Kamala Harris Has A Steep Hill To Climb

Joe Biden’s decision to step down from the presidential race and endorse  vice-president Kamala Harris to take his place, has opened up the 2024 election race. Former President Donald Trump who appeared to be coasting to a clear victory against an ageing Joe Biden, now has to rework and re-orient the Republican campaign.

Kamala Harris has not yet been officially endorsed as the Democratic nominee; that will happen only after the party convention next month. She could face challenges to her nomination by other aspirants in the run-up to the convention. One lawmaker considering throwing his hat in the ring is Senator Joe Manchin from West Virgina. He has not done so yet. He is a Democrat turned Independent and is planning to re-register as a Democrat. He believes the "process" has to be followed and Harris’s nomination should not be a "coronation" or a deal worked out by "Washington insiders".

This simply means that Harris has to be chosen by the 3,900 delegates  already registered and who were to endorse Biden as the nominee. These 3900 delegates will be joined by super delegates, senior party officials to select a fresh candidate. With elections in November, there is very little time to do all this. But as Kamala Harris is already on the ticket as Biden’s vice president, she appears to have a good chance. Endorsements for Kamala Harris are pouring in from democratic lawmakers and big wigs of the party across the country. 

Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate will break several stereotypes but also face formidable challenges. As a woman of Black and Indian heritage, she is up against a system that have always held these groups to different standards. In Trump, she has an opponent who will exploit these stereotypes to push an agenda to his maximum advantage. The Trump camp has already made several memes of Harris’s full throated laughter, again highlighting the sexist views on women, who are not allowed to laugh out loud!

American voters will get another chance to elect a woman president. The US may be the oldest democracy and women have been in politics for decades, yet the glass ceiling has not yet been broken when it comes to electing a woman to the highest political office in the land. 

This is something women have been looking forward to since Hillary Clinton’s failed presidency bid in 2016. There have been powerful women politicians including Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, the late Diane Feinstein and many more. But just a few had their names on the ticket. Democrat Geraldine Ferraro was given a vice presidential nomination in 1984. Sarah Palin, a tea party candidate and former governor of Alaska,  was the Republican vice presidential nominate in 2008. 

Women were shattered after Hillary Clinton’s defeat as most pollsters at that time had predicted her victory. In fact she was preparing her victory speech when it became clear that Trump was surging ahead. Kamala Harris' victory as Biden’s vice president was welcomed but the big ticket prize -- the presidency, has remained elusive.  

American women had to struggle to win even the basic right to vote. It was only in 1919, after the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was passed  that they were given the right to exercise their franchise. The amendment was ratified in 1920 and became a law. The struggle took decades starting from the 1800s, when activists organized petitions, lobbied with lawmakers, held all night vigils and hunger strikes before the right to vote was allowed by a patriarchal society. 

Compared to the struggle of American and European women, in South Asia women were granted the right to vote without having to fight. Despite widespread prevalence of patriarchy in our region, women from Sri Lanka’s Sirimavo Bandaranaike, to India’s Indira Gandhi, to Pakistan’s Benazir Bhutto and Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia have all held the highest political office in their country. And yet in the US, which rightly boasts of its liberal and democratic traditions, that milestone has not yet  been achieved. 

If elected, Harris will be breaking major barriers. She will be up against both patriarchy and racial prejudice, that have been the hallmark of American politics. Many Whites in the US are racist. The vicious attack on Republican nominee JD Vance’s Indian origin wife Usha Chilukuri by White American males filled social media soon after his acceptance speech. Right-wing trolls wanted to know if Vance could be trusted to stop illegal immigrants with an Indian wife. Fact is Usha was born and raised in the US, and her academic qualifications are top notch, both Yale and Cambridge and she is a practicing attorney. A pro-Trump pastor publicly said that he would not want a Hindu to come anywhere near his White children! Yet Vance was chosen because he brings White rural working class families into the Republican fold. His nomination was pushed by Trump Jr, the candidate's son.

What does Kamala Harris bring to the Democratic Ticket? 

On top of the table is her passionate advocacy of women’s rights. She has been at the forefront of the abortion debate. This is also an issue where she is far ahead of Trump. And women will go out and vote for her on this issue alone as it affects their bodies. She has fought for women’s reproductive rights and advocated women’s right to choose whether to have an abortion or not. She has visited abortion clinics while, according to reports in the American press, President Biden - an elderly politician - shies away from mentioning the word abortion. Biden is also a devout Catholic which partly explains why he does not like to use the word. The Catholic Church is against abortion and at one time was also against the use of contraceptives. 

Harris will energise women and young voters. But as Aparna Pandey of the Hudson Institute puts it : "It was always going to be a competitive and close election and it will remain that. The Democrats have more of a fighting chance now as they have a younger candidate, a woman and a minority - all three that represent their base (young people, women and minorities especially African Americans)."

"Her support among Indian or South Asian Americans will be high but this will matter more in campaign finance not so much in votes as this community’s numbers aren’t that high as compared to the African American community.’’ Pandey also notes : "If she is able to get more African Americans to come out and vote, then it will make a difference. Similarly if as a woman she appeals to women voters and especially pushes on issues like abortion then again it will make a difference."

Her image as the vice president can best be described as average. She was hardly visible. Her presence was felt only after Biden’s disastrous debate when she came on to defend the president on public platforms.   

The Biden White House had kept her under wraps most of the time and gave her the tough task of securing the borders and dealing with illegal immigrants. She will be attacked front and centre by the Trump camp for what they regard as her inability to stop illegal migrants from entering the US. Not that this is the correct picture, but those who fear migrants and regard them as thieves, druggists and murderers will happily lap it up.

The good news for Kamala Harris is that donors are showing confidence by pouring in funds for the campaign. According to CNN, within two hours of Biden’s announcement, $46.7 million small donors have contributed to her election kitty. Harris who worked the phones since her nomination was able to raise $1.5 million from Black woman supporters in a single session.  The big donors who had stopped funding Biden are expected to pitch in and make substantial contributions to ensure that Donald Trump is kept out of the White House.