BBC, July 2024
In the days since Kamala Harris announced her candidacy for US president, young people across the US have had a lot to explain. The increasing popularity of coconut trees. A British pop superstar becoming a sudden American political force. The resurgence of chartreuse green. Social media was abuzz last Sunday after President Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign and instead endorsed Vice-President Harris. And in the hours that followed, the Harris campaign leaned in to the excitement. The Biden-Harris campaign Twitter account changed its username to KamalaHQ, using British pop superstar Charli XCX’s apparent endorsement of her as its new (similarly green) banner.
The campaign’s biography on X reads, “providing context”, a reference to much-lampooned remarks made by Ms Harris in May 2023. While the president’s abrupt exit and Ms Harris’ subsequent rise have injected uncertainty into the election, social media users, particularly young people, have been enthralled. But it’s unclear if the newfound enthusiasm will help engage younger voters, a key group for Democrats in November, and whether the political momentum will continue. So far, the online flurry has proved fruitful: The campaign has raised more than $100 million in the roughly two days since Mr Biden decided to step aside, it hosted a fundraising call attracting more than 44,000 black women and recruited about 58,000 new volunteers.
