Opinion: Kamala Harris has become a cornerstone

It took President Joe Biden a while — too long — to announce he would not seek reelection, but in his honor, he finally made the patriotic decision.

There is no doubt that Biden is one of the best presidents in American history. He has accomplished more in his first term than many presidents. But the fact is that his achievements were made when he was much older than other presidents. Age makes it difficult for him to win a second term. A decisive defeat would certainly destroy his positive legacy as president. By making the difficult decision not to seek reelection, his legacy could become even stronger.

With Biden dropping out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, it’s becoming increasingly likely that Vice President Kamala Harris will become the Democratic nominee.

Although she has not yet officially been nominated, within hours of Biden’s decision, there was a wave of support from senior Democrats, led by Biden himself, who endorsed her as the Democratic presidential candidate. This support also came from the grassroots of the Democratic Party, which donated more than $100 million to Harris’s possible presidential campaign in about 36 hours.

Kamala Harris’s tenure as Biden’s vice president has generally been considered lackluster, judging by media coverage alone. A few months ago, she wasn’t even considered a presidential candidate, despite Biden’s interest in keeping her on as his running mate.

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But in recent months, she has seemed more comfortable and confident in the role of vice president and has become a staunch advocate for issues such as women’s reproductive rights. She has been traveling across the country as an increasingly powerful and respected political voice. Ever since Biden’s extremely poor performance in the debate last month, there have been calls for Harris to replace him as the Democratic presidential nominee. Now that Biden has given up his re-election bid, a coalition has quickly built around her candidacy.

Harris is a presidential candidate who comes from multiple ethnic backgrounds. She is the daughter of immigrants, a woman, Black, Caribbean American, Asian American, middle class, and middle-aged. Some people believe that these demographics, especially her gender and race, are liabilities for her election as president. Voices across the country and even around the world are saying, “America will never elect a Black woman as president.” This seems like déjà vu because in 2007, when Barack Obama ran for president, many people also said that America would never elect a Black person as president. Yet, America did elect a Black person as president, not once, but twice.

Some naysayers also point out that Harris ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020 before being chosen by Biden as his vice presidential running mate. But she has a wealth of experience as vice president, and while the media has inexplicably suppressed her many accomplishments as vice president, coupled with her past experience as a U.S. senator and California attorney general, she is certainly qualified to be president. The growing excitement among the Democratic base about Harris’ potential presidential nomination has been a pleasant surprise. The Democratic Party, which had been divided over whether Biden should abandon his presidential bid, seems to have united around Kamala Harris in record time.

It is surprising that the woman who many criticized as a personalityless, incompetent vice president is now the Democratic Party’s leading hope to retain the White House in November. The scene surrounding Harris brings to mind this biblical verse: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Kamala Harris has become the cornerstone of the Democratic Party’s plan to occupy the White House for the next eight years.

Unlike Biden’s presidential candidacy, Harris is more likely to appeal to America’s young people, women, African Americans, Hispanics, and independents, and of course Caribbean American voters. Interestingly, Caribbean Americans are expected to support Harris, which will make the Caribbean American bloc a very important factor in states such as Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland. But hopefully, most Americans will vote for Harris because of the policies she represents to improve their lives, not based on her race or gender.

Every day in American politics feels like a year. So much has happened in the past month that it’s dizzying. The 104 days until the November 5 presidential election seem like an eternity, filled with surprising and unexpected events. Democrats will spend their days working hard, hoping that when the votes are finally counted after November 5, they will have Kamala Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, become the first black woman elected president of the United States.

Kamala Harris is poised to become not only the cornerstone of the Democratic Party, but also a country that is more united and more normal than it has been for the past eight years.