Harris candidacy leaves undecided voters with hard, uncertain choices | Opinion

America’s ship of state plowed into a sea change three days after the Republican National Convention when President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 campaign. His was a strategic, timely, responsible decision.

The political pendulum had swung to former President Donald Trump when Biden stumbled through their debate. Efforts by Democrats to dump Biden pushed it further right. Then, Trump’s momentum grew for miraculously surviving an assassin’s bullets.

Had the RNC found a way to appeal for national unity, or even civility, the pendulum might have become a wrecking ball to Democrats. Instead, they chose party unity, settling for electoral college forecasts favoring Trump. The former president’s gesture at unity was subtle and brief before reverting to a closing speech that was bellicose and long.

Predicting political toss-ups can prove embarrassing, but let’s try. A fresh start should turn momentum Democrats’ way. How far it swings will depend on the new Democratic ticket’s appeal to undecided voters.

Biden immediately endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. She heads unchallenged into the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19 in Chicago — with inherited Biden-Harris delegates. The DNC won’t be an open convention but a celebration, similar to the RNC with nice production values and sharp oratory. Preliminary, binding straw votes will resolve pesky technicalities.

Potential Harris rivals were stifled by warnings that offending the party’s nominee would be shamed for racism, sexism and disloyalty. Senator Joe Manchin’s reservations got brushed aside like moths. Other top prospects rushed the cameras to pledge allegiance to her. It was over before it started.

Activist Democrats accepted Biden’s endorsement of Harris with enthusiasm, relieved that their family quarrel about what to do with “good old Uncle Joe” was over. Now a lame duck, Biden could unveil another historic decision to let Harris have his last six months of presidency. Relax. He won’t.

Biden has some pride left. He’ll take his victory lap and spotlight Harris with ceremonial duties. It would be too risky for Biden to retire and hand the remaining presidential term to Harris. He’ll let her stay on the campaign trail to avoid criticism of her absence from Oval Office duties. Any advantage from the aura of being president risks danger of creating her own record to run on.

While she certainly has credentials for the highest office, she’s hardly distinguished the few duties entrusted to her (think border crisis). It’ll be great theater, though, with Harris joining the line of Democratic prosecutors to accuse Trump, as will his defiant response.

This unprecedented process was facilitated in 1982 by former N.C. Gov. Jim Hunt’s Hunt Commission , which balanced the Democratic Party’s grip over its pledged delegates. That may result in Harris selecting N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper as her running mate. Several other governors of swing states are consistently rumored to be ahead of Cooper. It could be a ploy to conceal an imminent Southern strategy.

Still missing is how to sell “Harris for President” to unaffiliated voters. Skeptics would view a moderate liberal on the ticket as a token with little influence on a Harris agenda reflecting far-left California. That could explain the zeal of Rep. Adam Schiff, who is running for U.S. Senate in California, and former Speaker Nancy Pelosi in their roles as advocates for Harris to replace Biden.

Now, it’s Democrats’ challenge how to put the crisis at the southern border, sanctuary cities and “defunding police” behind them and energize their core with hot issues like abortion, unaffordable social spending and Trump talking points. They’ll also need to avoid frightening moderates with inflation and socialism. That’s a tall order, just as it was for Republicans.

Undecided voters face hard, uncertain choices. The prospect of a Harris presidency invigorates the left and alarms the right. It’s the mirror image of conservative hopes and liberal fears about another Trump administration.

This means the vast moderate center must be inspired and organized enough to control the outcome. With enough grassroots organization, they might even lay the groundwork for a center party of former Democrats and Republicans and bless our future with moderation and renewal. Stay tuned.

Jim Martin, a Republican, was N.C. governor from 1985-93. He is a regular contributor to our pages.