Could QAnon Target Kamala Harris?

The daughter of immigrants — a Jamaican professor father and an Indian doctor mother — Harris grew up in Berkeley, California. She attended Howard University, where she came into her own as a woman of color while studying political science and economics, protesting apartheid and competing as a freshman in what she has called the hardest race of her political career … to win a seat on the college liberal arts council.

In her run for Senate in 2016, the former district attorney showed off the eloquence and organizing that has made her a formidable political opponent. However, politics can turn even the best prosecutors into defendants, as OZY noted four years ago. And while Harris is left-leaning, her moderate streak on issues like fracking and the death penalty has given some progressives pause.

3. What It Says About Joe

As The Atlantic’s Edward-Isaac Dovere writes, by selecting Harris, Biden eschews the foreign policy experience of Susan Rice and the congressional connections of Karen Bass — suggesting that he wants to be the point man in both arenas. It also shows that he wants a pragmatic, rather than purely progressive, partner in the White House. And Harris’ relative youth, at just 55, is a plus for the 77-year-old Biden, who has often said his presidency will be a “bridge” to the next generation of Democrats.

4. In It Together

Wearing matching masks, Biden and Harris walked onto a stage in a high school gymnasium for a socially distanced Delaware press conference yesterday providing a sharp vision of what’s to come. After speaking about working with Biden’s late son, Beau, and her own family’s journey, Harris showed off her ability to slice and dice, running down Trump’s missteps in response to the coronavirus: “This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn’t up for the job.” They then moved on to a fundraiser, where Biden revealed that the campaign had raised $26 million in 24 hours. For his part, Trump called Harris “extraordinarily nasty,” one of his favorite insults.

1. Loser: The Progressive Movement

Lefty activists argued that candidates need to embrace the most progressive policies (Medicare for All, Green New Deal) to win national elections. The Democratic Party ticket ended up including the most prominent moderate in the field and a tough-on-crime vice president bankrolled by Wall Street donors, as journalist Zaid Jilani points out.

Democrats had never nominated a Westerner in their 200-year history, and Harris is the first Californian on the national ticket since Ronald Reagan. But now Cali reigns supreme in Democratic politics. The Bay Area, already sporting a literal embarrassment of riches from its tech titans, could soon have a nationally prominent governor (Gavin Newsom), a vice president (Harris) and a speaker of the house (Nancy Pelosi) representing their political interests.

3. Loser: Republican Opposition Research

Harris has already been largely vetted due to her own presidential run, while the GOP would have had plenty of fodder against Bass, for stray comments about Fidel Castro and Scientology, and Rice, who would have launched 1,000 ads on Benghazi and the Obama administration’s “spying” on the Trump campaign.

4. Winner: California Secretary of State Alex Padilla

If Harris wins, she will vacate her Senate seat. That would leave Padilla, Newsom’s onetime campaign chairman, as the most likely pick for the governor to fill it. Padilla would become the first Latino U.S. senator from California. If not him, other options include Bass, San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Rep. Adam Schiff.

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After Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez each won their first reelection primary, all eyes were on Ilhan Omar — the most vulnerable of the group of progressive women of color, given her anti-Semitic remarks. However, she bested opponent Antone Melton-Meaux by nearly 20 percentage points in her Tuesday primary, showing she is here to stay.

2. “Kick that B*tch Out of Congress”

Marjorie Taylor Greene won her GOP primary for a ruby-red congressional seat in northwest Georgia, meaning she’s almost certainly headed to Washington in January. This came despite facing heavy criticism for racist comments and backing baseless QAnon conspiracy theories. (QAnon asserts that an elite global cabal of Satan worshippers runs the government and is hiding mass pedophilia rings from the public; and that Donald Trump is the only one who can stop them. Really.) National Republicans were already worried that her extreme views would taint the party, concerns that were validated when she said Nancy Pelosi was “a hypocrite” and “anti-American” before promising to “kick that bitch out of Congress.” The next morning, she got kudos from Trump on Twitter.

3. Cheesehead Country

Democratic Rep. Ron Kind easily staved off a challenger from the left but will face retired Navy SEAL Derrick Van Orden in the general election in his rural Wisconsin district, which backed Trump in 2016. Meanwhile, state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald easily won an open-seat primary for a red congressional district. Fitzgerald was controversial in the state Senate, known for opposing COVID-19 restrictions and a failed attempt to strip powers from incoming Gov. Tony Evers after Democrats won big in 2018.

1. Go Big

Most likely Biden’s first legislative task will be a major economic recovery bill — similar to the Obama-Biden stimulus, but bigger. Hoping to cement his legacy early, he may get creative. One option could be a “working-class UBI” similar to the $1,200 stimulus checks, except monthly and guaranteed for anyone making less than a living wage (earlier this year, Biden spoke to OZY about the need to address fears of automation and manufacturing losses). Once that’s done, expect Democrats to nuke the Senate filibuster rules to pass other liberal priorities, from student loan forgiveness to immigration reform to a public health insurance option for Obamacare.

2. Then Go Home

Could some Democrats start pressuring Biden to step down as early as after the 2022 midterms … with the idea of giving Harris an incumbency advantage for the 2024 presidential race? Because a Biden in his 80s is unlikely to run for reelection anyway, the party statesman may be happy to bow out rather than face another two years as a lame-duck president (particularly if Democrats lose their congressional majority). This would effectively put Harris on a glide path to winning the nomination in 2024 — as veep she’d have a tougher primary than running from the Oval Office.

3. Track Jill Biden

With a doctorate in education, she’d be the most educated first lady ever. Already a crucial campaign adviser, she could take on a key policy-influencing role in a Biden admin, similar to other powerful presidential spouses like Eleanor Roosevelt and Hillary Clinton.

4. The Criticisms Harris Will Face

The conservative echosphere will be desperate to brand her as Hillary Clinton 2.0. Think “she’s too ambitious” times 1,000. But there’s another sneak attack to come: QAnon. The conspiracy theory will likely only gain steam if Democrats take power (it already has millions of followers on Facebook alone). Conspiracists will grab on to any bit of evidence to smear candidates, and while Harris fought sex trafficking as a district attorney, reports that her attorney general’s office ended cooperation with Catholic Church abuse victims and that she took donations from Jeffrey Epstein’s law firm a year ago will become catnip for the far right.

If Biden wins, the Republican Party is due for a schism between its rational and radical sides — and Trump will be sure to maintain a media profile to stir the pot … if not run again himself. The moderate camp could see governors like John Kasich, Larry Hogan or Charlie Baker run. Young, Trump-supporting senators like Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley could rise, while Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio are clearly eyeing another run. Don’t count out Donald Trump Jr. or a TV personality like Tucker Carlson. And aspirational candidates including Tim Scott or Nikki Haley may also throw their hats in the ring as diverse counterweights to Harris.

1. Maya Harris

Kamala’s 53-year-old sister has her own impressive political résumé, serving as one of three senior policy advisers for Hillary Clinton in 2016 … plus, Maya still owes Kamala for helping potty-train her daughter back in the day.

2. Valerie Biden Owens

Joe’s sister is his most trusted confidante and has been a key part of every campaign in the Delaware politician’s career.

3. Chris Dodd

The 76-year-old former Connecticut senator is a trusted throwback to Biden’s past in the rowdy, old boys’ club that was the U.S. Senate, and he helped lead the search committee that ended with Harris as the vice presidential pick (despite his reported tiff with her).

4. Ted Kaufman

A former Biden chief of staff who briefly took his U.S. Senate seat in 2009 after Biden became Obama’s vice president, Kaufman, 81, has been working on Biden’s potential transition team since April.

5. Rohini Kosoglu

When Harris’ presidential campaign was floundering in September, the California senator put her faith in Kosoglu, 35, by shifting her Senate chief of staff into a role as co-campaign manager, and likely will continue to do so as vice president.

1. Speeches in the Limelight

Given that it will be her first as the vice presidential pick, Harris’ speech will be heavily scrutinized. Politicos will be waiting to see how Harris juggles touting her own story while also making the case for Biden (and if she doesn’t strike the right balance, many will criticize her as trying to one-up the nominee). Meanwhile, Biden will be tasked with both inspiring a progressive base that isn’t thrilled with him or Harris while also striking the type of uniting tone necessary to bring Independents and swing Republicans into the fold.

2. The Also-Ran Primary

People will also watch to see which of the presidential also-rans — or future-runs — will shine under the spotlight like Obama in 2004. And yes, AOC will be eligible to run next time: She turns 35 in October 2024.

Trump’s trade war with China has hurt farmers, and the coronavirus has put additional stressors on agribusiness — to the tune of $20 billion this year. As small farms go under in key swing states (North Carolina and Wisconsin have been particularly hard-hit), will Trump voters become Trump skeptics? Watch how both parties try to capture the rural vote in their conventions.

4. What Attack Line Will the GOP Adopt?

Republicans have tried to pin Biden and Harris as scary socialists, an attack that may have been far easier to levy against, say, a Bernie Sanders–Elizabeth Warren ticket. In a contradictory bundle, they have whacked the pair for being too tough on crime … and for letting anarchists run wild in the streets. Watch to see where the conservative consensus ends up landing.

5. But Does It Really Matter?

Message unity may be less important than ever in a Facebook world, where each attack can be microtargeted. The Trump campaign could target Black Americans with campaigns criticizing Biden for mass incarceration and Harris for locking up people for low-level marijuana offenses … and then turn around and accuse both of supporting antifa with ads aimed at white suburban voters. When it comes to bashing your opponent these days, one truly can have it all.