Kamala’s choice

It was 2008. An audacious moment in history, as a then little known politician with a foreign name vaguely reminiscent of one of the world’s most wanted terrorists wandered into the consciousness of America. That previous Feb. 10, then Junior Sen. Barack Hussein Obama (D-IL) announced he would be filing for the presidency of the United States, an objective that in the opinion of many politically savvy people, bordered on the precipice of lunacy. Time progressed, and the pipe dream began to take on the aura of reality, as a Black man, the son of a Kenyan exchange student, made a strong showing at the Iowa caucus, considered the first major contest of presidential elections.
In short order, the Obama campaign gained momentum, holding its own against political rock star Hillary Rodham Clinton, and clinching the Democratic nomination in June. As the summer wound down he formed a three-person committee for the all important selection of his running mate. These included future Attorney General Eric Holder, former chairman and chief executive officer of mortgage security company Fannie Mae, Jim Johnson, and attorney Caroline Kennedy, daughter of the 35th president.
Due to the ground breaking nature of this particular election, Obama was inclined to favor a “safe” selection, i.e.: White and conventional to attract potential voters from the mainstream. Enter Joseph R. Biden. A senator with experience in foreign policy and national security, who seemed wholesome enough to appeal to blue collar and working class folks from middle America, and no discernible skeletons in the closet to tempt Republican scrutiny.
The selection made, Joe was in, and the die was cast for the rest of the millennium.
Opposites attract: A history lesson
“Politics makes strange bedfellows.”
—attributed to 19th century American essayist, and novelist Charles Dudley Warner.
The above statement infers that people who might not normally have anything in common may well find themselves forced together to achieve a common cause. In this sense it is common to find quickly formed relationships between politically opposed individuals
No one candidate has the appeal to attract all voters, so “an ideal running mate” may be selected to balance the shortcomings of the person at the top of the ticket. At the end of the Civil War Republican incumbent Abraham Lincoln was pitted against military hero Gen. George B. McClellan. In those days when the two parties bore little resemblance to the political entities that dominate government today, Lincoln chose his running mate Andrew Johnson, a southern slave owner, to appease former Confederates who were violently oppositional to Lincoln and all he stood for, a sentiment that exists throughout the south to this day. They handily won the election, but Lincoln’s assassination opened the door for Johnson to administrate what came to be known as the Reconstruction Era, scaring the rest of the century.
John F. Kennedy faced a dilemma as a Roman Catholic vying for the Presidency in 1960. The prevailing concern held that papal authority in Rome would supersede any allegiance to the Constitution in the execution of his policies, a fear that hampered New York Gov. Al Smith’s quest for the executive office in 1928, a contest won by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Thirty years later, anti-Catholic sentiment remained a real component in attracting potential voters. To “balance the ticket,” then Sen. Kennedy hungered for the support of traditional Southern Democrats, still irritated by their party’s embrace of Post World War Il de-segregation policies. Enter Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Baines Johnson, a Texan whose Protestant roots ran deep, was a counterbalance which eased their winning the election.
Past sins
“There was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day, and that little girl was me.”
—Sen. Kamala D. Harris in a 2019 presidential debate against former Vice President Joe Biden.
In building up his political cache, newly elected Senator Biden made a name for himself as a committed opponent of busing and caving into the fears of his constituency around Wilmington, Del. In doing so, he cozy-ed up to Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.), a former Klu Klux Klan member, and Sen. Jesse Helms (D-NC), a hard-nosed conservative who’d cut his teeth as an arch-enemy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. By the time of Biden’s own journey to the presidency in 2020, he crossed swords with a rising star on the Democratic horizon, Kamala D. Harris.
In a heated exchange for the Democratic nomination, Harris brought up her own personal history and dug up Biden’s own dirty laundry in the process. Ever the politician after decades in the capitol, Biden parried and side-stepped the sharp tongued prosecutor.
“I did not oppose busing in America,” he countered.
“What I opposed is busing ordered by the Department of Education.”
History demonstrates that Harris bowed out, and the rivals quickly formed an alliance of mutual need. She was selected for Vice President over prominent names like former National Security Advisor Susan Rice, then Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, and current Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass. Several reasons for this choice were clear.
She’d already established an ideological alliance with his son, deceased former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, and presented the intriguing prospect of being a political trifecta in that she was 1) a female; 2) as a woman of color she was a double minority as an Asian and African American; and 3) while not necessarily a protege, she was connected to Biden’s old boss, the 44th President, Obama.
This proved to be the key in overcoming the incumbent Republican.
A safe choice Vetting
—(verb) make a careful and critical examination of (something).
—investigate (someone) thoroughly, especially in order to ensure that they are suitable for a job requiring secrecy, loyalty, or trustworthiness.
With four years as Vice President, Harris is saddled with the double-edged sword of practical experience and criticism about decisions she has made during her tenure. Perhaps foremost is her handling of immigration and the border crisis, a controversy likely to remain unresolved regardless of who comes out on top in November.
This time around, her vetting team reportedly consists of a few dozen Democratic lawyers. They consist of seasoned committeeman Eric Holder and attorney and former government official Tony West, who coincidentally is Harris’ brother-in-law.
Following the example of Obama in his initial bid for her “safe” choice, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, is a White European whose American residency goes back several generations. With a background as a gun owner and avid hunter and fisherman, he was promoted in 2016 by the firearms magazine “Guns and Ammo” as one of the “top 20 politicians for gun owners.” A career educator, he turned a losing team in the All-American sport of football into state champions. A National Guard veteran, he served 24 years reaching the rank of Sergeant Major, the highest grade attainable for enlisted personnel. During the course of his duty as an artilleryman, his exposure to howitzer (cannon) fire caused tinnitus, or severe hearing loss.
Almost immediately after his selection, accusations poured in about his integrity, embellishment about his service record, and so on. The appearance of several Obama staffers including Stephanie Cutter, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, David Plouffe, and Jennifer Palmieri led former Representative Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) to speculate that the former 44th president is actually pulling the strings for Harris’ campaign. With just under three months to go before the actual election, additional verbal mud slinging is all but a certainty.