Kamala Harris is Ambitious — and That’s a Good Thing
ERIC BAZAIL EIMIL: Part of me wishes that I could have left the article just at the title. Truthfully, that should have been the end of the discussion as California Sen. Kamala Harris has risen to the top of the veepstakes. However, Chris Dodd and many allies of Vice President Biden didn’t read the memo the first time.
As first reported by Politico, and later CNBC, Biden allies have launched a “shadow campaign” to prevent California’s junior Senator and former Attorney General from receiving the Vice-Presidential nomination. Largely seen as the front-runner for the race, Harris has been labeled by many, including former Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), as lacking remorse for her scathing attack against Biden during the first Democratic debate in June of 2019. Others have claimed that Harris is too ambitious and would be “running for president the day of inauguration.” As a result, they’ve floated alternative options, including Reps. Karen Bass (D-CA) and Val Demings (D-FL), as well as former National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), who they see as less threatening and more likely to be team players.
What. On. Earth.
First, these comments act as if Harris hasn’t been one of Joe Biden’s most prolific and active surrogates. Enlisting the #KHive to support her, Harris has raised millions for the Biden campaign’s operations and even signed a joint fundraising agreement with the DNC to ensure that the DNC could continue to campaign for Democrats up and down the ballot. This work came even when she was cranking out bills to provide Americans with greater relief during the lockdown, campaigning for other statewide and federal candidates, and even took time to teach Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) how to make a proper tuna melt.
Second, It’s especially frustrating to hear these comments made by figures like Chris Dodd, who himself ran for President in 2008 and has a deeply troubling record of scandal. It’s also a little ironic to hear these comments in the context of Joe Biden’s political career. This is Biden’s third Presidential campaign and at minimum, the fourth, he considered. Biden is easily one of the most ambitious politicians in American history. The notion that he couldn’t be a team player during the Obama administration as a result doesn’t hold water.
Third, let’s also not forget that Vice President Biden is no spring chicken. Given the stresses of the Presidency, his high susceptibility to COVID-19, and his more advanced age, it is reasonable to worry that he may not be able to serve the entirety of his term in office. Not to mention, undoing the damage of the Trump years and making tangible progress towards repairing the wounds at the core of our broken and divided country will take much longer than four years. Therefore, Biden’s vice president should not only be willing to serve in such an emergency, but she must also be willing to carry forth his torch going beyond the four years of a Biden administration.
And yet, women in the 2020 Democratic Primary faced these “accusations” of ambition constantly. In many respects, I ask myself: did Democrats learn nothing from 2016? Did Democrats learn nothing when Hillary Clinton was burned at the stake for having the nerve to *checks notes* want higher elected office and take charge of the nation through thoughtful leadership and dedicated public service? Rather than take stock of their complicity in sexism, misogyny and racism as a party, it seems Democrats have decided to intentionally weaponize it against their own.
Instead of criticizing Harris for having ambition, and in many ways venturing into racist stereotypes of the “angry Black woman” by characterizing her like that, let’s celebrate that she dares to have ambitions. Women like Harris have had to go up, as they describe it, the “rough side of the mountain” to reach the barrier-breaking positions they’ve achieved. They have felt like they’ve needed to work twice as hard to get half as much as White colleagues and rivals. They have experienced misogynoir, have been questioned and diminished constantly by men, and white women, who in many cases are less qualified and less prepared than them, and have weathered it all in the service of the imperfect nation that they love. Black women like Harris rise every day, even when many with more privilege would have turned back.
That’s the kind of person I have long believed would be worthy of being our Commander in Chief. That’s what made me volunteer for Kamala Harris and donate money to her Presidential campaign. That’s what keeps me defending her and supporting her work in the service of the American people. And that’s what I think makes her an even better running mate for Vice President Biden at a time when we need someone formidable to compliment him.
If you want to criticize Kamala Harris, go ahead. By no means is her record perfect, and by no means will it satisfy every litmus test. She made mistakes as a prosecutor and has voted against bills on which progressives have placed a high premium. There are legitimate and intellectually sincere criticisms to raise about her record, and Democrats should be prepared to litigate those questions together if she, in fact, is chosen by Vice President Biden to be his running mate. Having ambition isn’t one of those flaws— the Biden campaign shouldn’t hold ambition against any of the talented and qualified women on his shortlist.
Eric Bazail Eimil is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service studying Latin American and African Politics. A proud Cuban-American, his passions include Florida politics, US foreign policy towards emerging nations and America’s complex relationship with race, identity and power.