The major challenge facing both Kamala Harris and Anthony Albanese
Voters will judge Anthony Albanese and Kamala Harris within nine months. They’re both clinging to the centre ground as politics around them fractures.
Much has been written about the splintering of Western democracies as minor parties and once-fringe candidates rise globally. Donald Trump’s 2016 surge to the White House, and his potential return in 2024, is the most obvious example.
Amid this fracture, US presidential nominee Kamala Harris and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have a similar goal ahead of their respective upcoming elections — hold the centre ground.
“The key question is: who owns the centre? Because if you own the centre, you win the election,” US Studies Centre senior fellow Bruce Wolpe said.
This week, in her first sitdown interview since replacing Joe Biden as the Democrats’ presidential hopeful, Harris declared herself the candidate for Middle America.
