Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden has announced California senator Kamala Harris as his running mate for the upcoming United States presidential elections on 3 November.
Harris, 55, born in California to an Indian mother and Jamaican father, is the first American of Indian descent to be named for the vice presidential post in the United States.
Former vice president Biden, who is set to face-off against President Donald Trump, described Harris as “a fearless fighter” and “one of the country’s finest public servants” in a tweet announcing her as his running mate.
“I'm honored to join him as our party's nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief,” Harris said in a tweet.
Harris is the first Indian-American woman to become a senator, the first Indian-American woman to become a San Francisco district attorney, and the first Indian-American woman to become California’s Attorney General.
In picking Harris as his running mate, Biden fulfilled his pledge of selecting a woman as his partner for the upcoming elections.
In the Democratic establishment, Harris is seen as a running mate who has the ability to reinforce Biden’s appeal among Indian-Americans, African-Americans and women voters at the polls.
Significantly, Biden has positioned himself as a “transitional” candidate who would serve as a “bridge” to a new generation of leaders. His announcement, therefore, is likely to be seen as an endorsement of the democratic establishment of Harris as Biden’s successor and a future Presidential candidate.
Harris had declared her decision to run for the US presidential race in January 2019. She put up a spirited fight before announcing on 3 December 2019 that she was dropping out of the race.
Since stepping down, Harris has been a vocal supporter of Biden’s bid for nomination as the Democratic candidate and a prominent advocate of racial-justice legislation after the death of George Floyd in late May.
Kamala Harris ‘A Fearless Fighter’: Joe Biden
Harris was born in Oakland in 1964 to an Indian mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a breast cancer scientist and a Jamaican father, Donald Harris, an economics professor at Stanford University.
Her sister, Maya Harris, was one of three senior policy advisers who were appointed to lead the development of an agenda for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris – a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants – as my running mate,” Biden tweeted at 1:47 am IST on Wednesday.
“Back when Kamala was Attorney General, she worked closely with Beau,” tweeted Biden, referring to his late son, Beau Biden. “I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I'm proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign.”
“She brings to the race a far more vigorous campaign style than Mr Biden’s,” wrote The New York Times, adding “including a gift for capturing moments of raw political electricity on the debate stage and elsewhere, and a personal identity and family story that many find inspiring.”
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