Colourful Road Ahead For Kamala Harris
Published on: 5 September 2020, 05:54 am
Kamala Harris's candidature for the Vice Presidential post has turned many heads and brought her Indian heritage to the forefront. Rohit Tripathi, founder of Young India Inc, examines her career and the role that her election can play in Indian-American politics.
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ON August 11, 2020, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden picked Senator Kamala Harris of California as his running mate for the vice presidency. Senator Harris became the third woman to get on a US presidential ticket. She wrote herself into the history books for being the first woman of colour in that position. She is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father. Naturally, both the African-American and Indian-American communities felt a deep sense of pride at the announcement of her selection.
Before we dive into the specific implications of Senator Harris's selection and possible victory, it is crucial to look at this moment in American history. The 2020 US presidential election is going to take place in a volatile backdrop. This volatility is fuelled by a raging, sadly politicised, once-in-a-century pandemic and the oft-ignored plight of the African American community that re-emerged as a test for America's moral well-being, which is not looking good.
The political system is also fractured like never before. Republicans have completely cast their lot with President Donald Trump, whose view of executive power and the role of institutions has been colored by political compulsions.
“America is seeing a generational political shift and Harris is on the fringe of that generation – just barely making the progressive ranks per the new paradigm
On the other hand, the Democratic Party is having a revolution within itself. An articulate, young progressive wing is gaining steam throughout the country and putting the establishment centrists on guard. They are increasingly impatient with unaddressed inequities even in regions where the Democrats have held power.
Kamala's Chequered Career
Senator Kamala Harris isn't new to this political landscape. Her political career already spans almost two decades. It started with Harris becoming the District Attorney for San Francisco to then being the Attorney General of California and ultimately as the Senator from California. Her political promise was recognised early and her political success was anticipated. However, a forensic assessment of her political past is giving many progressives a pause. As the detailed analysis of Senator Harris's law enforcement career by Vox's German Lopez shows, Harris was a progressive step or two ahead as District Attorney in the early 2000's, but political compulsions to seek higher office made her a more status quo political leader. Her tenure as Attorney General of California doesn't lend itself to any progressive acclaim.
