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[Emily Brooks, ‘The Hill’ staff writer, Caroline Vakil, ‘The Hill’ staff writer, Julia Manchester, ‘The Hill’ staff writer, 7-21-24, “Republicans see opportunity in Harris presidential run after Biden exit,” https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4785145-republicans-opportunity-harris-biden, 7-21-24, EP]

As much as they bash Harris, though, Republicans face new risks with Biden’s exit.

[Christian Paz, Vox senior politics reporter, 7-21-24, Vox, “Does Kamala Harris give Democrats a better chance to win?,” https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/361750/biden-drop-out-harris-endorse-polls-against-trump-democrats-dnc, accessed: 7-21-24, ES]

Over the past weeks, amid speculation about Biden's future on the ticket, two debates have played out. The first big question is whether Harris will be President Joe Biden’s replacement, or if another Democratic politician, like Govs. Gretchen Whitmer (MI), Josh Shapiro (PA), or Gavin Newsom (CA) would do better. The other question circulating among pundits, pollsters, journalists, strategists, and regular folks is whether Harris would be a stronger presidential contender than Biden.

[Mark, 7/21/2024, NBC news, “How Kamala Harris fares against Trump in the 2024 polls”, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/kamala-harris-trump-2024-polls-biden-rcna162934, accessed 7/21/2024, LR]

Where Harris runs stronger — and weaker — than Biden

[Peter & Cleve R. Jr., 7-21-24, Washington Post, “Kamala Harris has a career of comebacks. She has 107 days to do it again,’ WASHINGTON POST, accessed July 21, 2024, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/21/kamala-harris-political-career/, accessed 7-21-14]

Throughout her history-making and often rocky ascent to the summit of American public life, Kamala D. Harris has shown an uncanny ability to revive her political fortunes.

[Christian Paz, Vox senior politics reporter, 7-21-24, Vox, “Does Kamala Harris give Democrats a better chance to win?,” https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/361750/biden-drop-out-harris-endorse-polls-against-trump-democrats-dnc, accessed: 7-21-24, ES]

Her 2016 Senate campaign, meanwhile, showed how she’s able to remain on message and be disciplined — winning support from the Democratic establishment, consistently holding a fundraising advantage, and showing that her Democrat opponent was not a serious candidate. There wasn’t much of a policy difference between Harris and her opponent, former Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, but she was still able to deliver a landslide win.

[Christian Paz, Vox senior politics reporter, 7-21-24, Vox, “Does Kamala Harris give Democrats a better chance to win?,” https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/361750/biden-drop-out-harris-endorse-polls-against-trump-democrats-dnc, accessed: 7-21-24, ES]

There’s the obvious stuff: Harris is younger, can actually string sentences together, and has already been campaigning against Trump this year. These points were once again demonstrated this week — while Biden was forced to recover from Covid at his home in Delaware during the week of the Republican National Convention, Harris was on the trail with North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.

[James, 7-21-2024, Newsweek, “Kamala Harris Can Beat Donald Trump With This Running Mate, Polls Suggest,” https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-chances-vs-donald-trump-according-polls-1927944, accessed 7-21-2024, CM]

Concern over the age and mental agility of 81-year-old Biden erupted in the aftermath of the first presidential debate on June 27, during which the president appeared at several points to lose his train of thought mid-sentence. In the weeks that followed a growing number of prominent Democrats, including lawmakers and actor George Clooney, urged Biden to step aside from the race so his party can select another nominee.

[Christian, 7-21-2024, The Hill, “Does Kamala Harris give Democrats a better chance to win?,” https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/361750/biden-drop-out-harris-endorse-polls-against-trump-democrats-dnc, accessed 7-21-2024, CM]

Harris backers have plenty to point to in the aftermath of June’s presidential debate.

[Mark, 7/21/2024, NBC news, “How Kamala Harris fares against Trump in the 2024 polls”, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/kamala-harris-trump-2024-polls-biden-rcna162934, accessed 7/21/2024, LR]

With President Joe Biden exiting the 2024 presidential race, Vice President Kamala Harris now becomes the overwhelming front-runner to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.

[Rachel, 7/21/2024, Newsweek, “Democrats' Strongest Candidate Against Donald Trump, According to Polls”, https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-kamala-harris-2024-election-democrats-polls-1928185, accessed 7/21/2024, LR]

After President Joe Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race on Sunday afternoon, he endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who, according to recent polling data, is the strongest candidate to take on former President Donald Trump.

[Julia Mueller, ‘The Hill’ staff writer, 7-21-24, “Harris vs. Trump: What the polls tell us,” https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4785009-kamala-harris-polls-donald-trump/, 7-21-24, EP]

Harris is also “the easiest one” among the prominent Democrats being floated for the hypothetical nominee to slide into Biden’s place, given the mechanics of the process, Tranter said.

[Sarah & Rachel Cohrs, 7-21-24, STAT, “Harris health care agenda swiftly hailed by progressives and reproductive rights groups”, , accessed: 7-21-24, AngH]

While some progressive biotech entrepreneurs and health care venture capitalists were willing to endorse Harris, others withheld their views. Some health care analysts worried about the uncertainty the upheaval in the presidential race could create.

(Daryl, 2024, Arms Control Association, “Nuclear Dangers and the 2024 Election”, https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2024-01/focus/nuclear-dangers-2024-election)

As the new year begins, the existential risks posed by nuclear weapons continue to grow. A crucial factor in whether one or more of today’s nuclear challenges erupt into full-scale crisis, unravel the nonproliferation system, or worse will be the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.

[Saurabh, 7-21-24, Politico Magazine, “15 Experts Predict What Biden’s Dropout Means for the 2024 Election”, , Accessed 7-21-24, AMH]

I never thought Joe Biden would step down, because everyone who could force him to do so from his staff to the DNC rules committee were heavily incentivized for him to stay at the top of the ticket. The one exception was the donors. It’s no coincidence that Biden’s resignation announcement came the day after FEC records showed a disastrous drop in donations to the Biden campaign, especially compared to President Trump’s.

[Jennifer, 7/21/2024, The Washington Post, “How a Harris presidential campaign would transform the race”, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/07/21/kamala-harris-campaign-2024-biden/?utm_campaign=wp_for_you&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_personalizedforyou&utm_content=readinghistory__position4, accessed 7/21/2024, LR]

So let’s assume that Harris would head the ticket. What then? She could make this a very different race in multiple ways.

While it seems increasingly unlikely the U.S. economy is headed for recession, small businesses still face headwinds like higher costs and difficulty retaining qualified workers.

But owners say they’re optimistic as 2024 gets underway, according to a new survey from American Express.

[Hemanth, Dr. HH, 2024, International Journal of Current Science Research and Review, “Relevance of IPR in Small Businesses”, , Accessed July 16 2024, AMH]

FINDINGS

As a small business, the intellectual property (IP) you create is your competitive advantage. Protecting that property early can be the difference between the success and failure of your entire enterprise. That’s why putting IP structures in place before going to market is so important. It gives you a chance to plan for growth over time—and steer the ship when you encounter rough waters. Based on my experience securing intellectual property and patents in many countries, here’s how to set yourself up for long-term success by leveraging your IP potential.

If you’re spending a lot of energy and time developing a technology, particularly in a competitive industry, you want to patent-protect your core idea early so you can then take the time to build out the mechanics of the business. For tech startups, securing a patent on your core technology doesn’t mean that technology will never change. It simply gives you a buffer between that first idea and the time you are ready to go to market. Having that breathing room can be critical to avoiding potential threats.

Small Business Confidence Could Be Stable—Or Rising—Or Falling

The overall indices of confidences in these surveys shouldn’t be over-analyzed. More interesting are the components of each and the decisions that small businesses say they’re taking and why. But, confidence readings can provide a quick temperature check of how small businesses think they’re doing. As the headline suggests, the surveys seem to point in different directions.

“Small business optimism has reached the lowest level since 2012 as owners continue to manage numerous economic headwinds,” said Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist at NFIB, in a statement. “Inflation has once again been reported as the top business problem on Main Street and the labor market has only eased slightly.

Inflation remains stubbornly high at 3.5%, which will likely lead to a more hawkish monetary policy stance by the Federal Reserve Bank, and keep interest rates higher for longer than previously anticipated by the market.