For Kamala Harris, it was not only about demonstrating in the debate that she was better than Trump, but also about overcoming the prejudices that have taken root in American society against a candidate like her.
Chronicle – Kamala Harris corners Donald Trump in the presidential debate
Opinion – A strange guy, by Antón Losada
In order for a candidate to be eligible for election, he must first be recognized by society as a person with the necessary skills to occupy the position to which he aspires.
This is an unwritten political law, but it is precisely for this reason that it is more important than written laws. No one can become President of the United States unless American society first recognizes him as worthy of the office.
This is what Kamala Harris had to do in the debate with Donald Trump. She had to convince American society that the Democratic candidate was the bearer of a credible government program, which, given her status as a woman, black and of Asian origin, was a formidable task. It was not just about showing that she was better than Trump, but about overcoming the prejudices established in American society against a candidate like her.
And that is what Kamala Harris realized during the test before American society. Because that was what the debate with Trump was for her. Formally, it was a debate. Materially, it was a test of her aptitude to become president of the United States.
Kamala Harris had aroused enthusiasm and hope among potential Democratic voters since Joe Biden resigned his candidacy for the presidency. The joy expressed not only in the convention that nominated her as candidate, but in all the rallies she participated in, amply demonstrated this. The notable increase in the number of young people, African-Americans and Latinos registered to vote in November was spectacular, as was the increase in individual citizens who contributed financially to the campaign and offered to help develop it.
Within the scope of the potential Democratic voter, Kamala Harris had already managed to make her candidacy credible in two months. This was the necessary condition to be able to win in November. But a necessary condition is not a sufficient condition. With the potentially Democratic vote a priori, the elections are not won. It is necessary to broaden the scope and ensure that a significant percentage of voters without a defined political preference enter it.
The debate with Donald Trump represented the possibility of opening the door to a broadening of this perimeter. Not only surpassing the Republican candidate with verbal language and body language, but also surpassing the image that American society had of her until that moment.
Kamala Harris should aspire to stop being considered a lesser evil, to become the right candidate for American society to turn the page and leave behind the anomaly that made a suspected criminal able to be president of the United States in 2016 and a convicted felon running for president in 2024.
I deserve to be President of the United States all by myself. Not because I am better than Donald Trump, but because I have the ability to lead the country. The ability for any citizen, Democrat, Republican, or neither, to feel proud of the person who holds the presidency of the United States.
This is the path that Kamala Harris has placed her campaign on. American society must be able to feel proud of those who lead it, but also of those who represent it to the rest of the world. This is what he had to prove during the debate with Donald Trump. And this is what he showed.
The mystery has been solved. Now we have to win the election.
