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cover of episode How Kamala Harris Became a Contender

How Kamala Harris Became a Contender

2024/10/15
logo of podcast The Political Scene | The New Yorker

The Political Scene | The New Yorker

Chapters

Kamala Harris's campaign strategy emerged rapidly after Joe Biden's endorsement, focusing on securing delegates without waiting for a formal process.
  • Harris decided not to wait for a formal process like town halls or conventions.
  • She aimed to lock down delegates quickly to avoid being skipped over.
  • Her approach was described as a juggernaut by her allies.

Shownotes Transcript

Since July 21st, when Joe Biden endorsed her in the Presidential race, all eyes have been on Vice-President Kamala Harris. The New Yorker’s Evan Osnos) has been reporting on Harris for months, speaking with dozens of people close to her from her childhood to her days as a California prosecutor, right up to this lightning-round campaign for the Presidency. “What’s interesting is that some of those people . . . were asking her, ‘Do you think there should be a process? Some town halls or conventions?,’ ” Osnos tells David Remnick. “And her answer is revealing. . . . ‘I’m happy to join a process like that, but I’m not gonna wait around. I’m not gonna wait around.’ ” But if Harris’s surge in popularity was remarkable, her lead in most polls is razor-thin. “If she wins [the popular vote] and loses the Electoral College, that’ll be the third time since the year 2000 that Democrats have suffered that experience,” he notes. “You can’t underestimate how seismic a shock and a trauma—that’s not an overstatement—it will be, particularly for young Americans who have tried to say, ‘We’re going to put our support behind somebody and see if we can change this country.’ ”