OPINION: Why Kamala Harris could make a formidable opponent to Trump

Young voters, now more than ever, seem to be reinvigorated by a recent turn of events for the 2024 presidential election. Newly nominated Vice President Kamala Harris, even at 59 years old, might make the president’s office feel young again.

On July 21, President Joe Biden announced on social media that he would withdraw from his reelection campaign. Shortly after his and several other political endorsements, Vice President Kamala Harris was chosen as the Democratic nominee against former President Donald Trump.

Biden’s (or his administration’s) decision to withdraw from the race was undeniably shocking. The last time a president opted out of a reelection campaign was in 1968, Lyndon B. Johnson, making Biden’s decision particularly uncommon.

Additionally, Biden had insisted for weeks since his disastrous debate against Donald Trump in early July that he would still be running. Instead, Biden called it off and showed his full support for Harris to take his place.

Despite being the current vice president, not much is known about Kamala Harris. The former California senator and attorney general, though making no small name for herself as the highest-ranking woman in US history, has always seemed to be a rather run-of-the-mill liberal Democrat.

Why is it so important to young voters that Harris has been named the presidential nominee? Besides the fact that she could be the first woman president since 1789–and a half-Black, half-Indian woman at that–Harris has the potential to make big swings in the current state of our federal government.

Throughout Biden’s presidential campaign before his victory in 2020, the largest criticism against Harris from progressive leftists was that she was a “cop.” Though she was never actually an officer, her track record as a prosecutor often led her to be on the side of the police. Though she seems to side with the DNC’s typical criminal justice outlook, she has also backed more progressive legislation.

Since the murder of George Floyd at police hands in 2020, many leftists have called for defunding what’s considered an unnecessarily militarized police system. In June 2020, Harris praised the “defund the police” movement and coauthored the George Floyd Justice In Policing Act with Senator Cory Booker. The act would limit the police’s qualified immunity and make it easier to charge officers with police misconduct. Though the act failed, Harris has continually pressed the goals of “reimaging public safety” throughout her political career. She brought up the act again in an official statement on July 23 on the police shooting of Sonya Massey.

This kind of persistence in progressive policies might be exactly what wins over left or center voters. What discouraged voters, particularly the younger demographic, from rallying behind Biden was a mix of issues that Harris has the potential to rise above. His old age and clear lack of mental capability, for one, but also his lack of fight for what young voters really want to see. With Harris pushing for a policy that might lead criminal justice in the right direction, who knows what else she can fight for to earn the blue votes?

It seems that Harris’s key to victory will be a three-part plan of action: marketing herself to disillusioned and discouraged voters, choosing her running mate, and distinguishing herself from Biden’s wishy-washy parroting of center-left values.

Harris’s marketing and campaigning have been rather unlike what we’ve seen from a president. Her contagious laugh has certainly stood out, and her unambiguous sass against Mike Pence in early July has made the rounds on TikTok and Instagram.

An amusing statement she made in May 2023 at the swearing-in ceremony of commissioners for the White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics is going viral again.

She was sharing wisdom her mother would say about young people, which has been shortened in clips to, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.”

“Coconut tree” memes have boomed on TikTok in particular. Whether or not the sound has been pushed by her campaign or not doesn’t really matter–young people are circulating a funny and endearing image of Kamala Harris that seems to “get” younger people in ways Biden never could. While it feels like memes about Biden have been laughing at him, memes about Harris have increasingly felt like we’re laughing with her.

As for her VP pick, this is where opinions of her could sway easily in swing states, making it a very important decision. Many have thought Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg would be her pick: they seem to have complementary values and skill sets, and he’s a known name for his campaign in the 2020 presidential election. Other names heavily supported by House Democrats have been Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro.

If Harris is to be favorable in swing states, though, these options might not be the best. All three of them have amassed criticism for their stances on issues regarding immigration, Gaza, and potentially unappealing diverse identities to centrists/swing state voters.

Many young voters seem to be rallying around Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear. As a popular Democratic governor in a red state, Beshear has the potential to appeal to a wider audience than the other three.

He’s a Christian and a down-to-earth speaker, which makes him a widely likable politician, but he also has Harris’s drive to stick to his values and push for them. In March 2023, he vetoed a bill that would have banned minors from receiving gender-affirming care, insisting it would have revoked parents’ freedom of medical choice. Though his veto was eventually overridden, it’s clear that Beshear has the potential to fight for left values while also appealing to center-leaning Democrats.

Regardless, Harris’s most important strategy going forward would be to distinguish herself not as Biden’s replacement, but a better alternative. It wasn’t hard for her to have amassed support like the former (as Biden is worse). Still, her victory might lie in her ability to be a more vocal opposition to Donald Trump with actual policy and conviction to back her up (as in, Harris is better).

All eyes are on Harris at the moment. This monumental change in the 2024 presidential election might prove to be a spark of hope for leftist and progressive Democrats who have felt ignored and discouraged for so long. Biden’s dropping out might have resulted from a lack of firm vote security. Harris can reinvigorate those purposefully undecided voters and bring new life to the presidential office. Her race against Trump might prove to be a formidable campaign if she can keep up the momentum she’s earned so far.

Victoria Kingsmore can be reached at [email protected]