Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he has chosen Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) As his running mate.
Why it matters: It’s a historic choice. Harris is both the first Black woman and first Asian American woman to be named to a major part of the U.S. presidential card, and potentially the first female vice president to defeat Biden President Trump.
The big picture: Harris was probably the safest choice Biden could have made among his running mate finalists. She has a national profile and experience with elected office, was secured and tested in the Democratic presidential candidates and can stimulate Biden’s fundraising.
- To reach the decision, Biden had to move past residual tensions and make peace with a fierce primary competitor.
- The decision raises Harris among the next generation of Democratic leaders and could give them a huge advantage in 2024, if Biden were elected and decided not to run for a second term.
What he says: “I need someone working next to me who is sensible, difficult and ready to lead. Kamala is that person,” Biden announced in a statement.
- “I need someone who understands the pain that so many people in our nation suffer. Whether they have lost their job, their business, a loved one to this virus. This president says he ‘is not distracted by it.’ “Do not understand that caring for the people of this nation – all the people – is not a distraction – it is the job. Kamala understands that.”
- “I need someone who understands that we are in a fight for the soul of this nation. And that if we are going through these crises – we must come together and unite for a better America. Kamala gets that.”
- “I first met Kamala through my son Beau. They were both Attorneys General at the same time. He had enormous respect for her and her work. I thought about it a lot when I made this decision. There is no opinion that “I appreciate it more than Beau’s and I’m proud that Kamala is with me on this campaign.”
- “Her record of accomplishment – fighting teeth and nails for what is right – is the reason I choose her. There is no door that Kamala will not knock, no stone that will leave her unturned, if that means to make life better – for the people. “
Harris tweeted after the news broke: “Joe Biden can unite the American people because he has spent his life for us. And as president he will build an America that follows our ideals. I am honored to marry him as the nominee of our party for vice-president, and do whatever it takes to make him our commander-in-chief. “
What follows: Biden’s campaign said he and Harris would comment on Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware, on “working together to restore the nation’s soul and fight for working families to advance the country.”
Between the lines: The choice gives Biden a running mate with strong procedural skills, as Harris has demonstrated at the House hearing and during her strongest debates. That could help them make the case against Trump in the fall.
- But some Democrats will take a closer look at their political skills after their presidential bid fizzled out and a New York Times piece portrayed a campaign full of bad decisions and setbacks.
- She has also had to deal with public and private questions from some Democrats about whether she would be too concentrated to run for president again, although other Democratic operatives have said the questions about her ambitions were sexist and inappropriate. .
The backstory: Harris, who at 55 is more than 20 years younger than Biden, was born to an Indian mother and Jamaican father who emigrated to California.
- She attended Howard University – a historic Black high school – and in 2017 became San Francisco District Attorney, California Attorney General and California Senator.
- Harris solidified her national profile when she grilled at the Trump administration’s nominees and executives, including Brett Kavanaugh during his 2018 Supreme Court confirmation hearing.
- President Obama recognized her talent early on, in 2013 she called her famous ‘brilliant’, ‘dedicated’ and ‘difficult’.
She was seen as a front-runner when she announced her presidential campaign in January 2019, but she could never capitalize on the early momentum – except for a brief spike in public attention following her confrontation with Biden over federal mandate on school buses at a debate in June.
As a presidential candidate Harris campaigned on a $ 500-a-month tax credit that she called “the largest working-class and middle-class tax cut in a generation.” She started as a supporter of Medicare for All, but then switched to an alternative that would have retained a role for private insurance.
- In an October interview with “Axios on HBO”, she explained her decision: “I heard from people, ‘Kamala, do not take my choice away if I want a private plan. Please do not take my choice away.’ And I said, “Do you know what? That’s fair.”
- “I told my team, ‘I know we’ll take a political hit for that. … I knew I would be called a flip-flop for that.”
- She also said in that interview that “of course” it is different to run for president than a Black woman, because in the experience of Americans “there is no reference point for who can do something, there is a flaw to skill or a difficulty in thinking that someone we have never seen can do a job that is done, you know thirty-five times by someone who is not that person. “
Harris has also had to deal with some criticisms based on cases they have judged and policies they have introduced as California’s Attorney General:
- She defended the death penalty as attorney general, despite being personally opposed.
- She did not take a position on Proposition 47, approved by voters, that reduced some criminals to crimes.
- They oppose a bill that would have required their office to investigate police shootings.
Reality check: It will be Biden who sets the policy if he wins – but Harris’ record will be relevant if she is elected vice president, especially if she owns specific expenditures and projects like Biden did when he was vice president. President of Barack Obama.
- It will also be relevant to their own political future.
What to see: Harris’ acceptance of the nomination at the Democratic convention will be her chance to introduce herself to an audience of voters for general elections – and to show how well she and Biden can work as a team.
Go deeper: Kamala Harris on the issues
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