By JORGE WHITE*
Woman, black, daughter of immigrants, is an image that will please progressive voters, but Kamala Harris did little against the Democrats' interventionist policy
The bullet that grazed Donald Trump's barely useful ear lodged itself in the heart of Joe Biden's candidacy. After strong pressure through digital networks and major press outlets, especially those identified with the Democratic Party, Joe Biden abdicated his status as candidate for president of the United States and, in a continuous act, nominated his vice-president to the party convention. President Kamala Harris as the candidate in his place.
This same press indicates that she is available to take on the candidacy. Kamala Harris, fundamentally, fulfilled the traditional script of the Democratic Party in government. She formed a government that, if open discretionally to the causes of social rights, is conservative in defending rentierism and imperialist and militarist policies in international relations. This is exactly why she must obtain the nomination to run, even before the Democratic Convention.
Kamala Harris has become a reference, in the division of labor with Joe Biden, for the flow of topics relating to politics for women. Notably, after the Supreme Court revoked women's constitutional right to abortion in 2022, Kamala Harris became the Joe Biden administration's leading voice on reproductive rights. There is a certain expectation among Democratic strategists that she can win the vote of black voters, young people and those who do not approve of the way Joe Biden is dealing with the war between Israel and Hamas.
It won't be simple. The fact that she is a woman and black, the daughter of immigrants, creates an electoral image for her that could please many progressive voters who decided the previous election against Donald Trump and who were straying from Joe Biden's candidacy. However, Kamala Harris effectively did little against the Democrats' traditional interventionist policy when in government.
She herself is involved in supporting the Biden government's support for the genocide imposed by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, against the Palestinian people. As well as her history as a prosecutor, which was marked by a very traditional performance in relation to the poorest, black and immigrant populations. Which earned him a lot of criticism from ethnic equality and human rights organizations.
The shot in the ear has already given Donald Trump his first political victory over the Democrats. Biden's withdrawal is the first defeat that Trump has imposed. The replacement of Joe Biden by Kamala Harris is, simultaneously, a recognition of Trump's advantage in the elections and an effort to turn the dispute around.
What is certain is that, just as in 2020, little could be expected from Joe Biden, little can be expected from a government led by Democrat Kamala Harris. Just like Joe Biden, he will certainly form a conservative and hegemonist government, which can contribute little or nothing to a greater balance in international relations and the fight against poverty and inequality in development in the world.
It will continue to be a government “by Americans, for Americans.” The difference, for Donald Trump, is the greater number of social groups included in this set and greater communicability with his base, like Barack Obama.
However, this does not diminish the importance of Donald Trump's defeat, that is, Kamala Harris's electoral victory. Let us remember that Joe Biden's policy in the episode of the coup attempt in Brazil was decisive in maintaining the results of the polls in 2022. The Bolsonarist attempt, too, failed due to the lack of support from the USA.
A new Donald Trump government will mean a remobilization of the global far right. Which will be terrible for future efforts to defend democracy and rebuild fundamental rights. What the extreme right, associated with the neoliberal austerity strategy, has fought against. The American elections are decisive in this global fight against reactionism and the extreme right. Nothing could be worse than the victory of Donald Trump and his White Power.
*Jorge Branco is a doctoral candidate in political science at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).
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