When she stepped onto the debate stage in Miami last Thursday, Kamala Harris was running a presidential campaign that could best be described as “fine.” After entering the race with a huge rally in Oakland—and a strong $12 million raised in the first quarter—she largely receded to what’s been described as the contest’s “second tier.” Consistently hovering around fourth, but rarely higher, in the polls, she was overshadowed by the policy work being offered by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and Joe Biden’s persistent “frontrunner” status. Outside the launch and the fundraising numbers, though, there wasn’t much to note—aside from an embarrassing course correction on Medicare for All. Though far from an also-ran, she was, for many voters, an afterthought.

That appeared to change in Miami, when Harris took on Biden in a blistering assault on his opposition to busing in the early days of his Senate career. In an attack that the Harris campaign gleefully revealed had been scripted “months” before the debate—albeit one made more potent by Biden’s recent comments defending his work with segregationists—she tore into him.



“It was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on segregation of race in this country,” she said. “And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose busing. And you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me.” In response, Biden wilted, ending the exchange by practically begging the moderators to intercede.



The Harris campaign was ready for its big moment—T-shirts with photographs of a young Kamala with the caption “That Little Girl Was Me” were on sale within hours, and she spent the next few days highlighting the exchange on a prodigious tour of TV studios. It seems to be paying off. Biden’s poll numbers have shown a dip, while Harris’s have surged; her campaign took in $2 million in contributions in 24 hours, and garnered the attention of the president, who remarked that she’s “getting too much credit” for her debate performance. She was, by most accounts, the breakout star of the first two Democratic debates and is now being treated as a potential frontrunner.



But Harris’s biggest victory debate night wasn’t her attack on Biden’s record—it was that she didn’t have to defend her own. Biden was too rattled by Harris’s attack to articulately punch back; the other candidates on the stage had other angles prepped to pursue. That is likely to change, however, if Harris continues to surge in the polls.

