Running mate Harris aims for great heights
As Sen. Kamala Harris launched into a stirring speech at the Democratic National Convention last week, the chatter began among my friends. We could relate to her on many levels: She was born at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, where a Vietnamese American friend of mine also gave birth to her two children. A South Asian friend texted that she cried “like a baby” when Harris talked about her mother, scientist Shyamala Gopalan Harris.
Harris also grew up in the East Bay, which makes us hella excited! It seems appropriate to use the slang that originated in Oakland and has become a shibboleth of sorts to mark speakers from Northern California.
My friends were also thrilled to discover we shared something else with Harris: her height.
Though Harris is a towering presence, she’s a petite 5foot2. That’s the same as me and my friends, who vary in height by an inch or so in either direction.
We’d see eye to eye with her, if not for the formidable high heels I’ve seen her wearing in photos. It may seem superficial to call attention to how tall Harris stands, but it’s far from the first time a discussion of height has entered the presidential race.
You may already be familiar with the socalled Presidential Height Index, in which the taller candidate of the major two parties tends to prevail. It could be a coincidence, or it could be that Americans are swayed by the power that height conveys.
For those keeping track, Joe Biden is 6 feet tall, while Donald Trump claims he’s 6foot3.
Trump, in all his pettiness, has repeatedly mocked shorter politicians, calling them “widdle” and “mini,” as if height were a measure of accomplishment or character.
If Biden succeeds, he would be in good company: former President Barack Obama — who clocks in at 6foot1 and won the 2012 election, despite standing an inch shorter than Mitt Romney.
As for the vice presidential matchup, Vice President Mike Pence is 5foot10. I have no doubt that Harris — with her intelligence and intensity — will rise above him at their debate in Utah on Oct. 7.
It’s a victory that shorter women can hail everywhere, regardless of party or politics.
I prefer these shorter candidates to those who have come up short in every way while in office. Trump has called Harris “nasty” and “disrespectful,” insults with racial and sexist undertones. During this week’s Republican National Convention, featured speakers presented a dystopian vision of the country that preyed upon the fears of the president’s base: anarchists and radicals rioting and looting who, they claim, want to steal the upcoming election. Smallminded words, at a time when our country needs broadminded, bighearted leaders.
Years ago, my brother dated someone my parents deemed too short. In her defense, I pointed out that I was of similar stature.
“You are the minimum,” my father replied. I was taller than the girlfriend, tall
enough. As tall as Elizabeth Taylor, he assured me, probably concerned that I felt bereft.
I was amused, not offended; I tend to forget that I’m short. What I lack in height, I make up in volume.
As for other pop culture presidential prognosticators, you might also recall a cookiemaking competition between potential first spouses. Family Circle magazine used to host the quadrennial competition, polling readers to correctly predict the presidential winner several times since 1992.
In the 2016 iteration, the Clinton family’s oatmeal chocolate chip cookies bested Melania Trump’s starshaped cookies. You could say that it reflected the popular vote — which Hillary Clinton won by nearly 3 million ballots — if not the Electoral College.
The magazine has folded, and unless another takes up the reins, we won’t be able to participate in this proxy vote. It’s a reminder that the voting that culminates on Nov. 3 is the only one that counts, a reminder to register and vote.
It may seem superficial to call attention to how tall Harris stands, but it’s far from the first time a discussion of height has entered the presidential race.