Joe Biden introduces Kamala Harris as running mate in bid for White House
Democrat hopefuls make their debut as Trump labels Kamala ‘phony’
DEMOCRATIC presidential candidate Joe Biden and his new running mate Kamala Harris campaigned together for the first time yesterday, as the former primary rivals sought to solidify their advantage over President Donald Trump and secure their place in American history.
Biden, a 77-year-old white man, embraced the significance of naming the first black woman to a major party’s presidential ticket, but he focused on other attributes Ms Harris (55) brings to the ticket. He hailed the California senator, the former prosecutor who a year ago excoriated Mr Biden on a primary debate stage, as the right woman to help him defeat Mr Trump and then lead a nation facing crises in triplicate: a pandemic, wounded economy and long-simmering reckoning with systemic racism.
Ms Harris, Mr Biden said at a high school gymnasium in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, is “smart, she’s tough, she’s experienced, she’s a proven fighter for the backbone of this country.”
“Kamala knows how to govern. She knows how to make the hard calls. She’s ready to do this job on day one,” he continued.
Ms Harris sat feet away from Mr Biden, listening with her mask off. The event began an hour late. A momentous candidacy aside, the surreal nature of the scene was not only a woman of colour stepping into the role of would-be national executive but doing so in a mostly empty high school gym. Masked reporters nearly outnumbered campaign aides and the candidates’ family members in a grim reminder of a coronavirus pandemic that has killed 165,000 Americans, while yielding Depression-level unemployment.
The event was the first in a rollout that Biden aides say blends the historic nature of Ms Harris’ selection with the realities of the 2020 campaign and the gravity of the nation’s circumstances. Later yesterday, the pair were due to lead an online fundraiser; they will campaign together through Democrats’ virtual convention that runs next week.
Ms Harris was considered a favourite throughout Mr Biden’s search, and she’s been a regular surrogate campaigner and fundraiser for him since he became the presumptive nominee. They’ll nonetheless have to paper over differences exposed during the primary campaign, from Ms Harris’s initial support for a single-payer health insurance system to her debate-stage broadside against Mr Biden over his opposition to federally mandated busing to integrate public schools in the 1970s.
Mr Trump seized on those dynamics, tagging Ms Harris as “Phony Kamala” and casting her as the latest evidence that Mr Biden, a five-decade veteran of the Democratic establishment, is captive to his party’s left flank.
White House adviser Kellyanne Conway yesterday insisted Ms Harris is “very much part of the radical left” and suggested the senator will have a hard time not outshining Mr Biden, whose age and fitness for office Ms Conway frequently mocks. “He’s overshadowed basically by almost everyone he comes in contact with,” she said.
Mr Biden’s campaign seemed prepared for the counteroffensive, noting that just weeks ago, Mr Trump said Ms Harris would be a “fine choice.”
Further muddying the GOP message, national operatives yesterday highlighted progressives’ criticism of Ms Harris’s record as a prosecutor and California attorney general, criticising her as part of the Democratic establishment.
Indeed, Ms Harris no longer supports a single-payer health insurance system, aligning instead with Mr Biden’s proposal. Still, Ms Harris memorably raised her hand during a Democratic primary debate when candidates were asked whether they could back a system that scrapped private health insurance altogether.
In Washington, Ms Harris has advocated overhauling the criminal justice system, intensifying her efforts since George Floyd’s killing in May. And she’s called for sweeping domestic programmes to benefit the working and middle class. But she has taken heat for some of her aggressive stances as a prosecutor in the San Francisco area and for not prosecuting bank bosses after the 2008 financial collapse.
Mr Biden bets that, on balance, Ms Harris has broad appeal that will shore up any weaknesses with black women and other voters of colour, while juicing turnout among white liberals and coaxing support from independents and Republican-leaning white voters who have soured on Mr Trump.