A much anticipated and awaited step, when the US President Joe Biden announced his decision to bow out of the presidential elections to be held in November this year, making way for his running mate Kamala Harris as the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, it was a welcome decision.
As Vice President Harris moves closer to filing her formal nomination, her ancestral village in Tamil Nadu, is holding special prayers for her success. The residents of Painganadu-Thulasendrapuram, the village from which Harris’ grandfather hailed, are conducting special prayers at the Dharma Sastha Temple.
A defining goal of my presidency will be to build up the middle class.
When the middle class is strong, America is strong.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 24, 2024
Harris has secured the support of a majority of Democratic delegates to become the party’s nominee for president. According to a survey report by the Associated Press, Harris said she had received the endorsement of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to win the nomination in the first round of voting.
That means Harris is on her way to be chosen as the party’s official bearer and take on Republican Donald Trump in November’s presidential election.
It becomes official when party delegates hold a roll call vote ahead of next month’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago. Delegates are people who are selected to represent their electoral area. Their pledges of support are non-binding until the vote but unlikely to change.
No-one has opposed Harris name since President Biden left the race earlier. He found himself under mounting pressure from senior members of his party after his Presidential debate debacle against Trump.
Since Biden’s announcement, millions of dollars in donations have poured into her campaign and leading Democrats have lined up to support her bid as the Democratic nominee.
On behalf of the American people, I thank Joe Biden for his extraordinary leadership as President of the United States and for his decades of service to our country.
I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 21, 2024
Speaking to staff at her campaign’s headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, Harris had Trump in her sights. Referring to her early career as a prosecutor in California who took on predators and fraudsters, she added: “I know Donald Trump’s type.” She said the Biden-Harris campaign had always been about two different versions of the future of the country – theirs and Trump’s.
“One focuses on the future, the other focuses on the past,” she said. “Donald Trump wants to take our country backwards… we believe in a brighter future that makes room for all Americans.” She also praised Biden’s accomplishments, saying her time serving as his vice-president was “one of the greatest honours of my life”.
With a twist in the on-going elections race, it has certainly become even more interesting event. For eight years after Hillary Clinton, it’s once again a lady contender against Trump. Though Harris has many firsts to her name, the first Governor, first Vice President of colour, only time will tell if she manages to make history by becoming the first President of colour of the most powerful nation.
