Trump’s Campaign Is Drowning in Rage

The hope follows a stunning (and historically un-Democratic) unity in the party, whose leaders and rank-and-file quickly coalesced around Harris as the nominee. I myself incorrectly predicted that pushing Biden out of the way would bring more problems than it solved, leading to a bloody and bitter convention floor fight, with Democratic factions bickering about Gaza, race, gender, and what kind of candidate could mobilize progressives without alienating suburban swing voters. I expected the Democrats to be burdened with having to build an entirely new campaign team and raise money for an entirely new campaign message.

Instead, Democrats had about as smooth a switchover as they could have dreamed they could get. Biden—despite how shabbily fellow Democrats treated him—stepped aside without public complaint, and cleverly did so on the Sunday after the Republican National Convention, stealing Trump’s buzz and turning the spotlight immediately to Harris. With the exception of a comically insignificant interest in the nomination by self-help guru Marianne Williamson, the deal was done. Harris raised a stunning $310 million in July—the vast majority from first-time donors—while Trump and his joint fundraising committees, in the month of the RNC convention, pulled in just $139 million.

Harris’s Georgia rally, held four days before Trump’s, was a polar opposite in tone. Reinforcing her popularity with young people (who were disaffected with Biden), she had rappers Quavo and Megan Thee Stallion perform to a joyous—and newly hopeful—packed stadium. She criticized Trump, for sure, but with none of the barbs and personal insults that poured out of the former president’s mouth. “The path to the White House runs right through this state, and you all helped us win in 2020, and we’re going to do it again in 2024. Yes, we will,” Harris said in a not-so-subtle callback to Barack Obama’s “Yes, we can” message.