Kamala Harris, the newly elected Vice-President of the U.S. is all set to become the first woman, black and first Indian originated member to become Vice-President of the United States of America. Moments after newly elected President Joe Biden party had won, she laughed and said Biden, “We did it. We did it, Joe. You’re going to be the next president of the United States.”
Who is Kamala Harris?
Kamala Harris is a moderate woman when compared to other far-left Democrats such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. Throughout her presidential campaign last year, Kamala Harris presented herself like the one who could appeal moderates as well as the progressives. Rather than upending the economy, Harris made a policy that centred around targeted results, increment, focussing majorly upon the marginalised groups such as women, low-income earners and people of a different colour. Kamala eventually dropped out of the race in 2019 December with low polling numbers and joined Biden for a presidential campaign.
Kamala Harris personal life
Kamala Harris was born in California’s Oakland. She is the daughter of Indian-born mother and Jamaican father. Kamala studied in Howard University and is the member of black sorority ‘Alpha Kappa Alpha’. She is the first Indian American black woman who became the attorney general of California and the first black woman to be the San Francisco district attorney. The 55 years old has been elected as the U.S. Senate in 2016. In 2014, Kamala married a lawyer Doug Emhoff and her sister Maya officiated the ceremony.
Why Joe Biden picked Kamala Harris as Vice-President?
Although Biden had announced earlier that he will pick a woman as his running mate, Kamala Harris was never seen his favourite. She likely piped Senator Janet Rice since Rice lacked experience in electoral politics. Biden chose Harris only after making an exhaustive review that emerged a new political alliance, deepening the existing rivalries and elevating the cohort of woman leaders in the party.
Role of Kamala Harris in US elections
When Kamala Harris was chosen as the member of Biden’s party, his campaign took a better experience. She was given the task of endearing herself to the voters who like to vote Republicans instead but does not support Trump. She encouraged the voters to vote for her party instead of staying back at home during elections.
Five things Kamala Harris did to set an example of a great leader
- When America faced housing crises, Kamala Harris won a historic mortgage settlement which helped as many as 84,000 families in California. In 2012 financial crises, she brokered $25 billion settlement deal with five top mortgage companies citing improper foreclosure practices. The homeowners in California received $18.4 billion as a mortgage relief.
- She called out against for-profit colleges. In 2016, Kamala won a $1.1 billion settlement against the for-profit Corinthian Colleges for unlawful predatory practices.
- Kamala Harris worked with LGBTQ communities to lead the SCOTUS decision in favour of marriage equality. She opposed both the Propositions 8 and 22 during her time as DA from 2004 to 2011. Harris also created a Hate Crime Unit which aimed at prosecuting crimes against LGBTQ pupils in school.
- Kamala Harris experienced prosecution of human trafficking and war on drugs. In 2017, she hosted a liberal think tank Centre for Americans Progress and gave a speech calling Trump administration and Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding drug policies and trafficking.
- Although Kamala calls herself ‘smart on crime’ but others allege her as ‘tough on crime’. When Harris was elected AG in 2010, she commanded 135,000 inmates in prison while 750 were on their death row.
