Could Sen. Kamala Harris soon become VP Kamala Harris?
Politics
The highest-ranking elected black official in the nation is currently making one hell of a case to become Joe Biden’s vice-presidential selection.
Last week, Sen. Harris berated Donald Trump after he said during a speech on the economy that it is “a great day” for George Floyd — the black man who was killed by police in Minneapolis — and that “George is looking down right now and saying this is a great thing that’s happening for our country.”
The senator from California didn’t take too kindly to Trump’s remarks and boldly told him to “keep George Floyd’s name out of your mouth!”
.@realDonaldTrump, keep George Floyd’s name out of your mouth until you can say Black Lives Matter.pic.twitter.com/YJ6wPw0Hto
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) June 5, 2020
She also helped her case to become VP Kamala Harris by showing up to a recent Black Lives Matter protest unannounced. Usually, politicians alert the press in advance of their appearances in order to capitalize on positive press coverage. However, Sen. Harris seemed to attend the event, not for attention, but simply because she wanted to be there.
If that wasn’t enough, Sen. Harris took Meghan McCain “to school” when asked during a recent appearance on ABC’s “The View” about defunding the police.
“So Meghan, I think that a big part of this conversation really is about reimagining how we do public safety in America,” Harris began. “We have confused the idea that to achieve safety, you put more cops on the street instead of understanding to achieve safe and healthy communities, you put more resources into the public education system of those communities, into affordable housing, into homeownership, into access to capital for small businesses, access to health care regardless of how much money people have. That’s how you achieve safe and healthy communities.”
Harris’s moves of late have not gone unnoticed by members of the black community.
“I have been a frequent critic of her because of some of her past work … but she was brilliant,” Shaun King, the activist and one-time Bernie Sanders supporter said recently after watching her on MSNBC. “It wasn’t canned, either. It was real. Her thoughts on the George Floyd case, how it should be handled, what the [Justice Department] could do, etc., was … one of the best of any elected officials.
“It made me much more comfortable with her as a potential VP pick,” King added.
In addition to the possibility of VP Kamala Harris, another African-American female has quietly and unexpectedly risen to the top of the ranks: Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms of Atlanta.
In the words of CNN’s Chris Cillizza, Mayor Bottoms’ speech amid the recent violent protests in Atlanta — was a moment. She was empathetic. Tough. And deeply human.
“I am a mother to four black children in America, one of whom is 18 years old,” Bottoms said. “And when I saw the murder of George Floyd, I hurt like a mother would hurt. And yesterday when I heard there were rumors about violent protests in Atlanta, I did what a mother would do, I called my son and I said, ‘Where are you?’ I said, ‘I cannot protect you, and black boys shouldn’t be out today.’
“If you want change in America, go and register to vote. Show up at the polls on June 9th. Do it in November. That is the change we need in this country. You are disgracing our city; you are disgracing the life of George Floyd and every other person who has been killed in this country. We are better than this. We’re better than this as a city. We are better than this as a country. Go home. Go home.
In light of the 2 week-long Black Lives Matter protests from coast to coast, Joe Biden will now almost assuredly select a black woman as his running mate. Interestingly, his top 2 choices now appear to be Kamala Harris and Keisha Lance Bottoms.
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I’ll preface my response with this….Biden will get my vote no matter who he chooses as his VP…BUT this will be the last time I vote “Dem” if they present Us with a bad choice at the top of the ticket. I mean it – I’m done with that!
The Democrat party is a diverse Voters party. However, when your party’s “best chance to win the presidency” (still the most powerful position in the world) comes down to having to choose between 2 Old white guys in their 70s – both cognitively challenged (to say the least) then THAT’s a problem.
The Dem Party needs new faces and new (and younger) voices if they want to keep getting my vote. Full stop.