As the countdown begins, the time between the Democratic National Convention’s conclusion and Election Day is barely a heartbeat in the realm of American politics. In the busy landscape of presidential elections, campaigns span over a year. From the moment Biden’s squad started preparations in June 2023 for his re-election, the electoral engines were revved up and running. Unsurprisingly, the Grand Old Party saw its first debate exactly 440 days before Election Day 2024.
Regardless of Trump securing the Republican nomination as early as March, it was long assumed that he would be the unsurprising choice. This contrasts with the disarray within the Democratic party; as early as mid-April, the Biden campaign had already amassed 300 paid staffers across nine states, and an expenditure reaching nearly $200 million by midsummer.
Contrarily, Kamala Harris stands to inherit certain advantages that some names circulated among potential Biden replacements, such as Gretchen Whitmer or Gavin Newsom, would not possess. As the vice president, she enjoys comprehensive name recognition and the silver lining of experience from her previous presidential campaign, albeit a failed one.
Perhaps most crucially, she is to take over the on-ground campaign infrastructure and the substantial funds previously allocated for Biden’s re-election. This puts her in an advantageous spot compared to a completely fresh candidate who would have needed to pull together a campaign from nothing. Harris had a promising kick-off, bringing in a record-breaking $81 million in just 24 hours after Biden’s step-down announcement.
However, this initial momentum doesn’t mask the precarious position Harris finds herself flung into. Launching a presidential campaign in a remarkably constrained timeframe isn’t a task for the faint-hearted. With an unfavorably weighted scoreboard, she faces the monumental challenge of selling herself to a skeptical and hard-to-convince audience.
The Democratic convention turns into a high-stakes battleground, posing as the first major hurdle for Harris as she steps up as a presidential nominee. With cleanup in progress at the United Center on August 22, Democrats are left with a mere 75 days to execute a presidential campaign and save the nation from the composed and organized Republican team led by Trump, J.D. Vance, and Project 2025.
The length of today’s electoral process wasn’t always the norm. It wasn’t until less than a century ago that the primaries became a common occurrence, nominees were chosen by state delegates at national conventions held just a summer before the November election. Reflecting on history, Dwight Eisenhower aligned with the Republican party a mere 10 months prior to the 1952 election, only officially announcing his intention to run a month later.
The expansion of the primary system after 1968 paved the way for the people – not just the parties to choose the nominees. Soon enough, elections morphed from short, swift sprints into grueling marathons. As restrictions on campaign finance dissipated, modern-day elections increasingly resemble the costly and everlasting spectacles we are familiar with.
The specter of the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention looms over its 2024 counterpart, primarily due to the symbolic repetition of Chicago being the hosting city. Despite the political protests spreading across American cities and the looming possibility of Biden’s stand-in, the chaotic shadow of Chicago 1968 doesn’t hold enough weight to predict the 2024 DNC’s outcome.
The laborious journey that awaits Harris is intimidating but not insurmountable. The end goal isn’t to make everyone like her; instead, it is to persuade them that she’s a superior alternative to Donald Trump, whom majority of Americans already distrust and dislike. If she successfully navigates the process, repositions herself as a trustable candidate capable of competent governance by the time she accepts the Democratic nomination on August 22, she might stand a fighting chance.
To win, it’s not enough for Harris just to campaign against Trump and highlight his shortcomings. Instead, she has to ensure the electorate understands the very real dangers his leadership and policies pose. If she can convince the voters of this, regardless of her own perceived flaws, she may secure the critical votes.
Data from recent European elections suggest that a successful campaign can be swiftly constructed from scratch. It’s plausible that anxious voters could rally behind an imperfect candidate to prevent a figure as divisive as Trump from returning to power. Still, differences in campaign spending limits between the U.S. and European countries cannot be ignored, adding to the challenge Harris faces.
Harris will have to walk a tough balancing act: raising campaign funds and executing an effective campaign simultaneously. However, if her early fundraising success is any indication, she may not need to devote excessive time to billionaire benefactors and can instead focus on making her case about why Trump should not return to the White House.
But euphoria following Biden’s surprise announcement isn’t likely to last. Harris’s inevitable unfavorable polls and the panicked whispers surrounding her popularity and standing in the deciding states will likely surface. However, Harris can take solace in the fact that even unpopular candidates can clinch victory if their opponents are seen as more unfavorable or dangerous. Yet, this avails her with an unprecedented task: win a presidential election in just three months, a feat not achieved for decades. But it is not impossible, it indeed happens quite regularly elsewhere.