Briefing | Woolly warrior

Kamala Harris has revealed only the vaguest of policy platforms

Her record suggests she would be a pragmatist

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, speaks on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago
Photograph: Kent Nishimura/The New York Times/Redux/Eyevine
|CHICAGO

SCARCELY A MONTH ago, Democrats were awaiting their convention in Chicago as one might a four-day root canal. Despite losing the confidence of his party after a disastrous debate performance, the 81-year-old president, Joe Biden, was due to formalise his seemingly doomed candidacy—and perhaps drag many other Democrats down with him. But then, on July 21st, despair gave way to ecstasy, as Mr Biden dropped out and endorsed Kamala Harris, his vice-president. She became the de facto nominee within 24 hours. The dreaded ordeal was suddenly transformed into a raucous coronation.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Woolly warrior”

From the August 24th 2024 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Briefing

Why Chinese AI has stunned the world

DeepSeek’s models are much cheaper and almost as good as American rivals

An illustration of Donald Trump depicted as a Roman emperor in the Oval Office ncluding a horse as a senator and feature him serving hamburgers and Coca-Cola.

The right in Congress and the courts will reshape Donald Trump’s agenda

As dominant as the new president is, there is still life in Washington’s institutions


 Asylum-seeking migrants walk along the US-Mexico border fence near the Jacumba Hot Spring, California

How far will Donald Trump go to get rid of illegal immigrants?

It is his signature policy, but the obstacles are daunting


Young customers in developing countries propel a boom in plastic surgery

Falling costs and converging beauty standards spur new habits

The Assad regime’s fall voids many of the Middle East’s old certainties

What if Syria abandoned its hostility to the West and stopped menacing Israel?

Syria has exchanged a vile dictator for an uncertain future

It is not clear how stable or how benign the new regime will be