The stake for Jamaicans in the United States presidential election has just been upped, with Vice-President Kamala Harris — whose father is from this island — all but assured the Democratic Party nomination, following President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside.

Nearly all influential leaders in the Democratic Party, the top contenders for the nomination, and the State delegates to the Democratic National Convention have signalled their endorsement of Ms Harris, who would become the first woman president of America if she beats former President Donald Trump in November.

The American political situation just never ceases to amaze.

When we first declared last year that the US had entered uncharted waters, it was nothing short of the understatement of the century.

First, Mr Trump was indicted on over 90 charges, the first former president in US history, for a variety of offences across four states, including stealing and concealing classified documents after leaving office in January 2021; falsifying business records to hide an affair with a porn film star when it threatened to derail his 2016 presidential run; defrauding the state of New York; and attempting to overturn his 2020 election loss in Georgia.

It seemed surreal to witness Mr Trump, and company, being the subject of mug shots in Fulton County, Georgia, in connection with allegations that he was trying to coerce Republican electoral authorities to find him 11,800 votes, which would give him victory in that State.

Things got decidedly worse when Mr Trump was found guilty of 34 felony counts in the so-called hush money case, involving Stormy Daniels, with whom he is said to have had an affair at a time when his wife had just given birth to their son.

Mr Trump was also found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman, E Jean Carroll and fined hundreds of millions of dollars, followed by a further fine for defamation.

With the January 6, 2021 storming of the Capitol by his supporters, Mr Trump was expected at any point to have his political career brought spectacularly to an end. Not so.

He survived to enter the 2024 presidential campaign and was leading in the polls when a young white man, said to be a Republican, attempted to assassinate him at a rally on July 13, 2024, managing only to graze his right ear.

On the Democratic side, Mr Biden, at the height of his powers, suddenly crashed after a dismal performance in the first of two planned debates on CNN, awaking fears that he was not aging well and raised questions about his cognitive abilities.

Embarrassed Democrats immediately launched efforts to get Mr Biden to step aside for a younger candidate who could beat Mr Trump.

After insisting he would stay the course, on Sunday the president announced he was stepping aside in the interest of his country and his party.

In came Vice-President Kamala Harris who, up to Jamaica Observer press time, was being carried on a wave of relief and hope which seemed certain to win her the nomination.

The developments upended the presidential campaign, seemingly catching the Republicans off guard and forcing fever-pitch changes to the GOP platform.

Among the loads of questions to be asked is this: Is history about to spring another surprise, akin to Mr Barack Obama’s presidency, and offer up the first woman American president?