Indian mother taught me to fight for change: Harris
Survey finds that 60% of Americans consider Biden’s selection of Harris as running mate a ‘major milestone’ for US
WASHINGTON: Appearing with Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, for the fist time after he named her his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris on Wednesday credited her Indian-born mother for inspiring her into a life in public service that led her to this historic moment.
“Don’t just sit around and complain about things,” Harris, 55, said her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, would tell her and younger sister Maya Harris when they were growing up. “Do something.” Gopalan, who came to the United States from Chennai and was a breast cancer researcher, passed away in 2009. But she has remained the most enduring influence in Harris’s life.
Harris made history on Tuesday as the first Indian-American and Black woman to run for vicepresident.
“Kamala is smart. She’s tough. She’s experienced. She’s a proven fighter for the backbone of this country, the middle class and those struggling to get into the middle class,” Biden said in his first public explanation of why he picked Harris.
The former vice-president said, “As the child of immigrants, she knows personally how immigrant families enrich our country, as well as the challenges of what it means to grow up Black and Indian-American in the United States.” The former vicepresident then went on to frame his pick in a larger context of a changing America: “And this morning, all across this nation little girls woke up – especially little Black and Brown girls who so often may feel overlooked and undervalued in our society — but today, maybe they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way. As the stuff of Presidents and Vice Presidents.”
Biden and Harris used their first public appearance together after the announcement to launch a blistering attack on President Donald Trump.
NEW YORK: Nearly nine out of 10 Democrats approve of US Senator Kamala Harris as their party’s vice presidential nominee, and she is more popular than presidential candidate Joe Biden among women, young voters and some Republicans, according to a Reuters/ Ipsos poll released on Wednesday.
The August 11-12 public opinion survey also found that 60% of Americans, including 87% of Democrats and 37% of Republicans, considered the selection of Harris - the first Black woman and Asian American nominated for vice presidency - to be a “major milestone” for the US.
The California senator is viewed about as favourably or better than Biden in most major demographic groups, the poll showed, highlighting her potential to help the former vice president expand his support in November’s election.
The poll showed Biden’s lead over Republican President Donald Trump was effectively unchanged after he announced his running mate choice, increasing by 1 percentage point among all Americans to an 8-point advantage - well within the poll’s credibility interval when compared with a similar poll that ran on Monday and Tuesday.
Forty-six percent of U.S. adults said they would vote for a Biden/Harris ticket, while 38% would vote for Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
A similar poll that ran on Monday and Tuesday showed that 44% would vote for Biden while 37% would back Trump.
The latest poll also found that 56% of Americans have a favourable impression of Harris, which is about the same as the number who favour Biden. Forty-two percent of US adults say they have a favourable view of Trump and 47% said the same of Pence.
Among women, 60% said they have a favourable view of Harris, compared with 53% who felt the same way about Biden.
In addition, about 25% of Republicans said they had a favourable view of Harris and approve of her choice as Biden’s running mate. Only about 20% of Republicans said they have a similarly favourable view of Biden.
Harris also is a little more popular among American adults who are younger than 35 years old: 62% said they view Harris favourably, while 60% said the same of Biden.