[ad_1]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Kamala Harris will make history if she becomes the next vice president of the United States in Tuesday’s election, and she will immediately be in a strong position to run for the top job four years from now.
If Joe Biden and his running mate Harris win the election, she would be the first woman, the first African American, and the first Asian American to hold the second-highest office in the country.
Given his age, Biden, 77, is not expected to seek a second term, making Harris, 56, an obvious candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2024.
Harris, a US Senator from California, has a history of breaking glass ceilings. She served as San Francisco’s first female district attorney and was the first California woman of color to be elected attorney general.
His criminal justice background could help the Biden administration address issues of racial equality and policing after the country was razed by protests this year.
Harris, whose mother and father emigrated from India and Jamaica respectively, had her sights set on becoming the first female president of the United States when she competed against Biden and others for her party’s nomination in 2020.
He retired from the race last December after a campaign plagued by his wavering views on health care and hesitancy about accepting his past as a prosecutor.
Biden looked past some of the harsh words Harris spoke to him in that campaign to name her his running mate in August. She has proven to be a refined and valuable understudy, especially appealing to women, progressives, and voters of color who are central to the party’s electoral hopes.
Harris, who developed a deep fundraising network during his Senate and White House runs, has been instrumental in Biden raising record sums of money in the final months of the campaign. His selection sparked an explosion of enthusiasm among the Democratic base and among party donors.
“Harris always made the most sense as Biden’s running mate because she had the ability to help him unify the Democratic coalition across racial and generational lines and was able to build up grassroots enthusiasm,” said Joel Payne, a Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary. Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016.
A TEAM PLAYER
Accusations by progressives that Harris did not do enough to investigate police shootings and wrongful convictions when he was California attorney general helped ruin his own presidential career, but have come up little during his time as Biden’s running mate. .
President Donald Trump and his Republican reelection campaign have tried to paint Harris instead as a tool of the Democratic left that would exercise power and influence behind the scenes in a Biden presidency.
She has apparently brushed aside the concerns of some in the field from Biden prior to her selection that she would be too ambitious personally to be a reliable partner.
Harris has proven herself to be a team player, taking on a lower-profile role and holding virtual and in-person political events that at times drew little news coverage, while often speaking in terms of what Biden would do for the country if he were. chosen and winning. a passionate case against Trump.
“Joe and I were raised in a very similar way,” Harris said of Biden in his October debate against Vice President Mike Pence. “We were educated with values that have to do with hard work, with the value and dignity of public service and with the importance of fighting for the dignity of all people.”
DOUBLE JOB
Harris has juggled her running mate duties with her day job in the Senate. As befits her experience as a prosecutor, she was a skilled interrogator for United States Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett at the Barrett Senate confirmation hearing in October, incorporating Biden’s campaign message on health care and change. climate in his line of questioning.
As the only black woman in the Senate, Harris emerged this year as a leading voice in racial justice and police reform after Minneapolis police killed African-American man George Floyd in May. He marched with the protesters in the streets of Washington and won over some liberal skeptics.
If Biden assumes the presidency, Harris is expected to be one of the top advisers on criminal justice and judicial nominations, among other matters.
When asked on “60 Minutes” last month why, given Biden’s age, he believed Harris would be ready to take office if something happened to him, the presidential candidate was quick to answer five reasons.
“Number one, his values. Number two, he’s smart as a demon, and number three, he has a backbone like a drumstick. Number four, he has principles. And number five, he’s had significant experience in the greatest state in the world. Union in the management of the Department of Justice that is only second in size after the Department of Justice of the United States. And obviously, I hope that never becomes a question, “he said.
Harris is married to attorney Douglas Emhoff, who has been a fixture in the election campaign. Her two children from a previous marriage refer to her stepmother as “Momala”.
(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Alistair Bell)
[ad_2]
