A lot can change in a week

Returning to a political world which looks very different from how I'd left it.

When I went away on holiday last Friday, the conventional wisdom had it that Donald Trump’s re-election to the Presidency was a done deal. Joe Biden had withdrawn from the race and Kamala Harris had all but secured the nomination, but memories of Harris’ shambolic 2020 campaign were fresh and her tenure as vice president had been unmemorable at best. Surely there was no way “Kamalamania!” would sweep the country.

I wish I could speak French so I could understand some of these unfamiliar words, like “Americaine.”

Upon my return, it looks very much like…Kamalamania! has swept the country, at least on the left-but-not-too-far left side of the aisle. Democratic Party fundraising has taken off. Harris is up in the polls, with Nate Silver listing her as a marginal favorite to win.¹

And we actually got as close as we’ll ever get to a controlled experiment, …