Who is Kamala Harris, the possible candidate for the US presidency, who will fight against Donald Trump

After making history as the first black and Asian woman vice president, her supporters say her current position compels her to be the Democratic nominee. Other Democrats are calling for an open convention to choose a replacement, he reports Antenna 3 CNN.

Despite her low approval ratings during her tenure as vice president, Kamala Harris’ supporters point to the accomplishments of her tenure.

“I think he’s been instrumental in addressing key issues like voting rights and immigration reform,” said Nadia Brown, a professor at Georgetown University. “She was also the strongest advocate on issues of abortion access and communication in communities of color.”

How Kamala Harris Became Vice President

Just five years ago, Kamala Harris was a California senator hoping to win the Democratic nomination for president.

She began her career in the Alameda District Attorney’s office and became the District Attorney for San Francisco in 2003, before being elected the first woman and first person of color to serve as California’s attorney general.

She earned a reputation as one of the Democratic Party’s rising stars, using that momentum to propel her to a run for California’s senator in 2017.

But her presidential goals have not been successful in 2020.

Her performance in the debates was quite poor and her campaign ended quickly. But, Joe Biden chose her to be a partner in the race for the White House.

Gil Duran, a former aide to Kamala Harris in 2013 who criticized her bid for the presidential nomination, called Biden’s decision “a huge reversal of fortune for Kamala Harris.”

“A lot of people didn’t think he had the discipline and focus to rise to a position in the White House so quickly … even though people knew he had ambition and star potential. It was always clear that he had the raw talent,” Duran said.

Kamala Harris focused on several key initiatives while in the White House and was instrumental in some of the most acclaimed achievements of the Biden administration.

She launched a nationwide “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms” tour, advocating for women to have the right to make decisions about their bodies.

Harris set a new record for most tie-breaking votes cast by a vice president in Senate history. Her vote helped pass the Inflation Relief Act and the American Rescue Plan, which provided funding for COVID relief, including stimulus payments.

Her tie-breaking vote also confirmed Justice Ketanji Brown Jakson’s tenure on the Supreme Court.

Despite leaning to the left on issues like gay marriage and the death penalty, she has faced repeated attacks for not being progressive enough for some Democratic voters.

Biden also asked Kamala Harris to lead efforts to address the root causes of migration as record numbers of immigrants have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border, an issue opponents point to as one where the administration has not done enough progress.

She was criticized by Republicans and some Democrats for taking six months to plan a trip to the border after taking office.

But in recent weeks, as speculation about Joe Biden’s retirement has mounted, Kamala Harris has found a renewed base of support.

Cine e Kamala Harris

Born in Oakland, California to two immigrant parents—an Indian-born mother and a Jamaican-born father—her parents divorced when she was five, and she was raised primarily by her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a cancer researcher and civil rights activist.

She grew up involved in her Indian heritage, accompanying her mother on visits to India, but Ms. Harris said her mother adopted Oakland’s black culture, immersing her two daughters — Kamala and her younger sister Maya — in it. .

“My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters,” she wrote in her autobiography The Truths We Hold. “She knew her adopted country would see Maya and me as black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow up to be confident and proud black women.”

Her biracial roots and upbringing mean she embodies and can engage with and appeal to many American identities. Those parts of the country that have seen rapid demographic change, enough change to alter the politics of a region, see it as an aspirational symbol.

But his time at Howard University, one of the nation’s leading historically black colleges and universities, was one of the most formative experiences of his life. Lita Rosario-Richardson met Kamala Harris while at Howard in the 1980s, when students would gather in the Yard area of ​​campus to hang out and discuss politics, fashion and gossip. “I noticed he had a keen sense of argument,” she said.

They bonded over a knack for spirited debates with campus Republicans, their experience growing up as single mothers, even the fact that they’re both Libras. It was also a formative period from a political point of view. “Reagan was president at the time and it was the apartheid era and there was a lot of talk about divestment with ‘trans Africa’ and the issue of the Martin Luther King holiday,” Ms Rosario-Richardson said.

“We know that as descendants of enslaved people and people of color who came out of colonization, we have a special role and that an education gives us a special position in society to help bring about change,” she explained – she was a philosophy and a call to action that were part of Kamala Harris’ college experience.

But Kamala Harris also operates easily in predominantly white communities. Her early years included a brief stint in Canada. When Ms. Gopalan Harris accepted a teaching position at McGill University, Ms. Harris and her younger sister, Maya, went with her, attending the school in Montreal for five years. Kamala Harris says she’s always been comfortable with her identity and describes herself simply as “American.”

She told the Washington Post in 2019 that politicians should not be pigeonholed because of their color or background. “My point of view was: I am who I am. I’m fine with that. You may have to figure it out, but I’m fine with it,” she said. From the very beginning, as her friend Ms. Rosario-Richardson attests, she showed the skills that allowed her to be one of the few women who broke barriers. “That’s what attracted me to having her join the (Howard University) debate team, fearlessness,” she said.

Spirit and humor are part of this arsenal. In a video posted on her social media in 2020, after winning the election, she shares the news of victory – with a very sincere laugh – with Mr. Biden: “I did it, I did it Joe. You will be the next president of the United States!” The laugh with which she greeted the then-president-elect when he made that first important phone call was one her friend immediately and intimately recognized.

“It clearly shows his personality, even in the short time he’s been on the campaign trail.” “He always had that laugh, he always had a sense of humor,” she said.

The ability to mock opponents during live debates has been an important part of previous debates, the BBC also writes.

Source: jurnalul.ro