Two years on from her devastating presidential election defeat, Kamala Harris was greeted like a rockstar as she took the stage before a rapt audience at Georgia’s Clark Atlanta University.
asserted
she → greet → University
When a politician is greeted by a friendly crowd, they often hear chants of their name.
asserted
they → greet → name
But at Clark, an historically-Black college (HBCU), students instead delivered a school spirit chant for the Atlanta University Center, celebrating an HBCU alumna – and the country’s first female and first Black vice-president – as one of their own.
asserted
students → deliver → own
Harris is “big sister general”, said Sanaiya Archer, a sophomore at Spelman College in Atlanta.
asserted
Archer → say → Atlanta
“I’m able to see myself in her.
asserted
I → ’m → her
Not that I personally relate to her, but she went to an HBCU, she’s an HBCU alum, I’m at an HBCU.
asserted
I → relate → HBCU
And it’s just amazing to see a Black woman that I can see anywhere else in my life on a presidential scale.
asserted
I → ’ → scale
That scale has yet to reach the Oval Office.
asserted
scale → have → Office
In 2024, following the reluctant withdrawal of Joe Biden, Harris launched a 107-day campaign for the White House which again brought to the US tantalizingly close to electing its first female president.
asserted
which → follow → president
She lost.
asserted
She → lose → ?
Donald Trump’s return left Democrats reeling – again.
asserted
return → leave → Democrats
Even as it contests this week’s midterm elections, the party has yet to settle on who could lead it back into power, and how.
uncertain
who → contest → power
Harris, forced by Biden’s late exit to conduct the shortest presidential campaign in modern US history, has not yet ruled out another run for the Democratic nomination.
asserted
Harris → force → nomination
But is a figure so closely associated with the party’s past really the person to manifest a more successful future?
asserted
figure → associate → future
At Clark on Thursday, she was treated like a returning hero.
asserted
she → treat → hero
“I’ve come here to remind you, don’t ever let anybody take your power from you,” Harris said.
asserted
Harris → come → you
“Don’t ever let anybody tell you who you are.
asserted
you → let → you
You tell them who you are!”
asserted
you → tell → them
She was aware, she stressed, of how her loss affected some of the young Black women before her.
asserted
loss → stress → her
“You know, we’ve been spending the last year and a half, so many of us, going through a range of emotions,” Harris said.
asserted
Harris → know → emotions
“You cried.
asserted
You → cry → ?
I heard you.
asserted
I → hear → you
Anger, depression, sadness, frustration, a sense of – of helplessness and powerlessness, folks feeling like, ‘I’m watching all this happen, but I can’t do anything about it’.
asserted
I → feel → it
“Well,” she said, “that moment has passed”.
asserted
moment → say → ?
Harris has spent the last month recultivating relationships, appearing in front of the friendliest of audiences on behalf of Democratic candidates around the country.
asserted
Harris → spend → country
In Mississippi earlier this month, Harris appeared at a high school rally in Columbus and took part in a rural healthcare roundtable in Clarksdale, campaigning for Scott Colom, the Democratic challenger of US Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith.
asserted
Harris → appear → Smith
Polls point to a surprisingly close contest in a historically-Republican state.
asserted
Polls → point → state
Similarly, Nevada’s Democratic attorney general Aaron Ford is now in a toss-up race for the state’s governorship against Republican incumbent Joe Lombardo.
asserted
Ford → toss → Lombardo
Harris met with unionized culinary workers in Las Vegas in October.
asserted
Harris → meet → October
Harris has also campaigned for Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Crowley in Wisconsin, and the party’s New Hampshire Senate nominee Chris Pappas.
asserted
Harris → campaign → Wisconsin
She returned to Michigan – a state which Trump flipped in 2024 – in September to campaign for Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic senate candidate.
asserted
Trump → return → Sayed
After dozens of trips to Georgia as vice-president, and having all but rented an apartment in Atlanta while campaigning for president, Harris returned to the state last week to campaign alongside Democratic senator Jon Ossoff – who has also been mooted as a potential 2028 contender.
asserted
who → rent → contender
Ossoff is popular in his state, confident on stage, and widely expected to retain his Senate seat by a convincing margin.
asserted
Ossoff → expect → margin
But even he looked a little awkward when walking out after Harris had instead been erroneously announced too early, leaving a roomful of Democrats momentarily disappointed.
asserted
Harris → look → Democrats
“Let me be really blunt,” Ossoff said, dissecting Trump’s obsession with voting results from the 2020 election in the county that covers the core of Atlanta.
asserted
that → let → Atlanta
It’s the same reason he’s obsessed with Philly.
asserted
he → ’ → Philly
It’s the same reason he’s obsessed with Detroit.
asserted
he → ’ → Detroit
It’s because for this committed, lifelong racist, the fact that Black voters were instrumental to his defeat is even more offensive than the defeat itself.
asserted
voters → ’ → defeat
Voter turnout has been surging in Georgia – particularly in Black communities, and Atlanta’s politically potent purple suburbs.
asserted
turnout → surge → communities
Early voting set a record on the last day of open polls before Election Day, with about 2.8m votes cast: turnout of 37% so far.
asserted
voting → set → %
…and 31 more, not listed.
The Aporia
