Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Biden's Running Mate Kamala Harris

Finally, Joe Biden announced his running mate (for VP) - Kamala Harris.

This is really not a big surprise as she has been the front runner for the VP role.  Indians can be happy because her mother is from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Kamala spent a lot of vacation time during her childhood in Besant Nagar, Chennai. Her mother and grandfather taught her carnatic music and bharathnatayam.


    Top Left to Right: Kamala Harris, Her grandma Rajam Gopaln, Her grandpa

    P.V. Gopalan, Her sister Maya Harris.  The kids: Maya's daughter and a cousin


Here are some pros and cons regarding Kamala Harris.

Pros

She is highly educated.

She has held a solid number of public jobs - District Attorney in San Francisco, Attorney General for the State of California, U.S. Senator from California.

She is a great debater.

She comes across very well in front of the camera and on television.

She is also loved by the black community in America.

 

Cons

She is very ambitious.  A little too ambitious and opportunistic.

She knows that Biden will be a one term president only (four years) and it's highly possible that he won’t even finish his one term due to his advanced age and mental capacity. Therefore, she will have her own agenda instead of implementing Biden’s agenda.

She implemented the 1994 Crime Bill to the fullest. The bill was written by Joe Biden and approved by President Bill Clinton. It resulted in mass incarceration and innocent people were put in prison..

She has a "sugar daddy", Willie Brown, Speaker of the California Assembly. He made sure she was moving up the political ladder but in return what did Kamala was doing the forbidden dance with Slick Willie.

She is a big proponent for medicare for all. Many Americans aren't supportive.

 

So what do I think of Biden's pick for VP?

I don't think Harris is a bad pick at all.  However, I do not think she was the best choice.

I believe Susan Rice would have been a better running mate (also minority female).  She was the National Security Advisor for Barrack Obama.  Rice was also U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  Rice is also highly educated and she graduated from Stanford University and Oxford.

 

Can Biden/Harris defeat Trump/Pence in November?

I'm not an R, or a D. I'm an I - for Independent.

When Biden became the candidate for the Democratic Party, I put his chance of winning at 70%. Now with Kamala Harris as his running mate, I put his chance of winning at 55%.

PS: The blog post when I put it here came funny.  I don't know how to fix it.

27 comments:

  1. Are you freaking kidding me?
    He picked Kamala Harris as his VP?
    She only got ahead in her life by lying down on her back.
    Willie Brown isn’t the only “slick willy” she was playing with as she used her “ASSets” to move ahead in this world. I can’t vote for anyone who becomes famous or advances their career by using their bedroom skills.

    Regards,
    Monica Lewinsky

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    1. Thanks for your comments Monica. I understand what you are saying. You never used your bedroom skills. You were just crawling under the table in the Oval Office.

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  2. Very interesting information. Having been a resident of Besant Nagar (Chennai) for more than 25 years, I wish Kamala should win.I am sure She will make all tamilians proud.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Gowri. We wish she will make all Tamilians proud. But some Tamilians (like DMK, DK, Suba Veerapandian) will not be happy because she is from Iyer family. Brahmin ancestry.

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  3. Hold up, wait a minute. Let me put some boom in it.
    When you select a VP as your running mate, that person is supposed to enhance your ticket.
    How is Kamala Harris helping Joe Biden win?
    Would Joe Biden not have gotten the California majority vote without KH?
    Would women and minority women not have voted for Biden, unless he selected KH?
    This was a wasted selection as he has the BIG California electoral vote already locked in, the women vote already locked, and the minority vote locked in.
    If he REALLY wanted to enhance his ticket, he should have taken someone from a hotly contested battleground state (Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc) to secure victory.
    Or as you said SG, Susan Rice who is an absolute political monster in Washington DC.
    Rice has experience at the national level, who is very impressive and can’t be touched.
    A blown opportunity for Biden.

    By the way, Rice has the letter ‘E’ at the end right?

    Regards,
    Dan Quayle
    Mr. Potatoe Head

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    1. Thanks for your comments Dan. Long time No see. You have very valid points. You said them much better than me.

      You asked a question. Is the name Rice has the letter "E" at the end. Wait a minute. Let me check with William Figueroa.

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  4. I wouldn't know if she is a good choice or not as I don't follow politics....but I am glad a woman got chosen....and based on what you mentioned (all of it) in cons should be moved upto pros....way to go girl....

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    1. Thanks for your comments Dee. You want all the cons should be moved upto pros. Does that include Slick Willie episode also?

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    2. Totally....i don't like that when a man does something like that it is not considered bad, but when a woman does the same ....there is article written and discussions and it becomes controversial .....

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    3. Thanks for your comments Dee. What you say may be true for ordinary citizens like you and me. But when a person is running for the most powerful post in the world, he/she will be vetted with a fine tooth comb. In 1988, a flamboyant and charismatic guy Gary Hart ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination. He was the front runner. Had he got the nomination he would have won in a landslide and become President. He would have made one of the great presidents in the history of the United States. But, he was caught in an extra-marital affair with a woman in a private yacht called “Monkey Business”. He had to withdraw.

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    4. But she has been chosen inspite of all of her background and choices....and has been vetted well.....in that scenario mentioning them as a con not needed ..... a con as u mentioned would be more like your opinion ......(but definitely not the way I look at it)

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    5. OK Dee you are right. Happy?:

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Looks like the Democratic party is playing their cards quite well, after all. I wonder if the anti-minority agenda, which brought the ruling party to power, will also lead to its downfall? Adding all those Twitter PR disasters, looks like it might ;)

    Destination Infinity

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    1. Thanks for your comments Rajesh. It is very very difficult (if not impossible) to defeat an incumbent President in the USA. I would give both Trump and Biden 50/50 chance.

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  7. Having decided for a woman candidate of black colour for VP,Biden had two options in Kamala Harris and Susan Rice.Both were talented,highly educated with rich experience.May be Biden chose the former for her charisma,aggressive nature,ability as a speaker and perhaps the presumed skill to swing black and Indian-American votes in Democrat's favour. You have said,Trump and Biden,have 50:50 chance though I am inclined to give a slight edge to the Democrat as of now.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Mr. KP. As I told Rajesh it is very difficult to defeat an incumbent President. He has so many advantages. Trump just announced that he will give his party's acceptance speech from the White House lawn.

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  8. Hi Rajan,

    Coming to this post quite late. That family photo of Kamala is quite a nice one.

    She has only a very remote connection to India, so much so that I don't know how right India is in "claiming credit". (India is well known to do that.) She is a product of the US and not India.

    I haven't followed her career as much as probably you would have. My knowledge is limited to diverse articles I have read. She is supposedly quite left of centre, but I have also read commentators saying that if it suits her, she could be right of centre as well. That probably explains your view that she is "opportunistic".

    For India, historically, Republican administrations have had a slightly better record in how favourable they are in their relations with India, compared to Democrats who have had different views to issues of the sub-continent.

    The moot question in the runup to Nov 3 would be whether her interests sync with that America. If it does then nothing like that for American and Americans. If her "opportunism" helps India, all the better.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Pradeep. As you said Kamala Harris is Indian origin in name only. She is a product of the US. She is very opportunistic. My personal opinion is she is not going to help India. Her political positions are not India-friendly.

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  9. I don’t know whether she would be good or bad for her country but looking at the interests of my country, I wouldn’t like her to win.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Renu. We will see what happens on November 3.

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  10. Again let us wait for the destiny to understand who will be garlanded as the winner. Opportunists' stand cannot be predicted as their interest will first lie in their personal benefit, not national.Of course, they put on shows to exhibit that they sincere in matters of concern. Thank you for this info about her.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Sarala. You said it right. Kamala Harris is very opportunistic. She cares more for her own personal agenda.

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    1. Thanks for your comments Ashok. I appreciate your compliment.

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  12. Sorry for coming late here, SG. I have ready many articles of hers in Tamil magazines also. She is her mother's daughter, that is all. She is not much connected to India in any way. She would prefer to not help India outwardly. She might be blacklisted in that way. If she is waiting to contest for the post of President later, she has to be very careful. Hope Trump doesn't come back. But my son says, he will:)

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    1. Thanks for your comments Sandhya. I agree with your son. Majority of the people who stopped education with high school are blindly supporting Trump.

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