Donald Trump, the former guy, is struggling. Throughout the 2024 race for the presidency, he has been the physically bigger, louder, more robust old white guy, though not the smarter or more effective president of the two men. In fact, the former guy has been ranked as the worst president in our history according to a survey of 154 scholars.

But suddenly everything has changed, and I do mean suddenly. His opponent has morphed nearly overnight into a 59-year-old energetic, smart, tough, articulate Black woman, a former prosecutor and district attorney. And he and his campaign just can’t seem to find a way to respond that doesn’t come off as racist, misogynist and weird.

Last month I found myself calling for psychiatric help because things were so utterly depressing. But then, Joe Biden — who has been incredibly effective as president, who has presided over the best economy in decades, the greatest job growth, the passing of legislation to restore manufacturing back to our heartland, to fight climate change, to attempt to reduce the crippling weight of student debt on millions of Americans and so much more — made the courageous and honorable decision to take himself out of the race for reelection.

It’s just a bit over three weeks since Biden made that historic announcement. But that’s not all he did that day. He also made sure that the right person to succeed him as candidate had his endorsement. And that person, as you well know, was his vice president, Kamala Harris.

It seemed impossible this close to the election — how could Kamala pull the Democrats together to support her with so little time left? But, amazingly, within days, the Democratic Party came together in support of Kamala’s run for the presidency with immense excitement and joy.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it before. Well, maybe back in the Obama days, but still, this surpasses even his campaign of hope. It felt like the world stopped for a moment, took a deep breath, and suddenly life was filled with joy again.

In that first week there were giant Zoom calls with hundreds of thousands of attendees, all wanting to donate, to sign up to knock on doors, to send postcards and to phone-bank to get out the vote. Donations flooded in. One Zoom call generated more than $11 million, mostly from individual donors like you and me!

When I think of how difficult the decision not to run again must have been for Biden, to give up the most powerful job in the world and do that in service to our democracy and the people of his country, I find myself humbled by his act of generosity and selflessness.

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It stands in stark contrast to the former guy’s behavior at the end of his term as president. Not only did the former guy refuse to promise he would gracefully leave office should he lose the 2020 election, when he did lose, he precipitated an insurrection to stop that transfer of power and stay in the job. Thanks to the many true patriots who refused to go along with it, his coup attempt failed, and he was forced to give up power. But I’m sure he will succeed next time should we fail to keep him from regaining the White House.

Let’s just stop for a minute and take in what Joe Biden did for us. He gave it all up for the good of his country. Donald Trump nearly destroyed his country to stay in power. No matter your political leanings, you’ve got to respect Joe for making such a courageous choice. I sure do.

So, the race for the presidency is in full swing, with Vice President Kamala Harris running against the former guy. And what it has turned into, since she took over the top of the ticket, is a fight for two very different ways of being. One positive, the other negative.

Since the moment Kamala jumped into the race, her rallies have been filled to overflowing with enthusiastic, energetic, excited supporters. The atmosphere is always about the future and how she wants to make all Americans’ lives better. She and her VP pick, Gov. Tim Walz, have energized this campaign with positivity, lifting people up, not dragging them down like the former guy.

At some of her rallies, when she mentioned Trump, her supporters began chanting “lock him up,” mimicking Trump’s rallies of 2016. Instead of encouraging them, she kindly shut it down by saying, “You know what, the courts are going to handle that part of it. What we’re gonna do is beat him in November.”

Her VP pick Walz has spent his entire life in service to his students as a teacher and role model, to his country as a 24-year member of the National Guard, as a U.S. congressman and now as a governor.

Compare that to J.D. Vance, the former guy’s pick for VP. He has spent his life sidling up to right-wing billionaires who have spent millions of dollars to put him where he is today. He opposes a woman’s right to make her own heath care decisions and has stated that women who don’t give birth have less value than those that do. He means Kamala, of course.

I’ll leave you with these words from Kamala, our next president, spoken at a recent rally: “I believe we each face a question: What kind of country do we want to live in? A country of chaos and fear, or a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law? The beauty of our democracy is each person has the power to answer that question because the power is with the people.”

Karen Gardner of Haydenville can be reached at opinion@gazettenet.com.