Kamala Harris Gives Undecided Voters Another Reason to Vote Blue
Joe Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as his running mate in the 2020 election gives voters the opportunity to elect the first woman of color to the White House.
When Joe Biden announced his running mate on Aug. 11, faithful supporters of the previous vice president were quick to rally around his former rival. They applauded Biden for choosing Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who makes history as both the first Black woman and person of South-Asian descent to receive a nomination for national office on a major party ticket.
Sen. Kamala Harris speaks at a campaign event alongside Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware on August 12. Source: "Announcement of Senator Kamala Harris as Candidate for Vice President of the United States - Wilmington, DE - August 12, 2020" by Biden For President is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
While many Democrats celebrated Biden’s decision, those further left on the political spectrum remain confused as to why Biden would pick the former prosecutor who notably nicknames herself “top cop” and has a history of not-so-progressive decisions, especially during a prominent national movement against the police and the systemic racism of our justice system. Although progressives remain mostly dissatisfied with Biden’s VP pick, if Harris embraces the Black Lives Matter movement and addresses the mistakes of her past, she may be just what the Biden campaign needs to convince apathetic centrists to vote blue.
Harris is surely an improvement over current administration when considering her more liberal take on divisive issues like climate change, gun control, abortion and immigration. She supports many of the same policies as far-left favorite Bernie Sanders and has a reputation as one of the most liberal of the 100 senators. She’s also for universal background checks, paid family leave, police reform and even legalizing marijuana, to name a few. Since her failed presidential campaign, Harris has more clearly defined her stances on these key issues and emerged as a prominent advocate for law enforcement reform in the US.
Though Harris’s presidential campaign had lackluster plans for if she won, she has since devised a myriad of cohesive ideas and has strengthened her platforms, possibly appealing to voters that may have felt indifferent about voting for Biden alone. Harris contrasts greatly from the homogenous sea of bland politicians that have preceded her: she’s fierce, young (in comparison to the 70-something-year-old candidates on this year’s ballot) and brings some life into what was a typical Democratic campaign.
Harris’s past actions align much closer with the moderate side of the Democratic party; however, the far-right continues to depict her as a raging radical-left socialist, as they tend to do for strong female politicians who dare to deviate from Washington’s norms. They were also quick to amplify the racially-biased “birther” conspiracy which falsely accuses the California senator of being ineligible to run for Vice President, an abhorrent and undeniably-racist attack that was fueled by the far-right media and even in part by President Trump.
Vice-Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and Presidential candidate Joe Biden in Wilmington, Delaware on August 12. Source: "Announcement of Senator Kamala Harris as Candidate for Vice President of the United States - Wilmington, DE - August 12, 2020" by Biden For President is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
It is unlikely that any running mate could have completely convinced this rather unwavering population to vote for a Democrat, but more moderate Republicans, in addition to wavering Democrats, may have gotten the push they needed to vote Biden-Harris. Harris appeals to those who have been consistently unrepresented in American politics, and for those who were unmotivated to vote for either Trump or Biden, Harris is a refreshing deviation from the standard presidential candidate.
As a person of color, Harris has the potential to greatly influence the outcome of the 2020 election by increasing voter turnout amongst minority groups like Asian and Indian-Americans. It is also important to note that Harris’s moderate policies could influence more suburban women, a demographic that typically sways more conservatively, to vote blue this November.
When voters click the circle next to “Biden/Harris,” they will not only be voting for their progressive platforms and policies, but they will also be casting a historic vote. They have the power to elect both the first woman and woman of color to serve as our nation’s Vice-President. Biden’s choice of a running mate gives women, especially Black and South-Asian women, the chance to finally see themselves in a presidential candidate.
“All across the nation, little girls woke up, especially little Black and brown girls, who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities,” Biden said at his first joint-appearance with Harris. “But today — today, just maybe, they're seeing themselves for the first time in a new way. As the stuff of presidents and vice presidents.”