Blogger Candidate Forum: Madame Vice President?

Your Democratic nominees
abc.net.au

 Hello Everyone:

Blogger and The Candidate Forum were jumping for jubilation when VPOTUS Joe Biden (D-DE) announced that his running mate will be California Senator Kamala (com/ma/la) Harris (D).

 Momentary digression: Are you a registered voter?  If you are, great, do not forget to vote in person on November 3, 2020 or mail in your completed ballot no later than October 19, 2020 in order for it to be counted.  If you are not a registered voter, stop reading, go usa.gov, register, and come back to read the post.  Thank you.  Now back to today's subject.  

We called it.  Yes, you heard correctly, Blogger and The Candidate Forum predicted that the Lady from California would be the Gentleman from Delaware's running mate. It is good to be right, again.  Bragging rights aside, this is a huge, historic moment.  Senator Harris is the first biracial woman to be nominated to a major party ticket.  Senator Harris ticks off every running mate box: Able to assume the office on day one, do no harm, great fundraising skills, left of center political leanings, and is a charismatic speaker.  Yes she has her liabilities--eg.. her record in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and as California's Attorney General--as does VPOTUS Biden.  Really any one of the candidates for the job would have been a great choice.  Each of the women on the list brought a wealth of experience and knowledge that would have made her the ideal choice.  In the end it was Senator Kamala Harris, the one regarded as the safe choice, that got the tap on the shoulder.  Shall we have a look at what her candidacy means?  First, let us meet the Lady from California, who could be the next Vice President of The United States.

Senator Kamala Harris
vanityfair.com

Senator Kamala Devi Harris was born in Oakland, California to Donald and Shymala Gopalan Harris.  She studied at Howard University and received her doctorate of jurisprudence from the University of California, Hastings College of Law.  She began her legal career in the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, before joining the San Francisco DA's Offices. In 2003, she successfully ran to be San Francisco's 27th District Attorney.  The Lady from California served until January 3, 2011, when she was narrowly elected to be California's 32nd Attorney where she served until January 3, 2017.  In 2016, she defeated Loretta Sanchez to replace retiring Senator Barbara Boxer, becoming California's third female senator.  As senator, Senator Harris has championed healthcare reform, decriminalization of cannabis, a path to citizenship for DACA-eligible applicants, a ban on assault weapons, and progressive tax reform.  She has drawn praise (or condemnation) for pointed questioning of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. (en.wikipedia.org; date accessed Aug. 12, 2020) Now that Senator Harris is the running mate, what does it mean?

On the debate stage
politico.com

Senator Kamala Harris' nomination to the number two slot on the ticket adds new meaning to the Gentleman from Delaware's campaign.  When the presidential election cycle began over a year ago (really) the Biden campaign was floundering, many were questioning why he was running in the first place.  After all, he really had nothing to prove and perhaps his moment had passed.  At the first candidate debate, the Gentleman from Delaware appeared befuddled, unable to defend himself against the ascending Senators Elizabeth Warren (MA) and Bernie Sanders (VT), leaving moderates look to Senator Amy Klobuchar and Mayor Pete Buttigieg to fill the enthusiasm gap.  The most memorable moment from that debate came when the Lady from California took VPOTUS Biden sharply to task over his claiming credit for working with segregationists and his history of opposing mandatory school busing in order to integrate schools.  She said,

It was actually hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two U.S. senators who built their careers and reputations on the segregation of race in this country... (newyorker.com; Aug. 11, 2020; date accessed Aug. 12, 2020)

Senator Harris went on to evoke a childhood memory,

...a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public school... (Ibid)

Representative Jim Clyburn (D-SC) and VPOTUS Biden

thestate.com 

 Then came the South Carolina primary at the end of February and Super Tuesday.  It was do or die time for the Biden Campaign and desperate Democrats.  South Carolina Representative Jim Clyburn (D) formally endorsed the Gentleman from Delaware, who went on to win 48 percent of the vote in that state and a large majority of the African American American vote.  In quick succession Senator Klobuchar, Representative Beto O'Rourke (D-TX) and Mayor Buttigieg dropped out and endorsed VPOTUS Biden.  Following the Gentleman from Delaware's resounding victory on Super Tuesday, Senator Warren ended her campaign, later endorsing VPOTUS Biden.  The selection of the Lady from California gives his campaign a "thematic clarity that it didn't have before" (Ibid).

At a campaign stop in Iowa
desmoinesregister.com

  The overarching themes of this election cycle are pandemic and protests.  Benjamin Wallace-Wells writes, "In a year of calamities whose effects have been especially painful in Black communities--the coronavirus pandemic, massive unemployment stemming from enforced shutdowns, and the police killing of George Floyd--each signal moments of Biden's campaign has concern concerned the legacy of the civil-rights movement" (newyorker.com; Aug. 11, 2020).  Former President Barack Obama's thunderous eulogy at Georgia Democrat and Civil Rights icon John Lewis' funeral recalled those momentous times when ordinary citizens were called upon to do extraordinary things, challenge the status quo, remake the United States into a better more just version of itself.  Here was the equally historic 44th President of The United States offering the nation a list of ways to make that happen and, by extension, giving the Biden something it lacked, courtesy of the Democratic party's greatest visionary.

twitter.com

The Biden-Harris campaign slogan is "Build Back Better," catchy, but not exactly a winner.  It is vague, lacking a clearly articulated economic message about just how do you build back better after a series of calamities.  At pre-pandemic campaign stops, the Gentleman from Delaware's sometimes appeared to loose focus, wander off on tangents.  Senator Kamala Harris was not much better during her brief run at the nomination, often unable to clearly articulate an overarching theme for her campaign.  While her rivals, Senator Warren and Representative Julian Castro (D-TX), dove deep into policy and had a plan for everything, the Lady from California would toggle back and forth on Senator Sanders' vision of Medicare for all.  When she tried to make her case a fighter for the common person in her home state, battling predatory financial institutions, she stepped onto Senator Warren's turf.  Her effort to position herself as a criminal justice reformer was undermined by the progressive wing that did not hesitate to point out "her consistent  preference for policing and caraceral solutions" (newyorker.com; Aug. 11, 2020).  In the end it was the African American voters that decided the race.  She drew little interest and money, forcing her to drop out two months before the primary.

Senator Harris with African American voters
nytimes.com

The selection of Senator Harrison as VPOTUS Joe Biden's running has had significant emotional impact on African American women.  For the first time ever, they witnessed a woman of color climb to the mountaintop of politics.  It was an acknowledgement that Black women, in every sense the heart of the Democratic party, finally have someone who looks like them on the national ticket.  Johnnetta Cole, the first African American female president of Spelman College, the historically black women's college in Atlanta, described her jubilation,

I'm jumping for joy,... Today, 401 years after the first enslaved Africans came to what was then British Virginia, look what has happened.  Anyone who does not feel the significance of this, I have to ask, 'Who are they?  Where have they been? (washingtonpost.com; Aug. 11, 2020; date accessed Aug. 12, 2020)

The Lady from California presents a new image of what an American leader looks like and "comes at a moment of social reckoning as African Americans and women have taken to the streets against a president many consider racist and sexist" (Ibid).  Unfortunately the running mate, deemed the "safe choice" (Ibid), raises the specter of tokenism--Is the nomination of Senator Harris a token effort or a sign of genuine acknowledgment of the power of African American women?  For her part, Senator Harris is not the first woman to join a national ticket.  When Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Sarah Palin in 2008 joined the respective Democratic and Republican national tickets, it was for the express purpose of ginning up support for men who were lagging in the polls.  This time it is different, the man at the top of ticket has a comfortable lead heading into the convention and the woman he chose is more than qualified for the job.

Some women had to reach back to 1968, when Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman to run for president (Google that) or President Obama's first inauguration.  In one respect, Senator Harris' ascension can be considers the culmination of  #MeToo and Black Lives Matter; both have had widespread resonance in the last few years in demanding equality.  You can even call it a comeback, of sorts, for Hillary Clinton. Or Senator Elizabeth Warren making good on all those pinkie promises to the little girls who came to her rallies.

Perhaps this moment is the greatest vindication for African American men who got the right to vote in 1865 but were met with heinous obstacles when they attempted to exercise their franchise.  Perhaps it is also a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted the vote to all citizens, regardless of gender.  Both VPOTUS Joe Biden and Senator Kamala Harris have a long way to go before victory.  It remains to be seen if they can fully own their records on criminal justice, demonstrate what they have learned, and how they can do better.  This could help build a bridge to younger African American voters who have incarcerated family members.  Regardless, it is a truly joyous moment to be savored.