ANALYSIS | With Kamala Harris, US Democrats would bet against US history of sexism, racism
The US Democratic party will be taking a historic gamble if it now turns to Vice President Kamala Harris to become its presidential candidate, betting that a black woman can overcome racism, sexism and her own missteps as a politician to defeat Republican Donald Trump.
In more than two centuries of democracy, American voters have elected only one black president and never a woman, a record that makes even some black voters wonder if Harris can crash through the hardest ceiling in U.S. politics. Her candidacy would offer a contrast with Trump and his vice presidential running mate, Senator J.D. Vance, the two white men on the Republican ticket, Brown said.
"If you think that there is consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to leave that they will support Kamala - Vice President Harris - you would be mistaken," Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a Biden supporter, said on Instagram."There's no safe option." But he said there is a flip side: black voters could be galvanized if Harris is put at the top of the ticket, and women, including some who regret not voting for Clinton in 2016, would back her as well.
One former Democratic lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he thought Harris was a bigger risk because of her record than her race. "In contrast, President Trump is polling at record-high levels with African Americans," Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said in a statement. Nadia Brown, director of the women's and gender studies program at Georgetown University, said despite the rise of black political leaders, there remains a notable reluctance to accept women in key leadership roles.
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