This is the web version of ‘Rumbo a la Casa Blanca’, EL PAÍS’ biweekly newsletter on the US elections. If you want to subscribe for free, you can do so at this link.
A summer greeting to wherever you are:
At last, the dizzying pace of the American electoral news has calmed down. Just a little, it is true, but enough to breathe. After a month and a half in which there was: a historically catastrophic debate; a failed attempt on the life of a candidate; the coronation of the same candidate at the Republican convention; the almost unprecedented resignation of the other candidate; the step forward of Kamala Harris as the first black and South Asian candidate for the presidency of the United States; and the consequent fever of enthusiasm for her, the circle was closed with the announcement that the Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, would be the vice-presidential running mate of the current vice president. With the line-ups complete, on Tuesday, August 6, the 91-day race to reach the White House began in earnest.
It was something close to an absolute surprise. The odds were that as running mate —because no one doubted that it would be a man who would accompany Kamala Harris— the popular governor of the key state of Pennsylvania, or Mark Kelly, senator for Arizona, another crucial battleground. But in the end Harris and her campaign opted for a name little known at the national level, perhaps impressed by the natural, approachable and accurate oratory of this 60-year-old man, the living image of one of the stereotypical rural neighbors of deep America, the smile that greets sitting on a tractor on the other side of an endless road. The best example had been given a few days earlier, providing as an apparent accident the best new attack on the Republican couple of Donald Trump and JD Vance: calling them “weird.”
Since Walz uttered the word weird (weird) to describe Republicans in a television interview a few days before he was introduced as Harris’s number two, the Democratic Party jumped on the bandwagon. It’s hard to know to what extent it was coordinated, but what is certain is that the word is here to stay. From Harris on down, everyone started using it, and they haven’t stopped. After years of hearing catastrophic epithets ad nauseam, so much so that calling Trump racist or sexist had virtually no effect, Walz hit the nail on the head.
If elections sometimes seem like a popularity contest typical of a high school On average, there is no one like the former high school football coach and teacher at reading the public. If Trump and Vance behave like bullies or bullies —something Biden has repeated many times without gaining much sympathy—, they must be dealt with in a different way. The flames are extinguished, there is no longer indignation at the barbarities that may come out of the Republican candidates —who in the end what they seek in large part is precisely to obfuscate their opponents—. They are ridiculous: these people are “weird.”
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According to various reports, the simple attack has gotten under Trump’s skin, and he has failed to come up with a suitable nickname for his new adversary. He has tried different options such as Laffin’ Kamala (referring to Harris’s laughter), or Crazy Kamala, But trying to attack her histrionics or call her crazy has not been very successful. Perhaps it is too obvious that it evokes a classic sexist stereotype.
In any case, while last week the Harris-Walz duo hopped from state to state giving rallies in packed arenas and dominated the prime time television repeating weird Trump has been virtually holed up in his Florida mansion over and over again. Last Thursday he held a press conference, seeking to once again be the subject of headlines. He didn’t really succeed, his diatribe is already well known, and without thousands of supporters cheering him on, it loses even more force.
Just yesterday, a surprise announcement was made of a “conversation” with Elon Musk live on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter that the richest man in the world bought and has rebuilt into an even more fertile ground for misinformation and extremism. Musk made a point of saying that it was a conversation and not an interview, because in an interview nobody acts normal; or to put it another way, in interviews one acts strange. This is where the real Donald and Elon, so misunderstood, would come out.
Many words come to mind to describe the two hours of conversation between these two billionaires, and a rare one could very well be one of them. They talked about immigration, geopolitics, the economy, and even climate change. Few things that were said would pass a basic fact check. Nearly a million and a half people were online, and although millions more will be able to listen to the conversation on Musk’s X account if they want, it is really not enough to influence these elections in any way. Besides, listening to them will not provide much news. They spoke to their followers and there was no controversy because they agreed on almost everything. In the end Musk said he supported him, Trump thanked him, and everything went on as before.
Next week, there will be the Democratic Convention in Chicago, where Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will be showered with crowds and reconfirm that the entire party is behind them — that is, if they can sufficiently silence the faction seeking a compromise on an arms embargo against Israel, which has already interrupted several of Harris’s recent speeches and which possibly has the capacity to jeopardize an eventual victory against Trump. Then, on September 10, there will be the first face-to-face between the already confirmed presidential candidates, and there may be two more debates.
In the last few days we have been witnessing the dance of Walz and the “weirdos”, and although it may seem that this is the rhythm from now on, the 85 days left are enough for anything to happen. It is better that after the month and a half that has just passed, the lesson that music can change from one moment to the next has become clear.
More news on the US elections
After this summary of the new electoral board, here are some pieces to complete your knowledge of the latest developments in the US presidential elections:
Trump’s campaign is racing to regain the initiative in the US against Harris’s momentum. Republicans describe the vice president as a “radical” progressive. The former president opts for insults and returns to social network X.
Analysis | US polls: Kamala Harris overtakes Donald Trump for the first timeby Kiko Llaneras. The new candidate has turned the polls on their head. With the Democrats revitalized, the presidential race is once again a toss-up.
Opinion | Can one word defeat Donald Trump?by Antoni Gutierrez Rubi. By calling it “just plain weird,” Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz gave a name to a concept that didn’t exist: how the former president and his army of followers act.
Analysis | Elon Musk’s campaignby Marta Peirano. One might wonder what influence the only X user capable of modifying the service to ensure his and his friends’ visibility is having on the US elections.
