What a difference a day makes! 

On the night of July 20, 2024, President Joe Biden met with his top aides and was presented with the alarming polling information (reflected in my Washington Post infographic earlier that day), that convinced him he had no path to victory. The polls showed him losing every swing state. About 10% of the American electorate would vote for Trump simply because he was stronger than Biden, despite being less competent, unhinged, and dictatorial.

On Sunday, July 21, Biden made the most important decision of his life. Instead of a disastrous Ruth Bader Ginsberg moment, it was his George Washington moment. And the presidential election was turned on its head.

Suddenly, Democrats have flipped the script on Trump’s relentless “strong versus weak” narrative. Now Trump is the oldest candidate to ever run for president, surpassing Reagan’s reelection bid by five years. Suddenly it is Trump’s weak health and lapses into dementia that will only get worse, every week, between now and the election. 

And, most importantly, suddenly Democrats have excitement for a younger, stronger candidate who will turn out young, female and Black voters in record numbers to elect the first woman president in American history.  

A new RMG Poll of 3,000 registered voters released August 2 shows Harris beating Trump by 5 points nationally. This is especially notable because Trump was beating Harris 46% to 44% in an RMG poll released on July 24. That’s a seven point swing in a little over a week.

RMG isn’t the only poll showing Harris’s rise either. Poll aggregator 538 lists Harris ahead of Trump in an average of all recent polls, while a Bloomberg/Morning Consult poll released July 30 shows Harris winning in five out of seven swing states. If the election was held today with those results, she would win the electoral college by 284 votes to Trump’s 254. And she’s only getting started.

Harris’s fundraising totals have so far, literally, been unparalleled. A record $100 million in donations poured in during the first 24 hours, breaking records for campaign cash raised in a short time. She raised $310 million in July, which may have been the highest July fundraising total for a presidential candidate in history. Trump committees raised $138.7 million. Less than half as much as Harris.

Meanwhile, Trump is in full panic mode, as Harris slams him in her first speeches, painting the race as a contest between prosecutor and a felon. 

As I pointed out in a column on July 19, Harris’ candidacy provides Democrats with an incredible opportunity. Trump’s high unfavorability ratings are 41%. And as he grows older, angrier and weirder, his unpopularity will grow. 

And there may be even better news ahead. 

Harris is adding pent up enthusiasm and widespread awareness to the election. Young voters who were uninspired by Biden will turn out in record numbers not seen since Obama’s landslide election in 2008. Add to this millions of women galvanized by the terrifying prospect of losing their reproductive freedom, and America is likely to witness a blue tidal wave this November.

Both abortion bills and close Senate races are on the ballot in Arizona and Florida. A sweeping Harris victory, which feels more likely with each passing day, would allow Democrats to hold onto their Senate majority and retake the House of Representatives.

Controlling the White House and both houses of congress would empower Democrats to end the filibuster and expand the Supreme Court to 13 justices, the number of federal appellate districts. This would render irrelevant the most corrupt, repressive, and politically vengeful Supreme Court majority in history.  

A new court could restore reproductive freedom, voting rights, and the power to regulate our air and climate. 

A simple Democratic majority in the House and Senate could also vote to make Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico states. This would add four reliably Democratic senators and seven seats to the House, helping remedy the slave state-favoring electoral college and the undemocratic senate representation system. The power of a far right extremist minoritarian Republican party could, at long last, come to an end.

A very bright day may soon turn into a very, very bright future for the United States of America. 

Jonathan Greenberg is the founder of StopTrumpDictatorship.com.

He is an investigative journalist who has written about Trump since the 1982 Forbes 400, longer than any journalist, including a series of four impactful Trump exposes in the Washington Post during his presidency.