Former President Donald Trump was preparing to depict Biden as a doddering old man, incapable of governing, but now he will likely face Harris, who is two decades younger. He must devise a new strategy to prevail in the half dozen or so swing states whose voters will ultimately decide which contender secures the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the White House.
One element of that strategy will be to demonize California, where Harris was born and where she climbed the political ladder from San Francisco district attorney to state attorney general, U.S. senator and finally vice president.
There’s no shortage of fodder for a “California is a cesspool” campaign in those swing states, most of which have little in common with California. Video images of California’s squalid encampments of homeless people and smash-and-grab store robberies, its embrace of undocumented immigrants, its tight gun control laws and its high gasoline prices could be potent political ammunition.