USA TODAY International Edition
Harris’ swearing- in is a win for USA
Newsmakers on what inauguration means
Wednesday at noon, America will usher in a new administration. Despite attempts by rioters ( and the president himself) to overturn the electoral process, democracy prevailed.
The swearing- in of the presidentelect and vice president- elect affirms our system. It reminds all watching that it’s the voices of the cooperative electorate that count, not the actions of the few who might try to override them.
And this year, Kamala Harris will make history as she raises her right hand to become the first woman to take the vice presidential oath of office. Here, four female commentators discuss what the moment means to them.
Donna Brazile Democratic strategist
Recognition. That’s what Harris’ election as the first female vice president means to me. It isn’t merely a recognition of women; it’s also a recognition of women of color and the strength of our democracy.
More than 81 million Americans voted not based on gender or color, but on qualifications and principles of inclusion and merit. These principles couldn’t be more personal to me. Growing up in Louisiana, my mother and grandmother weren’t recognized. In the Jim Crow South, they weren’t allowed to vote until the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. I was able to when I turned 18. I’ve spent my entire life believing that the right to vote is key to America’s future.
Let’s rejoice that America has finally achieved this milestone. Let’s also recognize that our nation still has many divisions. Even as Harris’ victory reinforces our democracy, it also mandates that we now see women as leaders. We must prepare for the backlash or resistance from those who still believe that women must wait our turn.
Here I stand as a grateful American and a grateful Black woman who proudly recognizes that, in my lifetime, I have finally seen what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught us was possible simply if we had access to the ballot box. We have made this country what it said it always was — one for all of us.
Jennifer Horn, former chair New Hampshire Republican Party
As our country confronts an ugly explosion of racism and dangerous assaults on our democracy, Harris’ election offers us a moment of shared optimism. You don’t have to be a Black woman or a California Democrat to see yourself in her. I am neither, yet I am inspired and heartened by her extraordinary accomplishment.
There are many among my fellow conservatives who balk at the idea that gender or race should matter, but of course they do. As the first woman and the first mother elected to the secondhighest office in the land, Harris, through her example, shows our children what we can be. Her experience speaks to the unlimited possibilities that define the promise of America.
We don’t have to agree with Harris on every political issue to recognize that her election strengthens our democracy and opens doors of opportunity. Harris once said that there are people “burdened by only having the capacity to see what has always been instead of what can be.” In this moment of limitless possibility, we cannot allow such limitations to be our burden.
Joy Behar, co- host, ‘ The View’
Everything happens too slowly for my liking. The last times there were strong glimmers of hope of having a woman in the White House were in 1984 ( when Geraldine Ferraro ran for vice president), 2008 and, most recently, in 2016 when Hillary Clinton made history as the first woman nominated for president on a major party ticket.
Many people were delighted, especially Italian American women like myself, when Ferraro ran. I had the pleasure of meeting her and once asked, “What do you do with criticism?” As a Democrat and a woman, she was getting more than her share.
Without missing a beat, Ferraro lifted her hand as if to toss something away and she said: “In the garbage.” She said it with such clarity, such assuredness that I am still in awe.
Now we are finally about to welcome to the White House another woman of clarity and assuredness. I think Joe Biden sensed in Harris a feeling of optimism and lightheartedness as well as competence, intelligence, integrity and strength. Who can forget how laser focused she was on the Senate Judiciary Committee as she questioned nowJustice Brett Kavanaugh.
I’ve met Harris twice, and each time she sits down at the table at “The View,” she brings with her an air of confidence, poise and a positive energy that says, “Don’t worry, we can handle this. We will make things better.”
I can’t help but believe that she will. It’s certainly about time.
Ai- jen Poo, executive director Domestic Workers Alliance
Democracies are living, breathing entities that work best when more of us participate and see our experiences reflected. We, the people, give our democracy life. Systemic racism and sexism have prevented us from seeing large segments of our electorate participate. They have also prevented us from electing some of the best leaders to seats of power.
Harris’ inauguration is a marker that the arc of history is bending toward the democracy we deserve.
It’s not about symbolism. It’s about solutions that will leave no one behind. As a senator, Harris sponsored the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Act, federal legislation to protect the essential workforce in our homes, a workforce that is predominantly women of color, whose labor is too often undervalued.
In the 1930s, when many of our foundational labor laws were passed as part of the New Deal, domestic workers ( and agricultural workers) were excluded, a decision rooted in our nation’s legacy of slavery.
Imagine the different choices that would have been made throughout our history if more women of color were in positions of power.
We’re in another moment, like the New Deal era, where we will need strong leadership and bold solutions. When voters chose this administration, they chose the promise of a multiracial democracy and leaders who see the value we all bring. It is cause for celebration, and a reminder of the work we all must continue to do together.