Kamala Harris: The Path to the Presidency

After weeks of mounting pressure from within his own party, Joe Biden made the surprising decision to withdraw from the 2024 US presidential election. In a swift move, he made it clear that he had a successor in mind. “My very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to select Kamala Harris as my Vice President,” he stated in a post on X. “And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today, I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to unite and defeat Trump. Let’s make it happen.”

In response, Harris expressed her gratitude: “On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as president and for his decades of dedicated service to our country. I am honored to have the president’s endorsement, and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”

While Harris still needs to be formally nominated by the party at its upcoming convention in Chicago, the combination of her current position, Biden’s backing, and the collective exhaustion from the campaign to pressure him out will make it difficult for any potential challengers to argue why she should have to fight for the nomination. Especially considering that if elected, she would become the nation’s first female president and only the second Black president.

Kamala Harris: A Journey to the Brink of Presidency

Kamala Harris, the potential 47th president of the United States, was born to a Jamaican-American father and a Tamil Indian mother in Oakland, California. The 59-year-old Harris has built an impressive career, starting as a district attorney and rising through California’s legal system to become the state’s attorney general in 2010. She was re-elected in 2014 and subsequently elected to the US Senate in 2016, succeeding retiring Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer.

Once in the Senate, Harris gained national prominence for her incisive questioning in committee hearings. She effectively utilized her prosecutorial skills, interrogating high-profile figures such as Trump’s attorneys general, Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr, as well as his Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh. The Kavanaugh confirmation hearings in 2018 became particularly notable, especially when Harris pressed Kavanaugh on his restrictive views regarding abortion, famously asking him if he could name “any laws that give government the power to make decisions about the male body?”

Harris announced her candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination shortly after the Kavanaugh hearings, setting the stage for a significant challenge against Biden.

A Memorable Campaign and a Historic Role

With a powerful national brand, Harris launched her presidential campaign in January 2019, attracting 20,000 supporters at her kickoff rally. However, the Democratic field swelled to over 20 candidates, making it challenging for Harris to distinguish herself, particularly against more left-leaning candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Her most memorable moment came during a televised debate when she confronted Biden regarding his past opposition to busing policies intended to desegregate schools. Reminding him of the impact of these policies, she stated, “There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bussed to school every day. And that little girl was me.”

This exchange marked the peak of Harris’s campaign, but by the third quarter of 2019, her campaign was struggling with internal disorganization, high staff turnover, and inadequate fundraising. Ultimately, she suspended her campaign before the first primaries. In the summer of 2020, Biden selected her as his running mate, praising her as “a fearless fighter for the little guy and one of the country’s finest public servants.” Despite the constraints imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris proved to be a formidable campaigner, effectively debating Trump’s Vice President, Mike Pence. When Biden and Harris won the election, she made history as the first woman, the first Black person, and the first individual of South Asian descent to serve as Vice President of the United States.

Challenges and Resilience

Harris’ term as Vice President has not been without its challenges. The Biden administration began under the shadow of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and a pandemic that continued to claim lives while the economy faced significant hurdles. In this tumultuous context, Biden assigned Harris a portfolio of high-stakes issues, including immigration and voting rights, which required major legislative support that the Democrats lacked.

This situation placed Harris in a challenging position as she advocated for sweeping reforms that had little chance of passing in Congress. Her efforts to address the long-standing immigration issues were further complicated by a controversial interview in which she appeared taken aback when questioned about her delayed visit to the US-Mexico border. Compounding her difficulties were persistent negative reports regarding the atmosphere within her office, which faced notably high staff turnover early in the administration. Speculation swirled about the significance of her role in the administration.

As Biden’s re-election campaign began to gain momentum, Harris once again took to the campaign trail, where she has demonstrated an ability to engage and energize crowds, especially as Biden faced increasing scrutiny over his age and stamina. The prospect of Biden not seeking re-election sparked discussions about Harris as the natural successor, leading to a surge of memes celebrating her distinctive laugh and her mother’s favorite saying: “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”

While it remains uncertain whether Harris can improve upon Biden’s lackluster poll numbers and fundraising efforts, the party’s relief at Biden’s withdrawal could inject new energy and optimism into her campaign in the short term. Furthermore, the Trump campaign’s attacks on Biden’s age have now become irrelevant. Interestingly, voters are being reminded that before embarking on his political career, Trump had personally contributed to both of Harris’s California campaigns.