Could Kamala Harris defeat Donald Trump in November's Presidential Election?

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. annual convention in July 2024. Credit: AP

Can she do it? Yes she Kam. 

That’s the doctored campaign poster already doing the rounds on social media, echoing the famous Obama poster from 2008. 

But the question hangs over this election now; could Kamala Harris defeat Donald Trump in November? 

The polling is unclear. Some conducted before Joe Biden stepped down suggested she might perform slightly better than him, but would still lose to Donald Trump.

However, experts point out these polls are highly unreliable - because they were predicated on a hypothetical. That ‘what if’ is now removed. 

Kamala Harris is certain to be the Democratic Party nominee, and therefore people’s responses to the question will be different, experts say. 

We’ll have to wait several more days to get the first reliable indication of how she is fairing against Donald Trump. 

Today, a new poll conducted before Biden dropped out had Trump and Harris essentially tied with Trump 2 points ahead but inside the margin of error. 

So we’ll have to wait for more conclusive polling. But already the Democratic Party is highly energised, with tens of millions of dollars in donations pouring in.

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Kamala Harris isn’t wasting any time hitting the campaign trail. Today she is in Milwaukee, where a week ago the Republican National Convention was listening to Donald Trump.

Former rivals rally around Trump at Republican convention

The city is only just returning to normal after a massive security operation, to ensure the safety of the Republican Nominee in the wake of an attempted assassination.

Kamala Harris boards Air Force Two, July 2024. Credit: AP

Now the Secret Service will once again be descending on Milwaukee, this time in the suburb of West Allis as the Vice President and presumptive Democratic Nominee attends a rally in this critical swing state.

The speed of events is dizzying - in just seven weeks we have had a former president convicted, then an attempted assassination on him, followed by his rival dropping out of the race and the vice president being unanimously backed by her party to replace him.

Now the election boils down to the starkest choice imaginable between an election denying felon who’s been found liable for sexual assault and a woman of colour who has prosecuted sex offenders.

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