Global: Why the US Presidential debate matters

12 September, 2024: I sat on the edge of my couch watching the first US Presidential election debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on 10 September asking myself why it mattered. At a very personal level it mattered to me because I have two grand-daughters, age four and eight, who are US citizens (the kind of immigrants I suppose, that Trump loves to hate). It mattered to me what role models they will grow up with – a belligerent, white male bully, or a smart woman of colour who like them hails from many continents.

When Kamala Harris became vice president nearly four years ago, a friend gave my older grand-daughter a framed picture of her, and said “watch this space.” One of my grand-daughter’s favourite books is the story about how Kamala and her sister campaigned for a playground in their California neighbourhood as they were growing up. On Wednesday night, we said a little prayer together wishing Harris well before the debate started. We knew that her performance meant more to us than we could ever imagine; that women and girls all over the world would be watching this debate that has such a crucial bearing on who will be the next President of the world’s richest democracy.

From the moment she went on stage, this daughter of Indian and Trinidadian immigrants did not disappoint. “Kamala Harris,” she said as she shook hands, with a man who did not reply, insists on pronouncing her name incorrectly, has questioned her identity (is she black or Indian?) and questions her intellect, which by any measure is far superior to his. The punchline of the evening came with this reminder: “You are not running against Joe Biden. You are running against me!” How often does a woman have to prove her very existence, before she can even carry on a debate? As she said these words, she spoke for millions of women around the world rendered voiceless and invisible. And she did it with the style and grace of a President, a look of determination that trumped (pun intended) his scowling face through the ninety minutes of word sparring.

Harris, being a few feet shorter than Trump, had requested a shorter podium than his in the debate held in Philadelphia and moderated by ABC news. Whatever advantage he had over her in height (his campaign made much of this), Harris made up for in neatly targeted punches that had Trump angry, irritable and spewing out more lies than ever before.  Predictably he took the bait when Harris metaphorically invited the audience to one of Trump’s rallies with dwindling numbers and folks leaving early because they are bored. Nothing gets to Trump’s inflated ego more than the notion that he is losing his grip. He has even tried to doctor photos of Harris’ rallies to prove that she, a rising phenomenon since the ageing Joe Biden stepped out of the race and endorsed Harris for president, has no support.

In any sparring match, when attack becomes the favourite form of defence, it’s a sign the other side is losing. Skirting all the questions asked of him about being born with a silver spoon in his mouth; inciting an insurrection on Capitol Hill as former president on 6 January 2021; his multiple court cases and a felony, Trump summed up his arguments by saying that Harris had failed to do anything in her three and a half years as Vice President. She on the other hand stayed on point with recounting her domestic and foreign policy achievements, while laying out her own vision of the future based on “opportunity”, a thriving middle class that is young; diverse; green; caring; healthy; and “turns the page” on a racist, sexist past.

What is refreshing for women’s rights activists is Harris’ straight and clear messaging on reproductive health and rights. Seldom have we seen a high profile woman politician put women’s bodily autonomy so squarely on the political agenda. Of course, Trump’s reversal of the Roe vs Wade ruling on the right of women to safe abortions is a major (and divisive) political issue in the November elections. Two thirds of Americans, and the vast majority of women want women to be able to make their own reproductive choices. For Harris to promise that she will sign this into federal law if she becomes president is good politics on her side; it wins her crucial votes. But what she has done in the process is make gender matter in this election: not just because she is a woman, but because women’s “issues” are election issues.

In 2008, Barack Obama, son of a white American mother and Kenyan father, made history when he became the first black president in the US. Trump’s close shave defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016 served as a stark reminder that while the US had finally broken the unspoken rules of the presidency around race, gender had a way to go. This November, the US has a chance to make herstory: elect not just a woman but a black woman president.  The fact that pundits are still saying the despite the brilliant debate performance on 10 September Harris might still lose is a damning indictment of the world’s richest democracy. All those around the world who strive for equality, justice and inclusion have a vested interest in the outcome of the hugely symbolic November US elections. May sanity and the best player win.

(Colleen Lowe Morna is Special Advisor, Gender Links. This article is written in her personal capacity).