Kamala understood everything

“You can trust me, I will put America above the party and above myself. I promise to be a president for all Americans”: Kamala Harris Since the beginning of the new millennium we have seen throughout the (free and democratic) world the decline in political parties and, to a certain extent, also in democracy. In the United States, although with a marked bipartisanship and an indirect democracy through the Electoral College, a degradation can also be observed in the organic life of these parties, in the election of their candidates and in their political ideology. A clear example is Donald Trump’s 2016 candidacy, his term as president, his attempt at re-election and his reaction to his defeat in 2020 - with the approval of Republicans - and his current race for the presidency. This is due to the fact that political parties have not been able to adapt to reality, that they have not stopped responding to the questions and needs of the population and, also, that those rigid catalogues of left and right have been diluted and have even mutated into softer “boxes”, such as the personalization of politics, easier and faster access to public issues and spaces, that is, the parties are already experiencing the loss of the monopoly of politics and now fill those spaces with popular (or populist) figures, magnates who shout that “the less politics the better life will be.” However, being - or considering yourself - a political outsider will also go out of fashion, as is happening in the American election. Trump has not understood that the political world turns faster than Galileo’s and believes that with the same strategy of 2016 and 2020 he can return to the White House in 2025, but this is not the case. Attacking migrants (mostly Mexicans), closing trade borders with China, constantly pointing out Harris, Obama or Ocasio-Cortez as communists, has not brought him any benefits. Nor did he understand that the campaign strategy is not the same as when he was competing against Biden. The emergence of Kamala Harris as a candidate turned the campaigns upside down, at least in that of the Democrats. This election is no longer being played out on a golf course or by pointing out which of the contenders has more energy for the challenges of being president. Now it is about concrete ideas, about convincing voters and, in that area, Trump has not done well. His campaign team and he himself believe that continuing to sow fear, eliminating otherness, vilifying what is different, acting with violence and eliminating rights and freedoms will give him victory on November 5. Thus, Kamala Harris understood it well. She speaks to the people and not to the masses. Harris and her team speak of hope, rights, the environment, dialogue and unity. She has understood better than anyone that voters have evolved and that they want, more than a Democratic supporter, a real Democrat and they will vote for a person who understands them and who agrees with them, more than for a political party. We must remember that only by improving the members of the parties will the party system be saved, not by dissolving them.

Nota publicada originalmente en el Heraldo de México