KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers issues in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. We are telling this story because someone contacted us asking about what's next in the process. You can email her story ideas at rachel.henderson@kshb.com.
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The news about President Biden’s decision to step down from the upcoming presidential race is just one more advancement in an already unprecedented week for American politics.
It comes days after the Republican National Convention, a week after an assassination attempt and nearly a month before the Democratic National Convention.
“If you were surprised by this announcement, you're not alone, a lot of people were,” said Debra Leiter, associate political science professor at the University of Missouri - Kansas City.
KSHB 41’s Rachel Henderson sat down with Leiter a week prior to discuss the assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump. Leiter says the timing of the past month of politics is noteworthy.
“Rather than talking about the Republican National Convention, people are going to be talking about Biden dropping out and who the next nominee will be,” Leiter said.
After an endorsement Sunday from President Biden, that nominee may be Vice President Kamala Harris.
“On the one hand, we have a very, very different kind of candidate, and voters may respond to that, they may respond to a younger, female non-white candidate in a really positive way,” Leiter said. “On the other hand, they have simply not gotten to know her.”
If elected, Harris would be the first female and Asian American president and second African-American president.
“This is pretty late in the American election cycle to convince voters that you should vote for them, and of course, people are going to bring up her gender and her race as issues as a candidate, Leiter said. “We know that people respond to seeing people like them running for office, and these kind of barrier-breaking presidencies really matter.”
Leiter points to 1968 Democratic National Convention for context about the last time the United States has seen a Democratic National Convention like this.
“A contested convention, as we saw in 1968, really hurts the candidate who ends up winning,” Leiter said.
On top of that, Harris wouldn’t have an incumbency advantage.
“In America, party matters quite a bit, and so this is really a chance for us to see just how much it's party versus candidate in presidential elections,” Leiter said.
But with unprecedented times come unprecedented outcomes, she added.
“She’s younger, she’s vigorous, she’s an engaging and energetic person, so they’re going to have to dramatically change how they’re planning on campaigning,” Leiter said.
Even if it’s not with who’s elected, it may be with how.
“We may actually see similar turnout levels to what we saw in 2020, high high turnout,” Leiter said. “This may really have an effective of really driving new people to the polls or getting them excited about a candidate that they previously were not about.”
Leiter’s also hoping people don’t lose sight of the noteworthy amidst the chaos.
“This is a truly historic nomination, and I don't think that we should lose the historic nature of that nomination in the unprecedented way that it occurred,” she said.
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