When US Vice-President Kamala Harris replaced Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket, the party’s operatives believed they had engineered the perfect formula for victory. Biden, after all, had become a symbol of age and frailty, his presidency increasingly defined by his gaffes and lack of vigour.
To put this in perspective, Harris’ numbers are not just weaker than Biden’s at this point of the year in 2020 but, more importantly, worse than Hillary Clinton’s in 2016. For all her flaws, Clinton still led Trump in several battleground states weeks before the 2016 election.
How did the Democrats let this happen? The answer lies in critical miscalculations.
Trump has brilliantly capitalised on two enduring issues that resonate deeply with the electorate: immigration and the economy. With inflation and interest rates still high and a job market that remains shaky for many, Trump has painted the economic climate as a failure of Democratic leadership.
