US election: intrigue grows ever more intense Expert views on Caliber.Az

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has been nominated as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate for 2024. On August 2 afternoon, Kamala Harris clinched the Democratic Party nomination after receiving a majority of votes - at least 2,350 - from her party's delegates, just a day after the polls opened, the publication notes. She will officially accept the nomination once the virtual voting period ends, she said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said he considers his Democratic rival and vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris a third-rate candidate. Trump recalled that Harris was among the first to withdraw from the primaries. "Everybody knows me, knows her. She wants open borders, weak military, high taxes. I want a strong border, low taxes, strong anti-drug policy," Trump noted.

And Fox News Channel anchor Jesse Watters is perplexed that Kamala Harris is now being hidden just like Joe Biden, even though the election is less than 100 days away.

"She hasn't had a single interview since she became a presidential candidate. And then come September, you haven't been asked about your policies, you haven't been asked about who you are in general. And she gets away with it. It was the same thing with Biden hiding. Now they're hiding Harris. And the election is 90 days away. The media is probably not demanding interviews because they're really burrowing to hide her," Watters said.

There is also an interesting development regarding the U.S. presidential race: Donald Trump is currently leading Kamala Harris in terms of voter support, according to a poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports. The survey reveals that 49% of respondents are ready to support Trump in the presidential election, while 44% prefer Harris. Four percent of those surveyed indicated they would vote for another candidate, and 2% were undecided. The poll was conducted between July 24-25 and July 28-31.

This raises questions about how formidable a challenger Harris truly is for Trump. Will she be able to gain the necessary support and popularity to compete effectively against such a well-known political figure as Trump during the crucial stages of the campaign?

American experts answered these questions addressed by Caliber.Az.

Analyst and commentator Samson Katzman highlights that the intrigue in the U.S. presidential race is becoming increasingly intense and competitive.

"90 days until the election. On August 2, the Democratic National Convention officially nominated Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate to face Donald Trump. Polls indicate a significant gap in electoral preferences, with Trump leading Harris by 5-6 percentage points. According to the integration site [electionbettingodds.com](https://electionbettingodds.com/), which tracks betting odds and candidate chances every 20 minutes, Trump currently has the support of 51.6% of voters compared to Harris's 45.5%. A notable number of world leaders have expressed sympathy for Trump following the assassination attempt, seemingly recognizing him as the likely future occupant of the White House. Among these leaders was Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, who had previously avoided engaging with the 45th president after the U.S. embassy was moved to Jerusalem," notes the expert.

According to him, many commentators are now wondering whether Kamala Harris can formulate a compelling agenda in the remaining time before November 4 to shift the direction of the election in her favour.

"Currently, the election campaigns of both candidates are at odds over the venue and date for the debates: Trump’s team insists on having them on the conservative Fox News channel on September 4, while Harris advocates for ABC News on the 10th, as was originally planned between Trump and Biden before Biden withdrew from the race on July 21. It seems that the disagreements over location and timing will eventually be resolved, and both candidates will engage in heated rhetoric. As Harris quipped, 'If Trump has something to say, he should say it to my face.'

However, Trump does indeed have critiques to level against the current vice president. During her time as a senator, Harris shifted sharply to the left to appeal to the Democratic base: she supported the elimination of private health insurance in favor of a public system, praised the police reform movement associated with the 'Defund the Police' slogan following George Floyd’s death, which called for reducing police budgets and reallocating those funds to other needs. Harris was also a strong advocate for decriminalizing illegal entry into the U.S. and supported the abolition of ICE, the American Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, essentially endorsing illegal immigration. Additionally, she backed the Green New Deal and a ban on fracking and offshore drilling. These positions could now turn against her in the current election. Harris will need to present very compelling arguments to independent and undecided voters, who will determine the outcome in key swing states," the commentator outlined.

He suggests that, in addition to Republican accusations, Harris may have to answer to her own constituency for Biden's unpopular policy of supporting Israel's war against the Hamas group in Gaza.

"She will also be criticized for her performance as California attorney general, when she was too harsh on the one hand, especially against black men for drug offenses, and on the other hand, when she made decisions to reverse prosecutions or grant parole to people who went on to commit new crimes after her decisions.

In other words, in the upcoming debate, in addition to Trump's accusations, Kamala Harris will have to hold a well-reasoned answer on her own record as well.

Despite all this, it should be noted that the history of the American presidential election is full of surprises and surprises, and, in my opinion, the time for reliable final predictions has not yet come," Katzman said.

Analyst, publicist, professor Grigory Ioffe noted that the situation the US election is changing on a daily basis.

"Much of what the media reports remains valid, but some things have already changed. In particular, there are already 7 or 8 national polls in which Harris is ahead of Trump in the total number of votes. As you know, America has an institution such as the electoral college, and so being outperformed in total votes does not necessarily lead to winning an election. What matters most are the election results in the so-called swing states. There are six of them right now - Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Michigan. In general, the enthusiasm on the Democratic side after Biden's resignation and Harris' nomination. And it's pretty significant. Harris raised a record amount of more than $200 million within a week. And it's had an impact in a number of polls," the professor said.

However, he notes, many are now wondering how long its "honeymoon" will last - what is it, a stable trend or a flop that will soon end?

"Either way, as unfortunate as it is to say this in relation to a country like the United States, today the question of elections has again turned into a question of choosing the lesser evil. Why am I talking about this? The fact is that for about half of the country's population, Trump is an unacceptable figure. You can criticize these people, you can talk about how they can't tell the difference between form and content, but the fact remains. Trump has a very significant anti-Republican rating.

As for Harris, there is ample evidence of her extremely low competence. She recently reversed all of her ultra-leftist positions on fracking - a method of extracting oil through hydrogeologic drilling, on illegal immigrants - whether they are criminals or not, and a whole host of other positions. But it's not just that. Harris's problem is that she is utterly unable to spontaneously speak in a way that avoids "word salad," or, as Russian sometimes puts it, "verbal diarrhea." When those words she utters are complete nonsense. In the two weeks since her nomination, she has not given a single press conference or interview. The only time she spontaneously said something happened a couple days ago at the airplane ramp when they were greeting the people convicted in Russia who had been exchanged - and immediately there was a "word salad."

So, to reiterate, it is a matter of choosing the lesser evil. Which will prove more significant - the negative perception of Trump or the perception of Harris' extremely low degree of competence (which is quite surprising, given that she served as both Attorney General in California and Senator, but that's a separate story)? Hypothetically, Harris' "honeymoon" should be over soon, yet her first debate with Trump (and maybe her first and last) won't take place until early September at the earliest. All in all, we'll see what comes out of all this," Ioffe concludes.