Trump is under fire for his management of the COVID-19 pandemic as the United States currently has the largest number of cases and deaths occurring from the virus across the world. While this may give former vice president Biden an edge in the polls, what has sparked interest in India in the election is the Democratic nominee’s vice presidential pick. Months ago Biden had announced that he would pick a woman as his running mate and last week, after much screening, he announced his choice, which turned out to be Kamala Harris, the junior senator from California who has Jamaican and Indian origins. It is the Indian link to the Democratic team that has caused more than normal interest in the US elections in India.
Harris has a Jamaican father and an Indian mother and was brought up mainly by her mother. For India, that is quick to claim anyone with Indian roots across the world who has scaled up the ladder – in any field but politics in particular – the excitement generated by the Democratic vice presidential pick was not surprising. Here was an Indian immigrant’s daughter, a second generation American, to become the first American Indian to be selected for the vice president’s position, and that is no mean achievement in America of today. In 2016, when she was elected to the Senate, she had become the first Indian-American to become a US Senator. Before that she had been the Attorney General of the southern State of California.
Given her past political career, Harris does not bring much senate experience to the ticket, as she has been there for less than four years. Biden, on the other hand has been a US Senator for 36 years. She also came to national attention only after her election to the Senate in 2016. Despite that, she was always considered a strong presidential candidate by the party and when she announced her intention to run, this was borne out by the donations she received as Harris tied a record set by Bernie Sanders for most donations raised in the day after making the announcement. In a Democratic party field that besides Biden included senators Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, Harris’ poll numbers dropped during the long campaign and she withdrew earlier this year, as did some other candidates, but not before there was some friction between Biden and her during the Democratic party debates. It was following her withdrawal that her name began to be spoken of as a potential vice president running mate for Biden.
For Harris, this is a major step in fulfilling her ambitions of occupying the White House some day. The fact that the senator had, for a brief period, been one of the frontrunners for the Democratic Party presidential candidates, indicates that the party does see potential in her. Her pick as the VP candidate was also endorsed by the Democrats who are looking at regaining the White House after a gap of four years. If the Biden-Harris ticket is successful in November, then Harris comes within a heartbeat of the presidency. Should the Biden-Harris ticket win, then Harris will remain a possible successor to Biden, who given his age may not seek a second term. If they lose, then Harris will possibly set her sights on 2024 immediately, where she will have an edge in the Democratic field. Right now she is in a win-win situation, and a victory in November will catapult her to international prominence.
