That was fast! On Sunday, after President Biden announced he would not run for a second term, Vice President Harris declared her intention to “earn and win” the Democratic nomination. In less than 24 hours, she had apparently secured all the delegates needed to lock up the nomination.

Which raises a question: Why did no one challenge her? After all, Harris is undeniably vulnerable. She ran a catastrophic campaign for president four years ago, flaming out before even reaching the Iowa caucuses. Her public approval has hovered around that of Biden, who is himself one of the most unpopular presidents in 70 years. She is also less popular than former president Donald Trump, the man she must beat. Indeed, The Post’s recent average of 11 polls conducted since the debate found little difference between how she and Biden stack up against Trump.

She is as gaffe-prone as Biden, but without the excuse of advanced age. She has a grating habit of saying simple-minded things in a profound voice (“There is great significance to the passage of time”) and of talking to voters as though they are small children (“Ukraine is a country in Europe. It exists next to another country called Russia. Russia is a bigger country. Russia is a powerful country. Russia decided to invade a smaller country called Ukraine.”). She is an episode of “Veep” come to life.

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And unlike Biden, who at least had the veneer of moderation, she is an unabashed leftist. She has supported the Democratic so­cialist agenda, from the Green New Deal to Medicare-for-all. In her 2019 campaign, she proposed a mind-boggling $45.5 trillion in new spending, according to Manhattan Institute budget expert Brian Riedl. She pledged to ban fracking (which won’t go over well in must-win Pennsylvania) and promised to decriminalize illegal border crossings and provide taxpayer-funded health care for illegal migrants (which might explain her catastrophic failure as Biden’s border czar). She is an abortion zealot who became the first vice president to campaign at an abortion clinic and has suggested that a Catholic who belongs to the Knights of Columbus was unfit to serve as a federal judge. She raised money for a bail fund that helped put people accused and later convicted of violent crimes back on the streets, and she supports giving former prisoners, including rapists and murderers, the right to vote.

She would be the most radical candidate ever to secure the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination. Four years ago, Democrats panicked at the prospect that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) might be their nominee and chose Biden instead. Well, Harris’s Senate voting record was to the left of Sanders — in fact, it was the furthest left of the entire U.S. Senate, according to the nonpartisan government transparency watchdog GovTrack.

And as Biden’s vice president, she maintains ownership of all the disastrous policies that dragged down his approval ratings. She cast the deciding vote for the massive spending package that unleashed the worst inflation in four decades, presided over the worst border crisis in American history, and helped lead the coverup of Biden’s cognitive decline, repeatedly assuring the American people that the president was “vibrant,” “tireless” and “absolutely authoritative in rooms around the globe” as well as in the Oval Office.

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So why didn’t a more electable candidate — of which there are many — throw his or her hat in the ring and seek the Democratic nomination? Simple: If you are a White Democrat — such as Govs. Josh Shapiro (Pa.), Andy Beshear (Ky.), Roy Cooper (N.C.), Tim Walz (Minn.) and Gretchen Whitmer (Mich.), or Sen. Mark Kelly (Ariz.) — with a seemingly bright political future in Democratic politics, why would you get crosswise with Rep. James E. Clyburn (S.C.) and the Congressional Black Caucus by trying to stop the first Black woman from leading a major party ticket? The party of identity politics is never going to pick you over her. And if you try to challenge her, she will play the race card against you — just as she did against Biden in 2019.

Maybe it’s because the Democrats have spent the three weeks since Biden’s disastrous debate in utter chaos — and don’t want another three weeks of chaos that even a “mini-primary” (whatever that is) would entail. That might be a mistake. Harris is just one cringe-inducing interview or word salad away from sending Democrats back into panic mode. And Republicans will use her far-left record to defeat not only her but also vulnerable Democrats running in swing states who will now have to defend her.

Besides, if Trump wins, he’ll be a one-term president — which means those potential challengers would be able to run for an open seat four years from now. Heck, Harris could pick one of them for vice president, which would allow them to raise their national profile with a strong debate performance, without anyone blaming them for losing the White House.

Indeed, the fact that so many electable Democrats are choosing to keep their powder dry for 2028 shows that they really don’t believe Trump is a threat to democracy. They all seem confident that if Trump wins in November, there will still be a free and fair election four years from now in which they can compete.

They’re right.

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