Donald J. Trump and his political team spent nearly two years tailoring a campaign to defeat an old white male president who is conspicuously frail and who most Americans had told pollsters they doubted could handle another four-year term.
Suddenly, Mr. Trump faces a starkly different opponent: a vice president who is a Black woman, nearly 20 years younger, and who brings her own strengths and weaknesses but who adds new uncertainty into what had been a remarkably static race.
Allies of Ms. Harris have already telegraphed that she will run a campaign framed around a “prosecutor versus felon” theme, highlighting her experience as a prosecutor and underscoring the fact that Mr. Trump has been indicted in multiple jurisdictions and convicted of 34 felonies.
The prosecutor-versus-felon approach may appeal to undecided voters who had been sour on both Mr. Trump and President Biden.
It may also goad Mr. Trump, who reacts strongly to criticism, into resurrecting the language he has used against other Black female prosecutors, such as Letitia James in New York and Fani Willis in Georgia, both of whom he has called “racist” and attacked in personal terms.
Persons:
Donald J, Trump, pollsters, Harris, Biden, Letitia James, Fani Willis
Locations:
New York, Georgia