about a post-war Gaza, and says that “a new Gaza could emerge” the day after Hamas is defeated.He says that his vision for a post-war Gaza is of a “demilitarized and de-radicalized Gaza”, adding:
      Israel does not seek to settle Gaza. But for the foreseeable future, we must retain overriding security control there to prevent the resurgence of terror, to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.
      Netanyahu says that Gaza should have a civilian administration “run by Palestinians who do not seek to destroy Israel” and that a new generation of Palestinians “must no longer be taught to hate Jews”.He notes that the terms “demilitarization” and “deradicalization” were applied to Germany and Japan after the second world war, and that applied to Gaza “can also lead to a future of security, prosperity and peace”. “That’s my vision for Gaza,” Netanyahu says.Connecticut senator Chris Murphy reacted to Netanyahu’s speech before Congress, asserting that it’s out of bounds to suggest that anyone who objects to the war in Gaza is a “Hamas sympathizer.”“That speech was, as I expected, a setback for both the U.S.-Israel relationship and the fight against Hamas” Murphy said on X.During his address, Netanyahu likened that the thousands of protestors demonstrating at capitol hill as Hamas sympathizers. “Many anti-Israel protesters choose to stand with evil,” he said. “Many stand with Hamas.As Netanyahu address Congress today, demonstrators marched in Washington DC, calling on the US to end arms sales to Israel and to implement an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.Our video editors have this report of Netanyahu’s visit to DC:Here are images from around Capitol Hill today, where thousands gathered to protest Israel’s bombardment of Gaza ahead of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to the US Congress.The Democratic party has announced the rules for the nomination of its presidential candidate, setting the stage for Kamala Harris to be officially chosen as the party’s standard bearer in early August before the party’s convention in Chicago begins later that month.According to rules adopted today by the convention’s rules committee, candidates will declare their intention to stand by 27 July, and then voting can begin virtually by 1 August at the earliest. Delegates will convene in Chicago beginning 19 August “to approve the Democratic Party platform, have ceremonial and celebratory votes on the nominees, and host historic acceptance speeches from the new Democratic ticket and voices throughout the Party”, the Democrats said in a statement.Harris, who announced her candidacy on Sunday, has said she has enough delegates to win the party’s presidential nomination, and no other major candidate has come forward to challenge her.Democratic representative Rashida Tlaib, the sole Palestinian American in Congress, held up a sign accusing Benjamin Netanyahu of genocide during his speech today.She had this to say about it:Separately, Axios reports that about half of the Democrats elected to the House and Senate opted to skip the Israeli prime minister’s speech:Jean-Pierre also elaborated on Joe Biden’s timeline for revealing his decision to end his bid for a second term.The president, who had been recovering from Covid-19 at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, announced the decision with a post made on X, without warning, on Sunday afternoon. Jean-Pierre shed a little bit more light on the lead-up to that:
      He met with a small group of advisers on Saturday evening and with his family, and was thinking through how to move forward. Sunday afternoon, he made that decision. It was in a very short period of time, as you can imagine. And then at 1.45 [pm], he got on the phone with some of his assistants, assistant to the president, some advisers. He let them know, and then minutes later, a letter went out.
      So, it was in a very short period of time that the president was able to think about this and make a decision.
      Over at the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is holding the first briefing with reporters since Joe Biden announced he would end his bid for a second term.Besides a letter he released on social media, the president has not elaborated on his decision, but plans to do so when he addresses the nation from the Oval Office at 8pm ET, Jean-Pierre said.“The decision that he made on Sunday was about putting country first, was about his party and was about the American people,” Jean-Pierre said.“He’s going to be on camera later today, obviously, to address the American people from the Oval Office, because of this moment and how big this moment is. He wants to do that. He wants to make sure that Americans hear directly from him.”Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that every man, woman and child in Gaza is receiving more than enough food.“The prosecutor of the international criminal court has shamefully accused Israel of deliberately starving the people of Gaza: This is utter, complete nonsense. It’s a complete fabrication. Israel has enabled more than 40,000 aid trucks to enter Gaza. That’s half a million tons of food!” he said, wagging his finger.According to data released by the United Nations, a total of 25,183 trucks entered Gaza before Israeli forces stormed the Rafah crossing in May, which affected both crossing points in the southern part of the enclave. The same UN data says a total of just 2,835 have entered Gaza through Kerem Shalom and Erez in the north in the months since, a fraction of the need.In total, per UN data, 28,018 aid trucks have entered Gaza since the war began. A little more relief entered via the US-built pier, but this has not been seen as a successful effort to boost the supply of aid.The US pier was also intended to overcome what the relief organisation Oxfam called, in a report earlier this year, Israel’s deliberate blocking of aid.Sally Abi Khalil, the organisation’s Middle East and north Africa director, added: “Israeli authorities are not only failing to facilitate the international aid effort but are actively hindering it.”Earlier this year, the world’s leading authority on famine, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, warned that Gaza was on the brink of famine if no action were taken.In a report in June, the organisation’s famine review committee said that as there had been some increase in goods allowed into northern Gaza, that “the available evidence does not indicate that famine is currently occurring”.However, they added that the risk of famine remains. They added: “The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic and there is a high and sustained risk of Famine across the whole Gaza Strip. It is important to note that the probable improvement in nutrition status noted in April and May should not allow room for complacency about the risk of Famine in the coming weeks and months. The prolonged nature of the crisis means that this risk remains at least as high as at any time during the past few months.”The US Capitol Police now say six people were arrested for disrupting Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech in the House chamber:The US Capitol Police said five people who disrupted Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech from a gallery in the House chamber were arrested, while officers deployed pepper spray on protesters outside the Capitol:Photographers on the scene caught images of Capitol police deploying pepper spay:Benjamin Netanyahu also uses his address to praise Donald Trump, and says he wants to thank the former president “for his leadership in brokering the historic Abraham accords”.He thanks Trump for “recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights”, for “confronting Iran’s aggression” and for “recognizing Jerusalem as our capital and moving the American embassy there”.The status of both Jerusalem and the Golan Heights are disputed under international law.Israelis were “relieved” when Trump “emerged safe and sound from the dastardly” assassination attempt on him, Netanyahu says.Benjamin Netanyahu says that he is “confident” that the US and Israel will “vanquish the tyrants and terrorists” that threaten both countries.He says that as Israel’s prime minister, he vows that Israel “will not relent” or bend, no matter “how difficult the road ahead”.He says that Israel will continue to work with the US and its Arab partners on the “noble mission” to “transform a troubled region” full of “repression, poverty and war” into an “oasis of dignity, prosperity and peace”.Israel will always remain the US’s “indispensable” ally, “loyal friend” and “steadfast partner” through thick and thin, Netanyahu says.
      Thank you America. Thank you for your support and solidarity. Thank you for standing with Israel in our hour of need. Together, we shall defend our common civilization together, we shall secure a brilliant future for both our nations. More

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      ‘I was not voting before, now I am’: gen Z voters on what they think of Kamala Harris

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      American gen Z voters share how they feel about Kamala Harris’s presidential bid, why they like or dislike her as a candidate and whether they think she could beat Donald Trump, as the vice-president races towards winning the Democratic nomination for November’s election.‘I think she’s just what we need’“I think [Kamala Harris] is the only one that makes sense. She will get the votes Biden couldn’t. She could get the Black, Asian, Latino, women’s, LGBTQ+ and youth votes. She stands more for progress and equality than an old white dude and if she wins it will be historic. The Democrats need a bold move and I think she’s just what we need.“I hope the Democrats realize what an opportunity this is for them.” Will, 22, construction worker from Portland, Oregon‘We are fired up’“I have so much renewed passion and hope now that Kamala is the endorsed candidate. She made history when she was elected VP and I believe she can make history again. I get emotional just thinking about it. And despite having just purchased a new home and having hardly any extra cash lying around, my husband and I just donated $100 to a campaign for the first time this election cycle. We are fired up.“My concern is we are facing a self-fulfilling prophecy; that people think it’s an impossible task to elect a Black woman to the highest office and as a result it becomes one. I think it’s quite the opposite actually. I feel Kamala is just what we need to energize young voters and get them to the polls.” Lizzie, 28, engineer from Idaho‘I’m concerned that she is silly or not serious’“I feel mixed about it. I am a Democrat and at first I thought: ‘Oh well, we’re stuck with Joe we’ll get him elected if it means no Donald Trump.’ Then after the debate I thought: ‘Omg this guy is way too old!’ I guess Biden seemed so set on still running I thought he would never drop out. I liked Kamala when she ran back in 2020 but I’m not sure how I feel about her today.“My biggest concern with her is this perception that she is silly, or not serious. She laughs in every interview and the “You think you fell out of a coconut tree? You are the sum of everything … ” is a huge meme on TikTok. I guess I wouldn’t say it paints her in a horrible light, but I just think people don’t take her seriously.” Georgie, 25, research associate from Massachusetts‘Kamala is not perfect, but I’m more optimistic now than with Biden’“I and everyone I know are THRILLED that Kamala Harris is now leading the ticket. Joe Biden could not win. Kamala is not a perfect candidate, but she can campaign; she is running against the oldest major party nominee in history; she can make the case for a new Democratic administration. Joe Biden could do none of these things, so while I think Democrats still face an uphill battle, I am infinitely more optimistic now that we have a likely nominee who is physically and mentally capable of running an energetic campaign.“Kamala is not a perfect candidate, and I probably would have supported someone else if Biden had stepped down a year ago. I’m worried that she will struggle to differentiate herself from the administration’s policy on Gaza (as Hubert Humphrey struggled to differentiate himself from the Johnson administration’s policy on Vietnam), that she’ll be blamed for voters’ dissatisfaction with the status quo, and, of course, she will certainly face racist and sexist headwinds that Biden did not. BUT, and it’s a big ‘but’, I thought Biden was a certain loser after the debate, so even if Harris’s chances to win are 30%, that’s still better than 0%. I don’t have any concerns about her ability to do the job if elected, and I think she is perfectly capable of running a winning campaign, at least in theory.” Peter, 27, museum educator from Indiana‘That Harris was picked by delegates, not voters, is a disaster for her campaign’“I watched the 2019 debates (eg Harris’s inability to perform under pressure from opponents like Tulsi Gabbard) and her recent interviews (eg her disastrous response to Lester Holt when asked if she’d been to the border) and don’t think she’s the strongest the Democratic party can offer. She doesn’t bring the fact-based, logical responses needed to counter a populist candidate like Trump nor does she present clear policy beyond typical stump-speech moralizing.“I’d rather have Pete Buttigieg to be honest and feel deeply, horribly cheated because the Democratic candidate isn’t going to be chosen by a primary vote, instead relying on a couple thousand delegates in Chicago.“I’d feel better if she were at least chosen by the American people instead of being sweethearted because Biden picked her for VP. It all leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I’ll have a hard time backing Harris until there’s a broad-scale democratic process to ballast her presidential bid.“The Trump campaign is going to villainize Harris and the Democratic party over the lack of primary voting to support Harris’s candidacy. This narrative feeds exactly into the anti-establishment, deep-state messaging central to the Trump campaign, and the sad thing is that the Trump campaign will have a point: Harris was not picked by voters, she was picked by delegates. It’s a disaster for any campaign she’d hope to launch, and based on Harris’s past performances under fire, she will have no effective argument against Trump’s accusations.” Michelle, 26, from Wisconsin‘I think she can do great things’“It will be refreshing for someone new to take the lead. [Harris] has got experience, she is young and passionate. Let’s see if she can make positive changes. This country needs a levelheaded individual, not a pushover or tyrant. I think she can do great things.“I just hope she is smart and strong enough to not continue to support war and the crackdown on immigrants.“This country was built on the foundation of immigrants and the pursuit of fairness and equity. I don’t mind the basis of what it means to be a Republican but their agenda has really changed over the years. We need to support each other as people; I just hope others get over their greed so we can do just that.” Lee Ocasio, 28, medical assistant from New York‘I hope she’ll restore Roe v Wade’“I am anxious for the results, but if she’s got a good chance at victory, I’m in full support. I had switched back and forth on supporting a Biden withdrawal, but what’s done is done now.“I’m a little worried about her policies. From what I’ve read this far, she doesn’t seem to have much of a stance or plan for things like Palestine, immigration or inflation, but if she can restore Roe v Wade, she will have 110% of my support.” Kaleb Stanton, 24, grocery store worker from New Mexico‘She’ll be a tougher candidate to beat than Biden’“I have been worried about the lack of enthusiasm about Biden’s candidacy, particularly among young voters, and the implications that could have on turnout. Virtually all indicators have pointed to a strong economy under Biden; however, I think many young people feel like there is less opportunity for them today than there was for prior generations.“For this reason, I think it is unsurprising that there would be a lack of enthusiasm to support Biden or Trump because of their age (regardless of their ability to do the job or not).“I think that VP Harris will be a harder opponent for Republicans to run against. Consider the matchup: a 78-year-old male Republican nominee recently found guilty on felony charges, and responsible for appointing three supreme court justices that helped overturn Roe v Wade versus a 59-year-old female (likely) Democratic nominee with a background as a former prosecutor. Harris will be able to hammer Republicans on abortion/reproductive health, contrast her own ‘law & order’ background with Trump’s felon status, and offer a younger option to voters that were concerned about Biden’s (and Trump’s!) age.“I think Harris also has strengths that bring previously competitive southern states back into play in a way that Biden couldn’t in 2024. Harris would be the first female president, first female African-American president, and first Asian-American president. She represents America’s cultural melting pot in a way that no previous presidential candidate has and I believe this could help boost African- and Asian-American turnout, two historically strong Democratic voter bases that some polls have shown to be slightly wavering in their support in recent years.” Anonymous policy researcher at a thinktank in their 20s‘She appeals way more to gen Z than Biden’“[Kamala Harris] is a much better candidate for the country, and appeals way more to gen Z voters than Biden did. I was not voting before, and now I am.” Javier, 25, a gay Latino voter from New York More

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      Democrats are poised to win. But only if they make the election about Trump | Michael Podhorzer

      by

      Now that Kamala Harris is the presumptive Democratic nominee, you’ll be hearing a lot of speculation about how she might poll against Trump. What if I told you that the polls are almost immaterial to the final election result? Instead of making much ado about who is up and who is down, let’s keep our eyes on a different question – in October, what will voters think this election is about?The evidence of voter behavior over the last eight years paints a clear picture of what lies ahead. Critically, we can’t use polls today to predict this outcome. That’s because the winner in November will be determined by what, to most voters, the election seems to be “about” by the time voting starts. This will determine whether the voters Democrats need to win will turn out, or stay home.There are two possible scenarios for what the election will be “about”. We could have what I call the “Maga election”, where the election is “about” what Trump will do if he is returned to the White House to continue to roll back freedoms Americans have taken for granted, and to further tip the balance of power to plutocrats. Or we could have what I call the “normal election”, where the election is “about” anything else – Democrats’ governing record, prices and crime rates.If it’s a Maga election, Trump will almost certainly lose. If it’s a normal election, he will almost certainly win.Since Trump’s shocking victory in 2016, we have had the same basic election over and over. The basic question of that election is: should we live in a Maga future or not? Every time voters have understood these stakes, they have turned out in record numbers to reject Maga. This trend started with the “blue wave” in 2018, it continued with Biden’s victory in 2020, and it defied pollsters’ predictions of a “red wave” in 2022.But here’s something most people don’t know about 2022: it was a natural experiment that clearly showed the difference between a Maga election and a normal election. Most states really did see the predicted red wave. But a blue undertow in the electoral college battleground states stopped Maga short of total victory. In those battlegrounds, the election was “about” Maga. In all of them, a Maga candidate had a credible chance of winning a major statewide race – and Democrats won. But everywhere else, we saw a normal election dominated by “normal” issues – and Democrats lost.You might have heard talk about how Biden and Democrats need a “low turnout” election to win, but the opposite has been true. In the 2022 Maga elections, as many people voted as had in the highest turnout election ever, four years before. But, in the normal elections, they did not. Nationwide, 6% fewer people cast ballots in 2022 than in 2018. And, in the three states I call the “blue state blues” – California, New Jersey and New York – fully 11% fewer ballots were cast in 2022 than in 2018. Those three states alone cost Democrats six seats and control of the House of Representatives.Why did this happen? Simple. People turn out to vote if they think they have something to lose by staying home. In the battleground states, Maga candidates like Kari Lake and Doug Mastriano posed a credible threat to the way of life of people who lived there. The blue state blues, on the other hand, lulled too many voters into complacency. It was extremely unlikely for Maga to actually take away abortion rights or voting rights in their backyard. It never occurred to them, and the media never made it clear enough to them, that their failure to vote could hand Maga the keys to the House of Representatives.The people who surged to the polls to give Democrats victories in 2018, 2020 and 2022 were not “swing voters” in the sense we typically imagine. These voters were not undecided between Trump or Biden; they were undecided about whether to vote at all. And they wouldn’t have voted if they didn’t feel their freedoms were on the line – freedom to control their bodies, breathe clean air, drink clean water and live free from oppressive minority rule. America has an anti-Maga majority that will come off the sidelines to stop these freedoms from being taken away. But if they don’t believe their freedoms are really at stake, they just won’t vote.I’m not saying the top of the Democratic ticket won’t impact the results. I am saying that when we think about America’s future, only one question really matters: will this person help or hurt our chances of having a Maga election in November?

      Michael Podhorzer, the former longtime political director of the AFL-CIO, is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, the chair of the Analyst Institute, the Research Collaborative and the Defend Democracy Project and writes the Substack Weekend Reading. More