Democrats and a complicit media are already building a cult of personality around Kamala Harris, circling the wagons to protect her from expected Republican attacks.
Whether it's planting memes on the Internet or stories in the media, the Harris campaign is riding a wave of favorable publicity, painting the vice president as a likable figure, and preparing to label any attacks against Harris as racist or misogynist.
Harris supporters have also been trying to make Harris seem hip by showing videos of her dancing and calling her "brat"--a term of endearment from a Charli XCX song.
It's an attempt to re-introduce and rebrand the unpopular Harris, but it's a persona that Harris doesn't possess. And to voters, it's questionable whether it will work.
Democrats tried the same thing with Hillary Clinton eight years ago--remember the "I'm with Her" T-shirts?--and Donald Trump clobbered her on Election Day anyway.
The Boston Globe claimed in a story that Democrats are bracing for a "perfect storm" of the "Godzilla of racial and misogynistic campaigning" in the next few months. They based it on the fact that Trump made fun of Hillary Clinton's appearance in 2016 and circulated the claim that Barack Obama was not born in the U.S.
Trump has also made fun of Harris' "cackling" laugh.
"Hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type," Harris said at a campaign event. "And in this campaign, I promise you, I will proudly put my record against his any day of the week."
Harris's record is fair game in this election, despite what Democrats may say.
She has an abysmal record on immigration, and can get defensive when criticized, like she did when Republicans blasted her for not going to the U.S.-Mexico border.
"And I haven't been to Europe," Harris retorted snidely.
Harris could ride the wave of feel-good stories to close on Trump in the polls in the coming weeks, especially after the Democratic convention coronates her. But so far there's little evidence Democrats have gotten a big boost. Harris in fact has a much different image to moderate and young voters especially.
A poll conducted by Quinnipiac University in the last few days showed Trump actually crushing Harris among younger voters.
In the 18-34 age group, Trump got 58 percent of voters, while Harris trailed with 39 percent.
The poll was surprising because most pundits have assumed the younger Harris would fare much better than 81-year-old Joe Biden among voters in that age group.
"The dramatic reset at the top of the Democratic ticket does little to move the race as Vice President Harris enters the fray with numbers similar to President Biden," polling analyst Tim Malloy said.