The Anxiety Over Kamala Harris
As concerns grow over U.S. President Joe Biden’s candidacy, the Vice President should be the obvious replacement. Why isn’t she?
The air in the Atlanta debate hall crackled with tension on June 27. U.S. President Joe Biden, 81, froze. “We finally beat Medicare,” he said. After Biden finished another meandering answer, his rival Donald Trump retorted: “I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said, either.” By the next morning, whispers about Biden’s mental acuity were now in bold print on every news site.
In the following days, panic swept through the Democratic Party as voters, donors, and press clamored for answers. Would Biden step down? Could he win against a more vigorous opponent? As the party faithful, from Stephen King to George Clooney, looked around for alternatives, one name kept surfacing: Vice President Kamala Harris.