The link is unique - Biden dropping out enables dems to refocus on Trump, but requires continued commitment towards economic fairness.

(Nicholas, Katie, 7-22-24, New York Times, “How Kamala Harris Will Try to Put Trump on Defense”, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/22/us/politics/kamala-harris-trump-presidential-election.html)

From the beginning of President Biden’s ill-fated re-election bid, Democrats struggled to frame the race as a choice between two radically different visions, rather than a referendum on Mr. Biden’s age and abilities.

But now that he has dropped out and Vice President Kamala Harris is cruising toward the Democratic nomination, her party sees fresh opportunities to turn the public’s attention back to the vulnerabilities of former President Donald J. Trump on key issues for voters, including abortion rights, fundamental democratic principles and questions of economic fairness.

Democrats hope that Ms. Harris — a history-making former prosecutor who is nearly two decades younger than Mr. Trump — can draw a sharp new set of contrasts and tap into arguments that were out of reach for Mr. Biden, 81, starting with the issue of age but extending into matters of policy and personality.

That is especially clear on abortion rights. Mr. Biden, a practicing Catholic, has long been uncomfortable discussing the issue, or even saying the word “abortion.” Ms. Harris, by contrast, speaks easily and openly about reproductive health and has held campaign events alongside women sharing their stories of miscarriages, abortions and challenges with fertility.

Republicans, for their part, plan to argue that Ms. Harris still owns the unpopular parts of Mr. Biden’s record, saying that she is also weak on issues like inflation and immigration. Polling has shown Mr. Trump with significant advantages on many of the most important issues for voters, other than abortion rights.

But in interviews, Democrats were eager to make the race about character and experience, noting Ms. Harris’s law enforcement background and Mr. Trump’s litany of legal problems.

“She is a former prosecutor and he is a convicted felon,” said Marcia L. Fudge, a former housing secretary in the Biden administration who said she had spoken with Ms. Harris on Sunday. “If there ever was a huge choice, this is it.”

Mr. Biden’s miserable debate performance late last month stole the spotlight from Mr. Trump’s 34-count felony conviction in Manhattan. Many Democrats had hoped Mr. Trump’s criminal status could be used to their advantage, but that line of attack was put on hold as Mr. Biden tried to quell the Democratic revolt against his candidacy.

Democrats are now moving to renew it, casting Ms. Harris as the “rule of law” candidate and hammering home the fact that the twice-impeached Mr. Trump sought to overturn the results of a free election.

“What is particularly important, especially in this case, is her history as a prosecutor — someone who has stood for law and order,” said Representative Veronica Escobar, a Texas Democrat who served as a co-chair of Mr. Biden’s campaign. Mr. Trump, she added, is “a convicted criminal, who not just violates the law, but believes very firmly that the law does not apply to him and his supporters.”

Before being elected to the Senate in 2016, Ms. Harris served as the district attorney of San Francisco and the attorney general of California. She sometimes struggled to discuss her history in law enforcement and matters of criminal justice during her 2020 presidential campaign, when many Democrats were pushing to rein in the powers of the police.

But she relishes bringing up those roles on the campaign trail now, and her allies say she will try to wield them against Mr. Trump as she makes the case that he is unfit to return to the White House.