Support for Kamala Harris is more than a honeymoon phase, it’s seizing the moment | Opinion

Let’s get one thing straight about Kamala Harris: she’s on fire right now.

Once President Joe Biden announced he would bow out of the race, and once Biden endorsed his vice president to be the party’s nominee for president, some cultural icons and social media elites began coming out of the woodwork in ways they never wood for Biden.

“Kamala is Brat,” singer Charli XCX tweeted out to the now democratic presidential nominee, a term of endearment and the name of her hit album. Brat captures the rave and electronic dance music (EDM) lifestyle lived out, especially by Gen Zers and the LGBTQ community.

Social media users, meanwhile, have flooded the apps with pictures of Kamala along with the the phrase “I’m with her,” signifying their support. Harris is a meme machine. The virtual support is spontaneous, organic and truly heartfelt.

The admiration for Harris is more than just the relief of not having Biden as a nominee. It is hope for a better America. It’s a new generation finally emerging. We haven’t seen this since a candidate for president named Barack Obama caught fire 16 years ago.

It’s not 2016

The hype around Harris in the first days of her presidential bid has captivated every demographic that she’ll need to be president. We haven’t seen political excitement like this for some time, in part because Americans have learned what can happen when they are detached from politics.

For Democrats, there is no issue like abortion to paint the contrast between the two parties and the future of the country. Supreme Court judges appointed by Donald Trump resulted in the high court in 2022 overturning Roe v. Wade. In the ensuing two years, laws have been created to restrict people from leaving their home states to get an abortion.

There is no daylight between Biden and Harris on this issue. Both support a woman’s right to choose. Harris, however, has brought an intensely personal and passionate advocacy for women. So far, women are responding by seizing the moment to embrace Harris with real enthusiasm. There wasn’t the same fire when Hilary Clinton was the Democratic nominee in 2016.

Opinion

Harris’ campaign feels like 2008

Harris is ushering in a new movement that feels somewhat familiar.

Democrats have a little air underneath their feet, the news of Harris ascending to the presidency is a reminder that elections are also about passion and belief.

Before Biden showed great character in stepping aside for the 2024 election, Democrats were divided and some had begun to lose faith in the future of our democracy. That wasn’t Biden’s fault, he will be remembered for beating Trump in 2020. But the loss of reproductive rights, a Supreme Court granting Trump broad immunity from prosecution and worries that Biden wasn’t physically up to the task of campaigning against Trump, had filled many Democrats with a sense of foreboding.

What we’re seeing now are people with hope. That same hope was given to us in 2008 when Barack Obama first ran for the presidency. Harris is giving us that feeling again.

We can learn from Obama’s to not be satisfied with this feeling of hope. From re-establishing reproductive rights to strengthening our border, the to-do list is long and requires urgency. And from the past eight years, it’s important to remember to not fall asleep at the wheel of democracy. Currently the scales are tipped heavily in the favor of conservatives.

Everything does not come easy in election season. Harris will need to show the American people that she can be the face of the party and defeat Trump when she takes the stage next month at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Whether it’s capturing the admiration of the younger generation with her “memeablity” or commanding the podium with her stoic and graceful presence, Harris has brought energy back to Democrats and the American people.

We still have months to go. Trump will not go away easily. But this is what it feels like for a campaign to wake up America’s majority and defeat someone who simply does not represent our ideals or our future.

Harris has it in her to keep the flame alive. She’ll need it come November.