Kamala Harris’ presidential bid a done deal, specialist says
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00:00Focus more on the situation in the U.S. now with Scott Lucas, a U.S. politics expert who joins me
00:04from Dublin. Scott, let's get back to Kamala Harris's potential as a candidate for you.
00:10Is it a done deal? Yes, I think it is. Even though Joe Biden only stepped aside yesterday,
00:19I think there had been days of preparation. Harris was getting a much higher profile
00:24with key speeches. And then as soon as Biden stepped aside, he endorsed Harris,
00:30and so did other Democrats. Significantly, not just Democrats who are her supporters,
00:35but also those who have been her critics, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez from the progressive
00:40wing of the party. And then I think the real telltale sign was that other potential
00:45challengers for this nomination, such as Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and
00:49Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, stood aside and said, you know, we're not going to
00:54contest this. The Democratic convention on the 19th of August still has to formally confirm
01:00Harris as the candidate. But I think this is going to be more of a confirmation rather than
01:05a contest in Chicago. Right. So then that means the real question now will be how she's going to
01:11organize her campaign and crucially, who is she going to pick to be her vice president? So how
01:16do you see that playing out? I think you're talking about a white male to balance the ticket
01:23in terms of gender and race, but there's no shortage of talent that the Democrats and Kamala
01:27Harris could go for. At the governor's level, you could talk about Governor Roy Cooper of North
01:33Carolina, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, which, of course, is a key swing state,
01:38Governor J.B. Pritzker of Illinois, long established as a very influential Democratic,
01:44basically, you know, able to maneuver and to arrange things. And then at the level of senator,
01:50you could talk about Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, but also possibly Senator Mark Kelly,
01:56the former astronauts, the husband of Senator Gabby Giffords, who had to leave office after
02:01being seriously wounded by gunfire more than a decade ago. All of these, I think, are candidates
02:07who have visibility, who have energy, and who I think could balance a ticket which will be much
02:12younger and much more dynamic, at least than the Republican nominee, Donald Trump.
02:18Indeed. Some Democrats, though, are concerned that over the past four years, we haven't really seen
02:23that much of Vice President Harris. She hasn't made a huge impact. And also,
02:28some say she isn't hugely popular. I mean, are those criticisms fair?
02:33Well, let's be blunt. Once Joe Biden decided to go for a second term, he was only going to be a
02:39one-term president. The Biden team hid Kamala Harris, and they only let her out, as it were,
02:45to take on poison chalices, such as making an appearance at the border
02:49amidst the heated immigration issue. But now that Biden has stepped aside,
02:54now she has that space to establish her profile, to establish her policies, to establish her
03:00record in the administration and its achievements. And contrary to the narrative put out by the
03:05Trumpists that she has low popularity ratings, she runs neck and neck with Trump in the polls
03:10already. If this campaign focuses on issues rather than spectacle, I think she gets a further boost.
03:16Indeed. So for you, what are going to be the biggest issues where she can win?
03:19Is it going to be on things like abortion?
03:23I think women's rights and abortion rights are going to be one of the key issues.
03:26Two-thirds of Americans support the right to choose for women. A lot of those are, of course,
03:31women who happen to be swing voters in key states. I think it's also an issue of great
03:37interest to younger voters. I think Harris's record in terms of being the first Black president,
03:44first woman president, first Asian-American president, stands as well in terms of issues
03:49that are of interest to America's minorities. I think she can point to the Biden administration's
03:54accomplishments on the economy. I think she can talk about steadiness in foreign policy.
03:59And then this big advantage, she's a former prosecutor. So this sets up the narrative of a
04:04prosecutor running against a convicted felon who tried to hold office illegally in 2021
04:11with what effectively was an attempted coup. That's a pretty powerful narrative.
04:16Indeed. And it'll be interesting in the optics there, if ever it comes to her being the candidate
04:20and the two of them with Donald Trump begin to debate, where will the Republicans attack her?
04:26What's her Achilles heel?
04:27They've already started. Donald Trump will attack with character insults. He's already
04:32going to try to stick the nickname on her, Laughing Kamala, as if her laugh is offensive.
04:37Not sure that'll matter to many voters, but there you go. He is already being misogynist
04:41in his attacks on her. The risk there is that that line of attack could alienate voters who
04:48are undecided, especially women voters. I think the Trump campaign probably is on better ground
04:54if they go this way in terms of going with the issues of the economy and immigration,
04:58quite often putting out misinformation. The United States is actually much better
05:02economically than it was four years ago. But trying to run the line to Americans,
05:06do you feel like you're better off? And of course, they'll run the false line that America
05:10is being invaded by millions of immigrants and hope that that fear factor scares people.
05:16But let me just add this. Donald Trump was able to bully Hillary Clinton in 2016.
05:22He actually stalked her against the debate stage. Donald Trump won't be able to bully Kamala Harris.
05:29Just a final word on J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's vice presidential candidate. He's already now
05:35calling for Biden to resign after Biden said he was not going to be reelected. Vance saying Biden's
05:41not fit to run, not fit to serve. What are your thoughts on that? Are there any grounds to call
05:45for Biden's resignation at this point, before the end of his term?
05:48No, because even though Joe Biden, you know, struggled for words in public, almost froze on
05:53that debate stage, he's been competent, more than competent at running an administration,
05:58which can boast probably the most important domestic achievement since the 1960s.
06:03You know, there's no evidence he can't do that job. In fact, he's been quite effective,
06:07for example, at the NATO summit, in terms of talking to allies beyond the headline slips,
06:13like calling President Zelensky, President Putin. Let's be honest here, J.D. Vance is
06:19the Trump campaign's attack dog. He's loud, he's vociferous, he's there to get clickbait headlines.
06:25But I think they made a mistake, because they've got two white guys at the top of the ticket who
06:29are a lot like each other. If the Trump campaign had gone for a woman as the vice presidential
06:34candidate, that's a much different dynamic when they face the person who could be America's first
06:40black woman president. All right, Scott, thanks for that.
06:43Scott Lucas there speaking to me from Dublin. Thanks so much.