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When Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his vice presidential candidate this summer, the underlying message was that it was she, not Biden, who represented the future of the Democrats as a party.
Biden himself said he wanted a younger vice president who is a woman and reflects the diversity of America. When Time magazine recently named Biden and Harris “Person of the Year,” the grammar gave way to the fact that the two are already considered a political entity.
Not since Dick Cheney had an American vice president arrived in Washington with so much responsibility on his shoulders.
Vice President Kamala Harris speaks prior to Joe Biden’s nomination as the new United States Secretary of Education on December 23.
Photo: Carolyn Kaster
Donald trump and the American right-wing alternative media is already trying to portray Joe Biden as some kind of puppet, who will be dragged to the left by Kamala Harris’s hidden agenda. The irony of that conspiracy theory is that Harris is at least as firmly rooted in the ideological middle ground of the Democrats as Biden himself.
In California, she was known as a tough prosecutor who often challenged the left flank of the Democrats. Like Barack Obama, she is now a Democrat who has broken down historic political barriers, but at the same time advocates some caution in factual politics.
Harris’s symbolic value to the United States, on the other hand, is enormous. At a time when the American brand has run aground, Harris now has a chance to restore the country’s worldwide reputation. It will likely be your first job to convince the outside world that America, after four years with Trump, can also represent tolerance, diversity, and respect for democracy.
Time magazine named Joe Biden and Kamala Harris “Person of the Year.”
Photo: Courtesy of TIME magazine
When Harris gave victory speeches along with Biden in Wilmington in November, she emphasized the historic triumph that she embodies.
I am thinking of all the generations of women, black, Asian, white, Hispanic and indigenous women, who have paved the way for this moment in the history of this country. Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality, freedom and justice for all. Not least all the black women who are too often ignored, but who form the backbone of our democracy, Harris said.
For Black and Asian American women, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of having a person in the White House who has shared their experiences, who have experienced discrimination, racism and sexism.
Colleague Glynda Carr tells The New Yorker that “Harris’s superpower is that he has so many identities.”
His mother came to the United States from India and became a leading cancer researcher. The father came from Jamaica and became a professor of economics at the traditional Stanford University. Harris’s upbringing in California has clearly influenced his political outlook.
Kamal Harris on a shopping spree in Washington DC with her husband Doug Emhoff.
Photo: Andrew Harnik
Senior Democrats like Joe Biden belong to a generation marked by the party’s defeat during the Reagan and Bush years. They often enter political conflicts with a defensive approach, convinced that the United States remains a conservative country.
Harris, on the other hand, has been shaped by a political geography where progressive ideas have had a strong tailwind. Although she hardly belongs to the left flank of the Democrats, she is clearly marked by the optimism of the American West Coast. She has seen with her own eyes how the Democrats in California have widened the window into the political possible.
The spotlight on Harris Of course, it’s also about the probability that she will run for president herself in four years. When Joe Biden is sworn in in January, he will be the oldest incoming president in history. Age itself is not that remarkable: many in Congress are ten years older. But Biden often makes a touchy impression, where four decades in Washington seem to have left their mark. It’s hard to imagine Biden dreaming of running for another grueling election campaign in 2024.
Instead, many Democrats already assume that Harris will almost automatically become a favorite to take over. In such cases, we will see the start of a four-year presidential campaign, now in January.
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