On a Sunday morning in July, Kamala Harris was doing a jigsaw puzzle with her grandchildren at home when she received the call that would change her life.

Harris said to radio presenter Howard Stern, “The phone rings, and it’s Joe,” lately. “I got up to take the call — and then life changed.”

One of the most significant changes in American politics was brought about by President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will withdraw from the 2024 presidential contest and support Harris as the Democratic contender.

Prior to this, Harris had record-low approval ratings for a “veep.”

She turned nothing into an election campaign in a matter of weeks. She organized passionate rallies, raised over $1 billion, and gave a party that had lost hope a “burst of joy,” as she put it.

Harris, however, is fighting for her life to win on November 5 and become the first female president in US history, with polls now showing the 60-year-old in a tight draw with Republican former president Donald Trump.

“It’s not simple. She’s just been running since late July, whereas most presidential campaigns go two years,” David Karol, a professor of politics and government at the University of Maryland, told AFP.

A challenging debut

From her first day as America’s first female, Black, and South Asian vice president, Harris was a trailblazer.
However, the trail was initially challenging. Harris was subjected to harsh criticism that she was unfit to serve as the president’s heartbeat.

After losing to Biden in the 2019 presidential election, she was already chastised for her policy ambiguity and, like Biden, she became renowned for using “word salads.”

Harris stumbled and gave Republicans an attack line about being a failed “border czar” that they still use today. Biden had given Harris the task of addressing the underlying causes of the nation’s illegal migration issue.

However, in 2022, things started to shift. When the US Supreme Court struck down the federal right to an abortion, Harris found her voice.

With officials secretly acknowledging that she was preparing for her own 2028 presidential run, she mobilized the nation around the issue and assumed a more significant position in Biden’s second presidential campaign.

Additionally, Biden gave her more and more diplomatic assignments in the Middle East and Ukraine.

Few, however, anticipated that the time would arrive for her to challenge for the White House.

This was due in part to Harris’s long-standing undervaluation by both Republicans and some Democrats.

The lady Trump referred to as “crazy” and who endured racist and sexist abuse would eventually prove to be a formidable opponent. By making fun of the former president, she won their one and only discussion.

‘Momala’

Throughout the campaign, “Momala” Harris has purposefully avoided publicly identifying with her gender or race.
Her mother, who was born in India and raised her and her sister by herself, has received most of the attention when she discusses her personal history; her father, who was born in Jamaica, is hardly mentioned.

Her public love for “Second Gentleman” Doug Emhoff is another example.

Her stepchildren, Cole and Emma, are famously his children and called her “Momala.”

Additionally, she has used their relationship to criticize J.D. Vance, Trump’s running mate, for calling prominent Democrats “childless cat ladies.”

However, she is more likely to highlight her experience as a prosecutor and later as California’s attorney general, drawing comparisons to Trump’s attempt to become the first convicted felon to hold the presidency.

In an effort to appeal to Republican voters, Harris has also mentioned her gun ownership on numerous occasions.

However, there have also been well-known flaws. She still feels uneasy around the media, and Republicans criticized her for refusing to participate in any interviews for weeks during the campaign.

Now, the question is whether she can solve the riddle and break the highest glass barrier in America.

“She has, in my opinion, ran a strong campaign. And others will say, ‘Oh, that’s because she didn’t run a good campaign,’ if she loses, and I don’t think that’s right,” Karol added.