The Economist Magazine COver For 08/24/2024

The Economist Read in browser August 24th 2024 How we chose this week’s image SUBSCRIBER ONLY Cover Story How we chose this week’s image The Economist Robert Guest Deputy editor In the week of their convention America’s Democrats are in a celebratory mood. They have ditched a candidate who, for all his admirable qualities, was visibly and audibly too frail to have much chance of re-election, or to govern for another four years. Instead of President Joe Biden they have Kamala Harris, a younger, fresher nominee who has quickly wiped out Donald Trump’s poll lead and wrong-footed him so badly that he is reduced to insisting he is better looking than she is. Yet the race is still close, and there are worrying gaps in what we know about Ms Harris. What, exactly, does she believe? How would she approach the economy, the climate or foreign policy? Her record as vice-president only tells you so much. She was not calling the shots in the Biden White House, so it is hard to know how much she agreed with her boss’s policies. She has changed her mind on quite a few issues—from single-payer health care to decriminalising illicit border-crossing—since she ran for the 2020 Democratic nomination. And some of her recent proposals, such as a big handout for homebuyers and a rule against non-existent “price-gouging” by grocery firms, are economically unsound. Is she simply pandering to voters or does she actually think these are good policies? We have tried to figure out what her studiously vague platform portends. One idea to convey how little the world knows about Ms Harris was to have a photo that is recognisably her, but so blurry that it’s hard to make out any details. Another was to have her profile made up of letters spelling out our central question: who is she, really? This was good, but it would be more vivid to show her face. We picked a characteristically exuberant photograph and laid some big white letters over it. This nicely captured the energy she is showing on the campaign trail, and hinted at her now-famous laugh. Another approach was to show lots of Kamalas wearing different outfits, as if to ask, which of the many political guises she has worn is the real one? Our journalists have been minutely scrutinising Ms Harris’s record for clues as to how she might govern. Perhaps the cover art could allude to this? On the left is a spotlight view of the vice-president, suggesting that we will bring readers closer to understanding her. Unfortunately, this image could also bring to mind the scope on a rifle: a jarring idea, especially so soon after a gunman nearly killed Donald Trump. A magnifying glass is better, and this one reveals the nominee showing off what Bill Clinton calls her “thousand-watt smile”. This old-fashioned portrait hints at the artifice of an election campaign—Team Kamala are doing all they can to construct a wholesome image for their candidate. Ms Harris is enigmatic and beams a lot; her pose in this frame faintly evokes the Mona Lisa, another enigmatic smiler. We also considered taking her image and chopping it up into squares. Better than the squares, a partially completed jigsaw puzzle suggests the idea of trying to piece together an account of her worldview from the contradictory scraps of her record. This captured the essence of our reporting package very clearly, so we worked it up into an intriguing cover. As the week progressed, however, the enormous global interest in the news from Chicago, from Joe Biden’s valedictory speech to Tim Walz’s barnstormer, made us think we should use a photograph taken at the Democratic convention itself. Awkwardly, our deadline was before Ms Harris’s acceptance speech on Thursday night. So we looked at pictures taken earlier in the week. The one on the left, with a stars-and-stripes background, was suitably upbeat, conveying the optimism the Democrats currently feel. But we preferred the one on the right, which included the crowd. The only thing left was to come up with a punchy headline. Some of us liked the simplicity of “Would she be good?” Others thought it too vague, and that readers wouldn’t be sure whether we were referring to her ability to campaign, to be president, or to her moral character—not irrelevant in a race against Mr Trump. So we opted for “How would she govern?” We’ve done our best to answer that question—and will return to the subject often in the coming weeks. Cover image • View large image (“How would she govern?”) Backing stories → Kamala Harris can beat Donald Trump. But how would she govern? (Leader) → She has revealed only the vaguest of policy platforms (Briefing) → Her cost-of-living plan will end in failure (Finance & economics)