Why I'll Be Voting for Kamala Harris This November

There are two potential scenarios for the Democrats moving ahead, and Kamala Harris is central to both of them: If Biden continues his campaign, as he has suggested he will, voters will have to consider Harris because the odds of Biden completing his term, should he win, are not high given his age. In that case, Kamala Harris would succeed him.

If Biden drops out, the most logical choice, though not necessarily the most popular, would be to replace him with his Vice President, who would inherit Biden’s war chest. If Joe Biden dropped out, some experts believe all of Biden’s delegates would also automatically transfer to Harris, and for another candidate to be considered, she’d have to withdraw as well. Harris would also become the nominee if, God forbid, Biden was unable to run due to health reasons. Therefore, the reality is: There’s no getting around Kamala Harris.

Good.

Replacing Biden with Harris at the Convention — if he drops out — would obviously be complicated. There are two conflicting realities: The Democrats have a strong next generation of candidates, including Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Wes Moore, Hakeem Jeffries, J.B. Pritzker, Andy Beshear, and my personal favorite, Josh Shapiro. On the other hand, Harris is not particularly popular and, according to polls taken before last week’s debate, trails Trump by larger margins than Biden.

However, after last week’s debate, there are two prevailing views: 1) Biden should withdraw from the race so that the Democrats can present a candidate best positioned to win, or 2) It doesn’t matter who the nominee is, as any Democrat is better than Trump and we should all just shut up and vote blue. I think Harris puts the Democrats in the best position to win, either as VP or the nominee.

The question I have, however, is why don’t the people who say we should stick by Biden no matter what because he’s a better candidate than Trump also believe that about Kamala Harris? Is being a Black woman a bigger liability than being an 81-year-old who has lost a few steps? Those who believe voters will come around to Biden because he’s better than Trump do not seem to believe the same about Harris, though she is clearly a better alternative to Trump. And to those who say Harris can’t win but Biden can: Why? And before anyone says, “America won’t vote for a Black woman,” the polls also seem to illustrate that America won’t vote for a man in clear cognitive decline either, regardless of whether the Supreme Court is on the line.

Personally, I’m happy to vote for Harris either as a VP with a high probability of taking over or as the Democratic nominee. Effectively, we’re voting for her either way. Going into the 2020 election, she was initially my first choice because she was brilliant during Senate hearings, where she drilled Brett Kavanaugh and Jeff Sessions. In a one-on-one debate with Trump, Kamala Harris would be so dominating that it’s unlikely Trump would agree to debate her, which would be a strike against him.

Moreover, the most crucial voting bloc for Democrats is Black people, and Black women have been saving this party from itself for years. Should the Democrats push Biden aside somehow, skipping over Harris in favor of another white man would be a slap in the face to an essential voting group. It would split the party into pieces.

Indeed, I am confounded by the belief of many voters who think that Biden can win but that Harris cannot. According to a NYTimes poll taken in March — after the State of the Union address but before the debates — Biden’s favorability rating was only marginally better than Harris’ despite three-and-a-half years in office, eight years as Vice President, and a lifetime in politics. Crucially, Harris’ favorability — despite being largely hidden by the administration over the last three years — was also better than Biden’s with Black voters and voters under the age of 35, two crucial demographics Democrats need to win.

Either way, we need to see a lot more of Kamala Harris in the coming weeks, either as a surrogate for Biden who can communicate his message more effectively and ease voter concerns about her taking over if Biden cannot complete his term or as the most logical person to replace him on the ticket. What I don’t want to see anymore are paragraphs like this from the NYTimes:

Mr. Biden was also protected, in an unexpected way, by his choice of Ms. Harris as his vice president: Many Democrats thought she lacked the political skills and presence to lead a national ticket but believed it would be hard to deny the first Black woman vice president the top spot if Mr. Biden did not run again.

In the meantime, there are people who saw this from last night’s BET Awards complaining about all the “cringe.”

Vice President Kamala Harris for the #BETAwards: "The majority of us believe in freedom and equality, but these extremists, as they say, they not like us." pic.twitter.com/wE0hDB3XId

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 1, 2024

Let me tell you what cringe is: A 78-year-old lunatic who has just been given the power from the Supreme Court to kill his political rivals, and an 81-year-old man who does not have the communications skills or wherewithal to give an interview with a major publication or news organization or even a press conference to counter that threat. That’s what’s cringe.

Harris, meanwhile, is not a liability. Kamala Harris is an integral part of the Democratic future. Whether as a Vice President ready to step up or a nominee in her own right, she represents a significant force in the party. Ignoring her potential and the crucial support she brings would be a misstep. With or without Biden, the Democratic Party must recognize and leverage her strengths to secure victory and uphold its values in the face of the many dangerous challenges ahead. She needs to be out there campaigning as though she could be the next President of the United States because she very well could be. Therefore, as VP or at the top of the ticket, you better believe I’m voting for Kamala Harris this fall.