Kamala Harris ‘s selection as the running mate of Democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden is a momentous one, in the ensuing US Elections. She is just the 3rd woman to stand for Vice-President of US after Geraldine Ferrero in 1984 and Sarah Palin 2008. As per the reports, it has electrified the hitherto lackluster Democratic campaign for the 2020 Presidential race. Indian-American WhatsApp groups exploded with joy that one of their own might make history as the first woman VP. The press in the US even mentioned her as “president in waiting.”
With the US extremely fractured today, Kamala possibly stands the best chance. That said, everyone expected Hillary to win landslide 2016 but we all saw what happened. It was also reported that Indian -Americans voted overwhelmingly for Hillary over Trump, in 2016, 77% to 16%, according to national Asian-American survey, conducted soon after the election. Now the question is how much does race or racism matter? Particularly at this point? We observe that Trump always trusted in his supremacist roots and won elections. After Floyd’s killing, it was down while Democrats exploited it fully.
The reports also say Ms. Kamala daughter of a Cancer Researcher Shyamala Gopalan an immigrant from Chennai, and Jamaican father Donald Harris a retired Stanford professor, made name for herself as a tough lawyer, politically ambitious enough to throw her hat in the ring as Biden’s challenger in primaries. But Biden chose Ms. Kamala from among cohorts of strong candidates. The anger against Trump's rule over his failure to handle Coronavirus pandemic and continued killing of blacks must be reworking the fabric of social equations to a large extent. However whether Biden-Kamala combo could convert this into votes is to be seen, as the American electorate is by nature quite traditional in voting habits I believe. It is also expected that the moderate voters of the suburbs and the working-class White voters may vote for Trump and it remains to be seen whether swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin which Trump won in 2016, will support Biden this time.
But as per reports, Trump is a bit nervous and in his more candid moments, he has admitted to a grudging respect for Kamala, publicly advising Biden that she would be the best pick, however it was time for Trump to unleash his characteristically colourful invective. In a press conference hours after she was announced, Trump began trying out a few familiar attack lines -similar to those misogynistic ones he used against Hillary —describing Harris several times as “nasty” as well as “mean” “ horrible, disrespectful and a liar, etc. Republicans will now do their best to portray her as a Left-winger. Despite the Indian community urging her to recognise her heritage (Black) she has consistently sought to downplay it.Incidentally, it’s pertinent to mention here that she is also a distant relative India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. So many in the Indian diaspora will celebrate her nomination.
Will they be able to go beyond the standard Democratic campaign playbook and adroitly craft a fresh approach to take on politically weakened President Trump, who will nevertheless likely come out guns blazing?
We have to see whether the Democrats pondered the deep lessons of Hillary’s loss to Trump in 2016 and come up with robust ideas to alleviate the economic pain of working-class Americans perceived to be the result of globalisation and immigration?
