Biden introduces Kamala Harris as ‘the next vice-president of the US’
Joe Biden, Democratic Party nominee for the US Presidential elections 2020 named Kamala Harris as his Vice Presidential choice on Tuesday. Joe Biden put an end to the talks as who will be the vice president if he wins the elections. The choice is an important aspect of Biden’s election strategy as he aims to build a broader coalition of voters to deny the incumbent Donald Trump a second term.
A lot in firsts
Joe Biden announced through Twitter that he had a picked Kamala Harris, a fearless fighter and one of the finest public servants, as his Vice Presidential choice. In reply to Biden’s tweet Kamla Harris, a senator from California tweeted that Joe Biden can unify the Americans. Being chosen as a vice-presidential candidate by Biden is a win-win situation for Harris. If the Democrats manage to seal a victory in the upcoming Presidential elections Ms. Harris would automatically be a forerunner to the 2024 or 2028 Presidential elections.
Ms Harris has been exceptional throughout her political career. Her father was from Jamaica and her mother was from India. She was the first black woman to be elected as California’s attorney general, and only the second black woman, and the first woman of South Asian lineage to be elected to the US Senate. Kamala Harris ran for the Presidential elections before dropping out in December 2019 and endorsing Joe Biden in March 2020. Joe Biden has fulfilled a wish of the Democrats waiting to see a woman of colour from a major party to be running for Presidential elections for the first time in the history of America. This is the second time Ms.Harris would be sharing the stage with Mr Biden, previously as a rival to win the Democratic Party ticket for the Presidential elections and now as a Vice Presidential candidate.
Kamala Harris- A road that leads to Blacks
The choice of Kamala Harris by Joe Biden can increase his standing among the Blacks. During her presidential campaign, Kamla Harris frequently cited her days at Howard University a typically black University, her membership in Alpha Kappa Alpha to develop associations with the African American women. The presence of Kamala Harris can increase the turn out of the African American voters especially at a time when the nation is in a grip of civil unrest following the death of George Floyd, an African American in police custody after a white officer pressed his knee against his neck. The candidacy of Kamala Harris can boost Joe Biden’s chances of winning the presidential election scheduled for 3rd November 2020. In the aftermath of Floyd’s death, Mr Biden was urged to choose a woman of colour as his running mate.
Mr Biden seems to be focusing on widening his base among the African Americans and his recent move seems to strengthen his position vis a vis President Trump. The Senator from California said that women of colour are underrepresented in the elected offices and now it was time for a change. It seems like she has become the epitome of that change. As a woman of colour and of African American descent, Ms Harris can be the provider of the much-needed change in American politics.
Conclusion
Kamala Harris’s pick by Joe Biden comes at a time when there are less than three months left for the US Presidential elections. It can help the Democratic Party and Mr Biden especially to score some points of their rival Mr Trump of the Grand Old Party(GOP). The President has already come under attack from different segments of the society for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and now the civil unrest that has thwarted the American society seems to be doing the damage. Although Mr President hoped for some good news with the economy that is in a tailspin developing green shoots of recovery or COVID-19 curve flattening in the United States, Kamala Harris’s pick by Mr Biden has severely dampened his hopes of a second term. The question of race will no doubt land President Donald Trump in trouble.
