Everyone who is other than willfully blind can see that the presidential campaign of Kamala Harris is off to a splendid start. A start so flawlessly executed that only the most churlish would deny the magnitude of her accomplishment. In just two weeks she electrified the Democratic base. In just two weeks she raised unprecedented amounts of money. In just two weeks she recruited an unprecedented number of campaign volunteers. In just two weeks she changed the trajectory of the polls in the Democrats’ favor. In just two weeks she identified a running mate who in his inaugural speech hit a home run. In just two weeks she changed the national conversation. And in just two weeks she roused an American electorate that previously was effectively moribund.
Which raises the question of how this happened. What changed so that a woman who just three weeks ago was largely invisible and whose reputation was, shall we say, less than stellar, became overnight a political superstar?
I’ve often written about the leadership system. * How it’s the system that explains the dynamics of power, authority, and influence by looking at the leader in tandem. Specifically, the leadership system has three parts, each of which is equally important: 1) the leader; 2) the followers; and 3) the contexts within which leaders and their followers are situated.
The meteoric rise of Kamala Harris is a perfect case in point. Previously, say a month ago, she was of course prominent. A leader. She was, after all, vice president of the United States. But in no way did she stand out in that role, and there was nothing in her past that made most Americans see her as a political virtuoso. Similarly, followers, here the American electorate. A month ago, it was anything other than electrified. Committed Republicans were prepared in November to vote, again, for Donald Trump. And committed Democrats were prepared in November to vote, again, for Joe Biden. But by and large the American people were turned off and tuned out.
Which brings us to context – which in this instance is all-important. What changed two weeks ago was not Harris. She did not metamorphose overnight into an entirely different political creature. And, what changed two weeks ago was not the American electorate which is the same in early August as it was in early July. What changed was the context. Once President Biden announced that he was shutting down his campaign, and then further declared that he was endorsing Kamala Harris to succeed him, to head the Democratic ticket, the game changed. Her competition melted away and she was free to lead the charge, full speed ahead.
None of this is to take away from Harris. In the last two weeks she has performed virtually flawlessly. Rather it is to point out how astonishingly differently she is seen not because she is different. Or because we are different. But because the context within which she is situated is different. It changed. She did not. And we did not.
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*This is the article in Daedalus in which I first identified the leadership system.