The exams fiasco
How did it go so wrong?
Joe Biden was officially confirmed as the Democratic candidate for president at the party’s national convention this week, which all took place online. Delegates had been buoyed by his choice of California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate: her nomination last week as his vice-presidential pick triggered a surge in donations to the Democrats, with $48m being raised within 48 hours of the announcement. Of mixed Jamaican and Indian heritage, Harris is the first black woman, and the first South Asian candidate, to appear on the presidential ticket of either of America’s main parties.
Immediately after being nominated, the 55-year-old senator took aim at Donald Trump over his handling of coronavirus, which has caused 172,000 deaths in the US – the highest death toll of any country. “America is crying out for leadership,” said Harris. “This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn’t up to the job.”
What the editorials said
Biden made a smart move in picking Harris, said The Washington Post. If he beats Trump, he’ll be 78 by the time he takes his place in the Oval Office – making him by “far and away the oldest person to be sworn in as president”. So it was essential for him to choose a vice-president who could “plausibly step in” to fill his place in 2024 – or, if the need arises, before that. In Harris, that’s just what he has got. She certainly ticks the boxes that satisfy the party base, said The Wall Street Journal: she is a woman, a minority, and “a progressive who has moved left” with her party. Yet those may not turn out to be the qualities needed to take votes off Trump in “the swing-state suburbs”.
It’s looking good for Biden, said The Economist – he leads Trump by an average of nine points in the polls, and Harris, a “safe, unremarkable” choice as running mate, is likely to further boost his ratings. As well as the prospect of winning the presidency and retaining control of Congress, the Democrats now have a shot at seizing the Senate, which had, until recently, looked out of reach. “With that trifecta, comes the power to change America.”
What the commentators said
Harris is truly a pioneer, said Errol Louis on CNN: she was the first female district attorney of San Francisco, the first female attorney general of California, and only the second black woman ever to be elected to the US Senate. Now, as a black woman on the presidential ballot, she has made history yet again – and the Democrats stand to gain. In 2016, a marginally higher turnout among black voters in key swing states would have seen off Trump. This time, the party is “taking no chances”. Harris is a formidable candidate, said Matthew D’Ancona in the London Evening Standard. The former prosecutor made her name in the Senate by ferociously grilling high-profile figures like Brett Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court judge accused of sexual assault. She’s also a fierce advocate for police reform, and an “unashamed pragmatist”. And, given Biden’s age, she can now reasonably expect to be the Democrats’ presidential nominee in 2024.
But Harris isn’t without flaws, said Gerard Baker in The Times – and the biggest is consistency. Throughout her career, she has been willing to drop “passionately held” positions the moment they become “inconvenient”. As California’s top prosecutor, for instance, she was unusually tough on crime, clamping down on minor offences to win voters’ trust. Now, as “the political winds have shifted” with the Black Lives Matter movement, she has changed tack, taking aim at “systemic racism” instead. She also flip-flops on issues like healthcare. Her inconsistency hurt her in her own bid for the presidency last year, said Janan Ganesh in the FT. If Trump can paint her as an agent of the far-left, who will be the power behind Biden’s throne, it could prove costly in November, too. This promises to be a bloody campaign, said Robert Reich in The Observer. But Harris knows how to throw a punch: she memorably landed a blow on Biden himself over his record on race relations, in a TV debate last year. “Quite apart from all her other attributes, she’s a fierce fighter” who will go toe-to-toe with the Republicans throughout the campaign.
What next?
Harris was due to address the Democratic convention on Wednesday, the night before Biden brings the four-day event to a close. The Republicans are then due to hold their own virtual convention, which begins next week.
The run-up to the election was this week overshadowed by a row over postal voting. Democrats have accused Trump – and the postmaster general, a Trump donor – of trying to sabotage the election by refusing to provide extra funding to help the postal service cope with a Covidrelated surge in demand for postal voting (see page 8).