107 Days

The American Federation of Teachers was the first union to endorse Harris. At a speaking event, the president of the union told her that she had “electrified” the presidential race. Harris began her speech by telling the crowd that Biden modeled “true leadership.” She praised his “bold vision and deep compassion” (63) and promised the teachers that she would ban assault weapons and not books.

Driving back to her hotel in the rain, Harris worried about the worsening of natural disasters due to climate change. However, the American people were concerned with “needs that felt more immediate” (64), such as rising rent and grocery prices. While Harris was proud of the work the Biden administration had done to curb climate change, she had to focus on issues that directly impacted the American people’s daily lives due to the campaign’s short duration. She sometimes felt like a “triage nurse,” picking issues to focus on “so that key information could sink in” (65).

After addressing the teachers, Harris had a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. Harris asserts that Israel had the right to defend its territory against attack but takes issue with “the ferocity of Netanyahu’s response” (65). She didn’t expect the meeting to be productive; Netanyahu refused to acknowledge the extent to which Palestinian civilians were suffering, and ceasefire negotiations with the White House were stalling.