Republicans now have the oldest nominee in presidential election history, and Democrats are planning on driving that point home to voters through election day.
Before President Biden stepped aside, Harris supporters told Axios three ways that the VP would reset the presidential race:
– She immediately ensures the fall of Roe is a main focus of the race.
– With a younger nominee, Democrats would try to make the age/fitness issue the GOP’s problem.
– Harris â who was elected San Francisco district attorney, and was California attorney general â would allow Dems to frame the race as a former prosecutor vs. a convicted felon.
Given that it was supposed age concerns that President Biden struggled to overcome, the second point is really important. Donald Trump is now the really old candidate who has been lacking energy on the campaign trail. There have been serious concerns about what is reportedly a serious memory issue that Trump is suffering from. Trump’s own White House staff said anonymously while he was in the White House that the current GOP nominee had mentally lost a step years ago.
Trump dodged debates with Niki Haley and Ron DeSantis during the Republican presidential primary, because he was afraid of not being able to keep up and looking old.
Donald Trump got a gift when Biden faceplanted at the debate, and now the tables have turned. It is the ex-president who is the old man de facto incumbent who represents a return to the past. Kamala Harris by virtue of being two decades younger will look to voters like a candidate who is more poised for the future, and who will live long enough to see the future.
As a candidate, Trump’s whole campaign was built on running against Biden. He has no new issues or ideas of his own.
The script has flipped. Republicans are stuck with the old nominee who voters are tired of seeing, as Democrats are offering voters younger and fresher change.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association