It took a while—too long a while—for President Joe Biden to declare he would no longer seek reelection, but in tribute to him, he ultimately made the patriotic decision to do so.
Make no mistake about it, Biden is touted as one of the best presidents in American history. He is said to have accomplished more in his first and only term than many presidents. But the fact is that his accomplishments came at a much older age than other presidents. Age caught up with him, making it unlikely he would have won a second term in office. A decisive loss would most certainly have ruined his positive legacy as president. By making the difficult decision not to seek reelection, his legacy has become potentially stronger.
With Biden removing himself as the Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party, it seems increasingly likely that Vice President Kamala Harris will be the party’s candidate.
Although she has not been formally nominated, in the immediate hours following Biden’s decision, there was a groundswell of support from top Democrats, led by Biden himself, who endorsed her as the party’s presidential candidate. This support is also coming from the Democratic Party’s grassroots, which contributed over $100 million to Harris’ potential presidential campaign within some 36 hours.
Kamala Harris’s tenure as Biden’s vice president, if one makes a judgment based on media coverage, is generally considered unremarkable. Up to a few months ago, she was not in any way considered a possible candidate for president, although Biden intended to keep her as his vice-presidential running mate.
But in recent months, she has appeared to have grown more comfortable and confident in her role as VP and has been a strong advocate for issues like women’s reproductive rights. She has been traveling across the country as an increasingly strong and respected political voice. Ever since Biden’s incredibly poor debate performance last month, there have been calls for Harris to replace him as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate. Now that Biden has dropped his reelection bid, a coalition has rapidly built around her candidacy.
Harris is a multi-demographic presidential candidate. She’s the daughter of immigrants, a woman, Black, Caribbean-American, Asian-American, middle-class, and middle-aged. Some of these demographics, particularly her gender and race, are considered by some as liabilities to her being elected president. Voices across the country, perhaps across the world, are saying, “America will never elect a black woman as president.” This seems like déjà vu, as in 2007, many voices also said America would never elect a Black man for president when Barack Obama entered the presidential race. Well, America did elect a Black man as president, not once but twice.
Some naysayers also point to Harris’ failed 2020 presidential bid, prior to her being selected by Biden as his VP running mate. But she has gained exceptional experience in her tenure as VP, and coupled with her past experiences as a US Senator and Attorney General of California, she is surely qualified to be president. The growing excitement among the Democratic Party base with Harris likely to be the party’s presidential nominee has been pleasantly surprising. A party that appeared so divided as it agonized over whether Biden should relinquish his presidential bid has, in record time, seemed to be uniting around Kamala Harris.
Amazingly, this same woman who many were criticizing as a colorless, ineffective VP is now the main hope of the Democratic Party retaining possession of the White House in November. The scenario surrounding Harris is reminiscent of this Biblical verse, “The stone the builders refused has become the cornerstone.” Kamala Harris has emerged as the cornerstone on which the Democratic Party intends to occupy the White House for the next eight years.
Unlike Biden’s presidential candidacy, Harris is more likely to appeal to America’s youth, women, African Americans, Hispanics, and independents, and of course, Caribbean American voters. Interestingly, the anticipated Caribbean American voter turnout for Harris is poised to make the Caribbean American bloc a very important factor in states like Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland. But hopefully, the majority of America will vote for Harris for the policies she represents to improve their lives, and not based on her race or gender.
Every day in American politics seems like a year. So much has happened over the last month, it spins one’s head. The 104 days leading to the presidential elections on November 5 will seem like an eternity with surprising and unexpected events. There’ll also be days over which Democrats will be working and hoping when the votes are finally tallied after November 5, they will have made Kamala Harris, daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, America’s first Black woman president-elect.
