Dear editor,

鈥淔asten your seatbelts. It鈥檚 going to be a bumpy ride,鈥� said actress Bette Davis as Margo Channing in 1950's 鈥楢ll About Eve.鈥�

This quote might best describe the upcoming fall U.S. presidential race between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump after President Joseph Biden dropped out of the presidential race July 21.

I am a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, a presidential historian and twice-elected to the Electoral College.

For a lot of Americans, Vice President Harris acts like the unknown candidate while former President Trump is the better known. In this 鈥楢lice In Wonderland鈥� scenario, never before has a sitting president stepped aside this late in the campaign season for his vice president (the last time a president chose not to run was President Lyndon B. Johnson in March 1968).

Only once has a former president ever won re-election (Cleveland in 1892). It surprises me when I hear women who say they won鈥檛 vote for Harris, even though they don鈥檛 know much about her. Biden pulling out this late may give Americans something to be thankful for: a shortened nominating season.

Republicans are crying 鈥榝oul鈥� at the proverbial top of their lungs. Their campaign was crafted to run against 鈥榦ld鈥� Joe Biden (81) between now and the Nov. 5 general election (now look who鈥檚 the old man in the race with Trump at 78). It caught the Republicans and the Trump campaign flatfooted.

Already, there are outright claims from Trump and his supporters questioning the results of the election less than four months from now. It is part of a campaign, like they did in 2020, to discredit, which led to the insurrection in the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, 2021 when they tried to interrupt the counting of the Electoral College votes.

Richard Nixon鈥檚 campaign had claims of fraud in Illinois in his 1960 razor-thin loss to John Kennedy. But he put his country first and decided not to challenge the results, leading to his stunning comeback and win in 1968. The last vice president to wake up in the vice president鈥檚 home at One Observatory Circle but spend the night as president in the White House was Vice President George H. W. Bush on Jan. 20, 1989.

This may repeat itself in 2025.

Has America changed enough to elect a woman of colour, to its highest office in the land? Time and less than 100 days will tell. A previous letter writer wrote that America鈥檚 friends and foes are wondering if President Biden is 鈥渆ven capable鈥� of making it to Jan. 20, 2025. He will not only make it, but he might see his vice president say these words: 鈥淚, Kamala Harris鈥︹��

Scott W. Larsen

Courtenay