WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Democratic Party's nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris as its presidential candidate will be a historic gamble as the question is whether a black woman can overcome the challenges of racism and sexism and her own mistakes as a politician to defeat Republican candidate Donald Trump.

No black woman has been elected president

In more than two centuries of democracy in the US, American voters have elected only one black president (Barack Obama in 2008) and have never elected a black woman as president. Some black voters also express doubts whether Harris will be able to break this record of American politics. Political strategist and co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund, Latosha Brown, said, "Will her race and gender not be an issue? Absolutely."

Harris, the first choice of young voters

If Harris becomes the Democratic Party's candidate, she will face other challenges as well. For example, she will have only three months to campaign, unite the party and gather donors. However, some Democrats are excited about her prospects. 59-year-old Harris has been very vocal about abortion rights and this issue is very attractive to young voters and matches the progressive ideology of the Democratic Party.

Harris' supporters have high hopes

Supporters argue she will energize voters, consolidate black support and use her debating skills to advance the political case against Trump. Brown said her candidacy will offer a stark contrast to the two white men on the Republican ticket, Trump and his vice presidential candidate, J.D. Vance. "To me, that represents America's past. Whereas she (Harris) represents America's present and future," Brown said.

However, some Democrats are concerned about Harris's instability in the first two years of her vice presidency and her short-lived campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination. It is noteworthy that in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted on July 15-16 after the attack on Trump, Harris and Trump were tied with 44 percent support. In the same poll, Trump was ahead of Biden with 43 percent, 41 percent. However, this difference of two percentage points was within the poll's three percentage point margin of error.