The path for Vice President Kamala Harris to secure the Democratic nomination for president appears to be clearing, having received the support of top party officials and much of the delegation.

However, this stage for Kamala Harris’ candidacy may be the easy one. Her toughest challenge, defeating Republican nominee Donald Trump in November, remains ahead of her. Her selection as the official Democratic nominee offers new advantages to her party, but also exposes weaknesses that were less of a concern to Biden.

According to recent polls, Harris is slightly behind the former president, in about the same position as Biden before his historic announcement. However, the measurements related to a hypothetical candidacy of Harris and now under the weight of real developments the percentages may change in her favor.

At least for a moment, a new perspective is opening up for Democrats after more than three weeks of infighting over President Joe Biden’s ability to survive and win the presidential race.

All of Harris’ top potential opponents have expressed support for her, as has former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — who remains one of the most important players in the Democratic Party.

That condition, however, is shaping up to be a tight race ahead of the November election, reflecting the deep partisan divides in American politics and distaste that many voters have for Donald Trump as a candidate.

The vice president’s main challenge — and opportunity — will be to capitalize on that distaste for Trump, woo centrist voters in key states and energize the Democratic base, which in recent weeks has been watching developments with dismay.

Reset;

This sense of renewal in the democratic camp is also reflected in the response of donors. According to Kamala Harris’ staff, her campaign raised more than $80 million in new donations within 24 hours since Joe Biden’s announcement, which is the largest funding for a candidate in that time period. Those funds, along with the nearly $100 million she’s inheriting from the Biden-Harris fundraising fund, gives her a solid financial footing for the upcoming campaign.

Harris, if she becomes the official Democratic nominee, also fends off one of the most effective attacks Republicans have launched against their opponent: his age.

For months, Trump’s campaign accused Biden of being weak and easily confused — characterizations that troubled many Americans after his debate performance four weeks ago.

The vice-president, at the age of 59, will be more politically active and able to highlight the positions of her party. It could also turn the age argument against the 78-year-old Trump, since if he wins the election he will be the oldest president ever elected.

Harris may also be in a better position to support black voters, who polls have shown have drifted away from Biden in recent months. If he can combine this strategy with support for other minorities and younger voters, social groups that gave victory to Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, could gain ground over Trump in swing states this year.

Her background as a prosecutor could also be her crime-fighting credentials. While that quality was on display in her 2019 VP run and led to derisive “Kamala is a cop” attacks from the left, it could help her in an anti-Trump campaign.

The vice president has also championed the issue of abortion, which has been one of the most powerful issues for the Democratic base in recent elections. Biden, by contrast, has at times tepidly supported the issue.

Harris’ vulnerabilities

For all of Harris’ potential advantages, there’s a reason some Democrats were initially reluctant to push for Biden to step down, given that the Vice President would be the preferred successor.

Despite Democrats’ enthusiasm for the abortion issue, Harris’ record as vice president draws mixed interpretations.

Early in the administration, she was tasked with addressing the root causes of the immigration crisis at the US-Mexico border. A number of mistakes and misstatements — including a June 2021 interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt — undermined her position and left her open to conservative attacks.

Republicans are already accusing her of being the president’s “border czar”, trying to embody in her person the unpopular immigration policies of the Biden administration.

The Trump campaign will also try to turn the vice president’s prosecutorial status against her — both by highlighting the former president’s track record of implementing criminal justice reform and by attacking her past decisions as a prosecutor and the rulings she has issued for release from prison.

Another vulnerability of Harris is her track record as a candidate. In her 2016 Senate bid, she faced only token Republican opposition in the Democratic stronghold of California.

Her one and only run for national office – a bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination – ended in disaster. While she rose to prominence early, a combination of botched interviews, lack of a clearly defined vision, and poor campaign management led her to drop out even before the primary votes.

First impressions

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Harris is that while she may have an opportunity to distance herself from some of the most unpopular elements of the Biden administration, she also cannot afford to have her policies widely known to voters.

Kamala Harris is expected to come under attack from Republicans, who will describe her as “untested” and too dangerous to be president. In fact, Trump now has the advantage of being tested.

The vice president has the opportunity, in the next few days, to present herself to the American public again. If he doesn’t pass that hurdle, it could lead to a sprawling power struggle leading up to the Democratic National Convention in late August. It would even be possible for the party to unite behind a different candidate – or break up.

As the past four weeks have shown, the correlations in the race for the White House can change quickly and permanently. Harris has managed to get the approval to run on the biggest stage of American politics and now she has to show that she can fight the battle successfully.