Classical film buffs will be familiar with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and directed by Mike Nichols in 1966. Based on a play written by Edward Albee and adapted for the screen by Ernest Lehmann, the film is set in the home of a couple who invite another couple over for friendly drinks, only for the evening to descend into a pitched verbal battle between the spouses. Something of that sort is unfolding in the US where a rather ugly confrontation is in progress over who will become the 47th president. The winner will take more than just the keys to the Oval Office; they will hold the fate of the US and perhaps the world in their hands.

In novels, plays and films, the action generally accelerates and builds up tension until it reaches a peak, which might take the form of a final facedown, a murder, or something equally definitive. In contemporary politics, that climax can be just as riveting, whatever side the spectator is rooting for. In the current American drama, the first act was relatively sedate and predictable. The ever-confident billionaire business magnate Donald Trump was so sure of his control over the Republican Party that he saw no need to participate in the debates with the party’s other nominees during the primaries. Then the party’s convention bore him out and he was unanimously proclaimed the Republican candidate. Not one prominent member of the party strayed from the script. This is not to suggest that all this took place without dramatic moments, such as Trump’s debate with Biden who by this time had earned the nickname “Sleepy Joe” for his increasingly frequent lapses and gaffes. Trump was already leading Biden in the polls by a wide margin. But this did not spare Biden from what was tantamount to a concerted character assassination from within his own party that transformed him overnight from statesman to abandoned relic.  

Still, no one was talking about Biden’s Democratic sidekick, Vice President Kamala Harris, at this point. She was mostly a figure trailing somewhere behind the president’s coattails and when he assigned her some tasks, the results were not particularly impressive. So, in the wake of the Biden-Trump debate, the former flew to Europe where he blundered some more in front of NATO leaders. As for the latter, he headed to a rally where he was nearly killed by an assassin’s bullet, resulting in that iconic photo of him, face and shirt stained with his blood, and triumphant fist punching the air. Biden took this as his cue to act as a national leader and called on the American people to come together in unity and solidarity. He also phoned his Republican adversary to wish him well, even though that adversary harboured only ill will towards Biden and had little time for national unity.

This marked the dramatic turning point when the Democratic Party realised that, despite its lagging poll figures, it had an elite of political leaders and wisemen it could deploy. These quickly moved into action, at last persuading Biden to withdraw from the presidential race and then dedicating their allegiance to Harris as presumptive heir to the Democratic Party candidacy. The Democrats thus succeeded in turning the tables. The party’s wealthy donors, superdelegates and ordinary delegates rushed to declare their support. The Biden campaign funds poured into the Harris campaign chest and more money followed. The problem of “geriatric Joe” was now in the past and it was Trump whose age was catching up with him. Compared to her Republican rival, Harris, in her late fifties, is the blossom of youth. She is elegant, sports a vibrant smile, and brims with energy in her appearances.

With the story of the attempted assassination now nearly forgotten, the Republican camp has been thrown into disarray and could not decide whether their candidate should debate the Democratic candidate who had won the unanimous support of her party before the Democratic convention was held. The Republicans’ alarm increased after Harris announced her running mate in a festive occasion attended by some 10,000 supporters in Philadelphia. Opinion polls showed the Democrats closing the gap between them and Trump and then gaining the lead in less than two weeks.

Trump is now afraid of Harris. JD Vance, whom Trump thought would be heavy artillery as his running mate, now seems a burden. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, has aggravated the sting with his sarcastic jibes calling Trump “weird” and the Republicans who support him “creepy.”

Can the Republicans stop Harris? I would say most likely not. The momentum behind her is enormous. That said, an economic meltdown could reverse her fortunes and the “Black Monday” of 5 August – when Japanese stocks suffered their biggest daily loss since 1987 as fears about a US economic slowdown sent shock waves through global markets – sounded an alarm in this regard. An outbreak of a major war in the Middle East, foregrounding the US’ pro-Israeli bias, could also have an impact on the elections. In such an event, it will be the world that is afraid of Kamala Harris.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 15 August, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly