Indian-origin Harris is Biden’s running mate
Daughter of Tamil mother, Jamaican father first woman of colour on major ticket
WASHINGTON: Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, has named Kamala Harris, who is of mixed Indian and Black heritage, as his running mate in a much anticipated announcement that was described as “historic” and “seismic” by Democrats, including many ecstatic Indian-Americans and non-partisan observers.
Biden announced his pick for the vice president’s job in a tweet late Tuesday afternoon as speculation reached a fever pitch on all leading TV channels and social media.
“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” the former US vice president wrote on Twitter.
His campaign followed up with a more expansive explanation of the pick. “Joe knows more about the importance of the Vice Presidency than just about anyone, and he is confident that Kamala Harris will be the best partner for him to finally get the country back on track,” it said in a statement, and added, “Kamala will be ready to tackle the work that is needed to heal our country on Day One of the Biden-Harris Administration.”
INDIAN-AMERICAN Harris was born to two immigrant parents. Her father was from Jamaica and her mother from Chennai
TRAILBLAZER Elected the first woman and the first Black person to serve as California’s attorney general in 2010
MANY FIRSTS Became the first Black and Indian-American woman to represent California in the US Senate in 2016
In her first public response to the announcement, Harris wrote on Twitter: “@JoeBiden can unify the American people because he’s spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he’ll build an America that lives up to our ideals. I’m honored to join him as our party’s nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.”
A win in November will make Harris the first female vice president of the United States and set her up for the presidency in 2024, at the end of Biden’s first term, or 2028. Most vice presidents have gone on to run for the top job themselves and win, with some exceptions such as Al Gore.
President Donald Trump, who had earlier called Harris a “fine choice” if picked by Biden, felt differently and accorded the announcement the full Trump treatment. He slammed her as “nasty” and “the meanest, the most horrible, most disrespectful” for her grilling of Brett Kavanaugh at his senate confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court. His campaign called her “phony”.
Harris was not a surprise pick as she had been on everyone’s shortlist of Biden’s choices, which at some stage had 11 names. In recent days, the former vice president had been focussed on three — Harris, former national security adviser Susan Rice and Congresswoman Karen Baas. Some days ago, Biden may have tipped his hand inadvertently when notes he held during a press interaction showed several check-marks against her name.
The 55-year-old first-time senator from California is now the first American of Indian and Asian descent to run for vice president. She is also the first AfricanAmerican of a major party and only the third woman yet to run for that office, after Democrat Geraldine Ferraro and Republican Sarah Palin. The US hasn’t had a female vice-president, or president, yet.
Harris’s mother Shyamala Gopalan (Harris by marriage) came to the US from Chennai. She was a cancer researcher, who raised Harris and the younger daughter Maya Harris, as a single mother mostly after early separation from Donald Harris, who had come to the US from Jamaica. Gopalan passed away in 2009.
Indian-Americans were ecstatic. Ramesh Kapur, a veteran Democrat who hosted a fundraiser for Harris at his home in Boston in 2016 during her Senate run, said he believed the Tuesday announcement was the start of a journey. “It’s the beginning of her becoming the first Indian-American president — this is a journey.”
“Moment of great pride for the Indian-American community,” said Shekar Narasimhan, a top Democratic strategist and fundraiser. “It’s a first in so many ways and will help Joe Biden win the presidency which is the first priority. A seismic shift occurred today and its ramifications will be felt for many decades”.
Harris was friends with Biden’s elder son Beau Biden, who died of brain cancer. But her links to the family were said to have suffered a major blow after she attacked the former vicepresident’s record on racism at one of the Democratic primaries. Biden is reported to have been hurt by Harris’s attacks. But Biden made clear in recent days that he does not hold grudges as he considered Harris along with a long list of 10 other women for his vice-president pick.
The Trump re-election campaign picked on that debate exchange to attack Harris. “Not long ago, Kamala Harris called Joe Biden a racist and asked for an apology she never received,” Katrina Pierson, a Trump 2020 senior adviser, said in a statement, adding, “Clearly, Phony Kamala will abandon her own morals, as well as try to bury her record as a prosecutor, in order to appease the anti-police extremists controlling the Democrat Party.”
Harris became the first IndianAmerican woman to run for US president ever — from either party in 2019.
Harris is also the first IndianAmerican Democrat — male or female — to try for the job; she failed, too.