If you are Vice President Kamala Harris, another Democrat or any other person who happens to want Harris to become president, the last two weeks and five days have probably felt like a dream.
There is a tougher reality for Harris, though, belied by the euphoric haze.
The contest between Harris and former President Donald Trump remains remarkably close, and she is tied with him in must-win states like Wisconsin and Michigan, according to The New York Times’s polling averages. Trump’s allies are sharpening their attacks. And in a candidacy measured in days not months, she has yet to face the scrutiny of an interview or release a detailed vision for her potential presidency.
Every presidential campaign is a series of tests. Can you excite voters? Can you raise money? For Harris, the answer to both of those questions so far is yes. Her party coalesced around her instantly. She has smashed fund-raising records and held overflowing rallies, and she seems to be tugging key swing states her way.
But as Harris wraps up a battleground campaign tour with her brand-new running mate this weekend and turns her attention toward the Democratic National Convention this month, fresh challenges are in the offing. And the short campaign leaves a candidate who is still introducing herself to voters with little time for do-overs.
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“She will be tested,” Neil Newhouse, a Republican pollster, said. “She’ll be tested by the Trump campaign. She’ll be tested by the press, and just by everyday events.”
That may be why Harris has been careful to sound a note of caution to supporters who might prefer to luxuriate in the optimism.
