Kamala, the secret weapon of the Democrats of 2024?

At a Black outreach event packed with Democratic heavyweights on Wednesday, it was Kamala Harris who proved to be the unexpected star of the show.

The vice president has been pilloried in the past for her awkward and stilted speeches at events. But at Girard College in Philadelphia, as a warm-up for Biden, she seemed much more comfortable, joking and responding to applause..

She also received some of the biggest reactions during a stylish performance where she listed the Biden administration's accomplishments that specifically benefit the Black community — from a $35 cap on the cost of insulin and from canceling student debt to record investments in black history. colleges.

She highlighted how the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade disproportionately affect black women. “And today, one in three women and more than half of black women of childbearing age live in a state where abortion is banned – a Trump ban on abortion,” she noted.

She also delivered some pugnacious one-liners that went down well with the mostly black crowd. When criticizing Trump's Supreme Court picks, she described it as “Thurgood's court,” referring to the first black justice, Thurgood Marshall, who drew a strong and positive response.

The star's turn did not go unnoticed among those gathered in the boarding school gymnasium.

Philadelphia's Aminah Shabazz commented on Biden's lack of “swag,” but noted that Harris also visited Philadelphia last week, going to Jim's in West Philadelphia — a local favorite for cheesesteaks , opposed to the more commercially popular Pat's or Geno's.

“I'm curious why this wasn't exploited sooner. Something as simple as Kamala going to Jim's Steaks was huge,” she said. The independent. “It’s little things that go a long way toward making it more accessible.”

Biden and Harris, along with prominent Black surrogates — Rep. Barbara Lee of California, Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore — came to the City of Brotherly Love this week at a critical time for countryside.

Recent polling shows Biden continues to struggle with black voters. A New York TimesA Siena College poll earlier this month found that Biden had just a 53% approval rating among black voters, a dismal statistic for a Democratic incumbent. Donald Trump's campaign made overtures to the voting bloc after improving with Black male voters in 2020, and promoted Black surrogates like Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina and Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida.

A number of people at the Philadelphia event dismissed concerns about Biden's difficulties with black voters. Tony Pritchette, pastor of Provision of Grace World Mission Church, said The independent that he heard about concerns about black participation “only in the news, not in the community.”

“Not in the neighborhood, people will come,” he said. The independent. “We understand the importance of this. In fact, this election, we know what would happen if Trump came back.”

Shabazz said Biden might lack the same “it” factor as his Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and wished he had started investing in the community sooner.

But maybe this is where Harris could be a secret weapon. An alumna of Howard University, she regularly traveled the country visiting other historically black colleges and universities. In the past, polls had shown that many voters did not think Harris was ready to become president. But now, more voters have confidence in his ability to take on the job if Biden can't.

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, who has known Harris since she was attorney general in California, said The independent Last month, the vice president has been a powerful force this election cycle — particularly when it comes to the key issue of abortion rights.

“She can obviously relate to women and what they’re going through,” he said. “[S]he has been on the front lines of protecting women's health care, both as Attorney General, as a United States Senator, and now as Vice President.

Given that abortion rights will be a defining issue in the 2024 elections and that Democrats will likely depend on it to serve in the Senate, Harris may have found her calling card just in time.