We in this space admit to being mesmerised by the unfolding presidential election campaign in the US, whose logic-defying evolution appears to be on the cusp of handing the country its first-ever woman president in just shy of 250 years of American history.

Nor are we alone, as up to Jamaica Observer press time, readers who have responded to an unscientific poll in this newspaper have indicated that 77 per cent of them are either “very interested” (53 per cent), or “somewhat interested” (23 per cent), with 24 per cent “not interested”, in the American election campaign.

Logic-defying evolution, because Ms Kamala Harris, the incumbent vice-president, is leading the Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump in nearly all opinion polls, amidst possibly the most divisive political campaign in which terms like racism, misogyny, and white supremacy have been liberally bandied about.

Ms Harris had already smashed American political tradition in 2020 when she was tapped by President Joe Biden as his vice-president, but if the polls turn out to be accurate, not only will a woman be elected president, but a woman who is black and south Asian.

On Tuesday night, the second night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, Ms Harris received the party’s nomination by all 57 delegations from the 50 states and US territories participating in a voice vote, during what is called a ceremonial roll call, again, the first for a woman. Tonight she will formally accept that nomination.

It is noteworthy that Women’s Suffrage — when all women got the right to vote — only came about in June 1919, entrenched by the 19th Amendment to the American Constitution. Of course, black women did not get the right to vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Three years later, the late Ms Shirley Chisholm became the first black woman to be elected to the US Congress from Brooklyn, New York, serving seven terms. In 1972, she became the first black presidential candidate for a major party nomination and, interestingly, the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.

It is on such shoulders that Ms Harris stands after an outstanding political career that saw her become the first black district attorney of San Francisco; the first woman attorney general of California; the first black woman senator of California; and first black woman vice-president of the United States.

The overwhelming interest of Jamaicans in the US presidential elections comes as no surprise, but the 2020 polls have generated more attention, comparable perhaps to the 2008 election of Mr Barack Obama, the first black president of the US.

However, Jamaicans have an even greater motivation this year because Ms Harris is part-Jamaican, her father being Professor Donald J Harris who hails from Brown’s Town, St Ann. It is noticeable that Ms Harris has made far more references to her mother, Mrs Shyamala Harris, who was from India. This is probably because, as he has said, they had a difficult divorce and the children grew up with their mother.

Reticent as he is, we believe Mr Harris no doubt shares the pride of all Jamaicans in his daughter’s superlative achievements, of which president of the United States would be the icing on the cake.