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A TL; DR Guide to the Career, Plus Politics of Democratic Nominee Kamala Harris

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2m ago

Aug 27, 2024 / 708 Views

Evan Walker

Now that vice president Kamala Harris has been confirmed as Democratic nominee for the 2024 US Presidential elections, we look at her career and politics in this TL; DR guide.

US Vice President Kamala Harris is on a roll. Following her online surge in popularity with memes and edits of her methodical hearing and debate takedowns of the tired old men of American Politics, she has become the internet’s new darling, affectionately named ‘Mamala’. And while she certainly did not ‘fall out of a coconut tree’, Kamala Harris has revitalised the Democratic presidential race for 2024, and we look at her career and Politics in our TL; DR guide below.

The world of American politics has floundered on unsteady ground for a while now, with Republicans and several factions of Democrats calling into question outbound president Joe Biden’s capabilities for securing a second term. In a stunning turn of events, Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race has left the door open for his Vice President Kamala Harris to step up and take the lead for the Democratic party.

Harris’ charge has been met with overwhelmingly positive response thus far, leading many to believe that a renewed and rejuvenated Democratic party is well on its way to successfully trumping the Republicans come polling day in November. In light of that, we take a look at Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, her career and politics in this TL; DR guide.

What if we told you Biden was the Mastermind?

In what appears to be the UNO reverse play of the century, president Joe Biden announced his exit from the 2024 Presidential Race in July, leaving Donald Trump’s Republican party in disarray. Up until this point, the Trump campaign had spent its time and dollars attacking Biden’s capabilities, with key talking points including Biden’s advanced years (Biden is 81; Trump is 79) and mental acuity.

Following a disastrous debate performance, in which Biden visibly struggled to hold his ground, the Trump campaign’s concerns appeared to hold weight. Leveraging their upper hand, the Republican Party went all in with the Biden hate train, dumping more money into merch and ads, all the while trashing him through the Republican National Committee.

Biden’s well-timed withdrawal and subsequent endorsement of Harris is many things: Chiefly, it is proof positive that the Biden administration is playing chess, and their ultimate checkmate is at hand. With Biden cleverly drawing the ire and attention of the Republicans, Harris, who at 59 years of age is much younger than Trump, has avoided most of the Republican tirade. This has allowed Harris to emerge as a key figurehead in the Democratic pushback against Trump’s campaign, her reputation largely unscathed, and her imminent nomination as Presidential Candidate of the Democratic party all but assured.

While Kamala Harris now holds the office of the Vice President, she has also served as District Attorney of San Francisco, Attorney General of California, and a Senator for the state of California. It comes as little surprise that Harris, who spent years putting criminals away, is known to possess a shrewd and sharp demeanour that has served her well in court and in parliament. Considering her age and rising popularity among the younger generations, including the famously anti-establishment Gen Z, the Trump campaign is certain to face difficulty in tearing her down.

Check. Mate.

The meme that made a presidential candidate: How Kamala Harris became Gen Z’s top choice for presidency

Earlier this year, old footage from a White House event resurfaced of Vice President Harris making a speech. In the speech, Harris was recorded as mirthfully saying, “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? Heh, heh, heh, heh… You exist in the context of all in which you live, and what came before you.”

While the Republican publication that posted the original footage may have had very different intentions, Gen Z, of which 40.8 million are eligible to vote in 2024, have since aligned themselves to the Vice President’s cause, drawn by her innate sense of humour and relatable personality.

Owing to the virality of her coconut tree comment and her endearing laugh, Harris became the new darling of social media. Over the following weeks, the internet became increasingly suffused by Harris and coconut-related memes, further endearing her to the young and emerging generation of voters. Across social media platforms, ‘Kamala is Brat’ began to trend, a callback to Charli XCX’s viral album aesthetic for Brat Girl Summer. Playing on Harris’ strengths as an effective and compelling public speaker with razor sharp wit, the memes and edits stoked public interest in her politics, setting ablaze her presidential aspirations.

kamala IS brat
— Charli (@charli_xcx) July 22, 2024

By the time President Biden announced his intentions to quit the race, the internet was already in love with Harris. Riding her wave of popularity among the swinging voters of Gen Z, Harris has skyrocketed into becoming the presidential candidate to watch for 2024. But what of her politics?

Harris vs Trump’s politics

As the Democratic party’s de-facto choice to go up against Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris’ Politics are as far from the former president’s as they can get. Notably, Harris has drawn attention to Trump’s many deficiencies in her speeches, from his crooked policies that tended to favour the rich to his criminal acts including obstruction of justice and sexual harassment.

Speaking to staffers at the Wilmington Campaign HQ, Harris likened Trump to the men she has known in her career in prosecution, saying, “As many as you know, before I was elected as Vice President, before I was elected as United States senator, I was the elected attorney general, as I’ve mentioned, of California. Before that, I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those worlds, I took on perPetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So, hear me when I say, I know Donald Trump’s type.”

Harris has not been shy about expressing her opinions on Trump’s capabilities to take the office once again. Speaking to Sunday Morning’s Jane Pauley, the Vice President reiterated her belief about Trump’s ineptitude, saying, “Let me be very clear about my position on Donald Trump. I strongly believe that he is incapable of being president of the United States, that he has been incomPetent, and that’s why I ran against him.”

Suffice to say, the two do not see eye to eye on many things. Here’s the TL; DR on the Politics of Kamala Harris, and how they differ from Republican nominee Donald Trump’s.

Kamala Harris on reproductive rights

On the subject of women’s rights, Trump has famously endorsed the overturning of Roe vs. Wade, ending body autonomy for women seeking abortions. Harris, however, believes in restoring the right to choose for women, making her a strong candidate for a progressive and liberal society.

On climate change

Concerning climate change, Trump is a noted climate change denier, believing it to be a hoax. Meanwhile, Harris has championed climate action throughout her decades-long career, going after oil conglomerates like BP, ConocoPhillips, and Exxon for their roles in climate change and climate change disinformation. As a senator, she sponsored the Green New Deal resolution, and as VP made the crucial tie breaking vote to pass the Democrats’ historic climate bill in 2022.

Harris ‘is done’ with gun violence

While Trump has long endorsed gun rights with the full backing and open endorsement of the National Rifle Association (NRA), Harris has been vocal about imposing stricter gun laws for Americans’ safety. As a senator of the United States, Harris co-sponsored bills to enact universal background checks and ban assault rifles, a motion she continues to champion in her election campaign. Speaking to a crowd at her first campaign rally in Wisconsin this past week, Harris said, “We, who believe that every person should have the freedom to live safe from the terror of gun violence, will finally pass red flag laws, universal background checks, and an assault weapons ban.”

Incarceration and justice

While Harris’ views on incarceration and justice have been criticised over the years as ‘flip-floppy’, Trump takes on a more draconic view of crime and punishment. The former president takes a hard approach to incarceration and justice, with one of his re-election promises being full support for increased police rights and protections and increased penalties.

Harris, however, has received mixed reviews from peers and experts in crime, with many suggesting that she did not push far enough for reformations in justice. If elected, Harris is expected to continue pushing her ‘progressive prosecutor’ image, which are likely to entail ‘making needed reforms’ and ‘fighting for those who too often are voiceless’. Harris also takes a hard stance against the death penalty.

On immigration

While she by no means endorses the building of a wall ala Trump, Harris was deputised in 2021 by Biden, who charged her with solving the root causes of migration from Latin America. This has sat badly with Democrats and migrant rights groups, many of whom continue to advocate for the rights of migrants wishing to seek asylum in the United States. In addressing the reasons for migrancy at its core, Harris announced over USD 1 billion for creating economic opportunities in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador; as of May 2021, the total amount of financial commitments to the cause is USD 5.2 billion.

On the Israel-Hamas war

In a stark departure from President Biden’s support of Israel in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, Harris has taken a hard stance on the genocide in Gaza. Speaking to reporters following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Harris pledged that she would not remain ‘silent’ on the suffering of those in Gaza, spotlighting the brutal plight of the Palestinian people.

Harris went on to add that too many innocent civilian lives had been lost, saying, “What has happened in Gaza over the past nine months is devastating. The images of dead children and desperate, hungry people fleeing for safety, sometimes displaced for the second, third or fourth time. We cannot look away in the face of these tragedies. We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the suffering. And I will not be silent.”

On the economy

Kamala harris career politics — Vice President Kamala Harris is currently the top Democratic contender for the 2024 Presidential Race. (Image: The White House/Facebook)

Like Biden, Harris is expected to continue the efforts to rejuvenate the American economy. In a recent speech, the Vice President revealed that America lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs under Donald Trump, adding that she had created nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs with President Biden. The Biden-Harris campaign also managed to cap the cost of insulin for seniors at USD 35 per month, a startling decision that directly curtailed the efforts of Big Pharma companies, who have long been accused of padding their bottom lines by jacking up the prices of life-sustaining medications.

Harris is also a strong champion of forgiving student debt, and during her time as senator attempted to pass a bill that would have made tax credits up to USD 6,000 available to low- and middle-income households. She is expected to continue championing the causes of the lower-and-middle classes.

(Main and featured images: The White House/Facebook)