22-7-2024 (WASHINGTON) For years, Kamala Harris faced harsh criticism and doubts about her capability to serve as a heartbeat away from the United States presidency. However, in a remarkable turn of events, the 59-year-old Democrat now finds herself celebrated by her party as their best hope to thwart Donald Trump’s bid for a political comeback.
Despite blazing a trail as the first woman, Black, and South Asian vice president in the nation’s history, Harris long struggled with approval ratings as dismal or worse than those of President Joe Biden himself. However, the past twelve months have revealed a transformed Harris, one who now stands on the cusp of making history after receiving Biden’s endorsement following his stunning decision to drop his own re-election bid on Sunday (July 21).
In a statement brimming with praise for Biden’s achievements in office – which she described as “unmatched in modern American history” – Harris vowed to “earn and win” the Democratic nomination. “I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party – and unite our nation – to defeat Donald Trump,” she declared, setting the stage for an epic political battle.
Harris will hope that she has done the hard work necessary to earn the full backing of her party amidst this political crisis. As the aging Biden visibly faded over the past year, his “veep” emerged as a force on the campaign trail, championing abortion rights and reaching out to core voters, including suburban women and Black men.
With her fondness for expletives and her family nickname of “Momala” going viral, Harris has finally started to break through the noise and capture the attention of voters who previously paid scant attention to her.
Harris has won praise in party circles for her unwavering loyalty to the 81-year-old president, even as political vultures began circling his candidacy. She now appears poised to face Trump – a brutal battle against a candidate who defeated Hillary Clinton in her historic bid to become the first female president in 2016.
A child of immigrant parents – her father hailing from Jamaica and her mother from India – Harris grew up in Oakland, California, in an activist household where she attended her first rallies as an infant in a stroller. Her focus on rights and justice saw her build an impressive résumé, becoming California’s first Black attorney general and the first woman of South Asian heritage elected to the U.S. Senate.
Harris then went up against Biden in the 2020 primaries, delivering a stinging attack in which she criticized him for allegedly opposing the busing of students to desegregated schools. “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that little girl was me,” she said in a barbed jab at her future boss.
However, as his running mate, she helped consolidate the coalition that ultimately defeated the incumbent Trump in 2020. Her transition to the White House, however, proved difficult, with critics labeling her underwhelming and gaffe-prone in a job that has been known to flummox many officeholders.
Struggling to carve out a role, she was tasked by Biden with addressing the roots of the country’s illegal migration problem but fumbled and became defensive in response to a question during a visit to the Mexican border. Unusually high staff turnover fueled rumors of discontent in the vice presidential office.
Republicans – often resorting to stereotypes her supporters branded as sexist and racist – relentlessly targeted her as being unfit to take over, should the worst happen to America’s oldest-ever president.
Harris, however, remained undeterred, telling the Wall Street Journal in February: “I am ready to serve. There’s no question about that.”
As the 2024 race gained momentum, things began to change for Harris. The Biden campaign repeatedly deployed her to battleground states to hammer home the party’s message on abortion rights; she became the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic.
Gradually, she began to draw more engaged and fired-up crowds. Some of the outreach efforts were, however, cringe-inducing. Earlier this year, she was mocked after telling chat show host Drew Barrymore that her family sometimes called her “Momala,” to which Barrymore replied, “We need you to be Momala of the country.”
But voters seemed to be switching on to Harris. A clip of her quoting her mother as often saying, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” became a viral meme, with a rising sense among supporters that her time had finally arrived.
If elected, Harris would shatter one of the highest glass ceilings left for women in the United States – that of occupying the country’s top office. Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, would also be breaking new ground, moving from being the current Second Gentleman to the country’s first First Gentleman.
