As Vice President Kamala Harris is so fond of saying, “You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.” Unfortunately for her, that’s not good news.

What came before was a concerted effort by top Democrats to conceal the extent of President Joe Biden’s cognitive decline, only to see it all come crashing down in the wake of his disastrous debate performance. That was coupled with a persistent arrogance that voters would turn out to support abortion rights and the need to save democracy, even as poll numbers showed Americans were primarily worried about the economy and unconvinced by White House messaging that blamed corporate greed and “shrinkflation” for the high cost of living.