Kamala Harris, the current Vice President of the United States, has officially launched her campaign for the presidency in 2024. Harris was born and raised in Oakland, California, and comes from a mixed-race ethnic background–her father is of Jamaican heritage, and her mother is of Indian heritage. This marks a significant milestone as she aims to become the first female and second mixed-race president of the United States. Before serving as the Vice President under President Biden, Harris had already been deeply involved in politics, specifically in California.
Work Background
In 2004, Harris was elected as the District Attorney of San Francisco, where she served for two terms until 2011. As District Attorney, she started the “Back on Track” program, where she helped “first-time nonviolent offenders” reintegrate into society. Ultimately, if the offenders finished the entirety of the program, they would no longer have a felony on their record. This was a way in which Harris promoted helping people who made mistakes rather than punishing them and making it harder for them to be reintroduced into society. In addition to the “Back on Track” program, Harris strongly disapproved of the death penalty and “cosponsored a bill that outlawed the so-called “gay panic defense.” Harris was labeled as a “progressive prosecutor,” but she faced criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. On the one hand, some progressives argued that her record was not as reform-minded as they had hoped, pointing to instances where her office defended controversial practices like cash bail and opposed statewide reforms to reduce prison populations. On the other hand, conservatives criticized her for being too lenient, particularly in her efforts to divert nonviolent offenders from the traditional criminal justice system.
After serving as the District Attorney of San Francisco from 2011 to 2017, Harris served as the Attorney General of California. During this period of time, she began enforcing stricter environmental regulations. Harris’s office took strong legal action against companies violating environmental laws and ensured that laws were being enforced more strictly. Harris also continued to express her disapproval of the death penalty, choosing not to pursue it even in high-profile cases, which drew a great amount of criticism from conservatives who believed that she should be tougher on crime. She focused on criminal justice reform by expanding programs like "Back on Track" statewide, further promoting rehabilitation instead of incarceration. Her work as Attorney General laid the groundwork for her subsequent election to the U.S. Senate in 2016.
Serving as a U.S. Senator from 2017 to 2021, Harris continued to advocate for justice reform, the environment, and civil rights on a national scale. In addition to these issues, Kamala Harris was the "first senator to co-sponsor Bernie Sanders's bill, the Medicare for All Act of 2017, which would have "abolished private health insurance for all age groups" and established a single-payer system to benefit 'every individual who is a resident of the United States, including undocumented immigrants.” In 2020, Harris “called for a path to citizenship for recipients of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program” (DACA). As a Senator from 2017 to 2021, Kamala Harris strongly advocated for progressive causes, including Medicare for All and a path to citizenship for DACA recipients. She made history as the first Indian-American senator, consistently working towards justice reform, environmental protection, and civil rights.
As Vice President, Harris has been a leading voice in defending reproductive rights, especially after the Supreme Court's decision to overturn federal abortion protections. She actively campaigned during the 2022 midterms, promising to protect these rights, and met with lawmakers from various states to discuss strategies. Additionally, Harris played a crucial role in the administration's efforts to protect voting rights, advocating for the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act. Despite her efforts, these initiatives faced setbacks in Congress, reflecting both the complexities and the resilience that have marked her vice presidency.
Currently
If elected as President, Harris plans to implement a series of economic reforms to ease the financial burden on middle-class families. A key aspect of her agenda is addressing the rising cost of living, particularly in essential areas such as groceries, housing, and healthcare. Harris intends to introduce a ban on corporate price gouging to prevent companies from exploiting consumers for excessive profits. She also aims to expand affordable housing by constructing three million new housing units and offering tax incentives to builders of entry-level homes. Additionally, her administration would provide significant down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers, especially those from working/lower-class backgrounds.
Harris seeks to broaden the scope of existing policies in the healthcare sector by capping insulin prices for all Americans, not just Medicare recipients. This is part of her strategy to “clamp down” on pharmaceutical companies who engage in monopolistic practices. Regarding tax policy, she plans to restore and expand the child tax credits introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering up to $6,000 in relief for families with new babies. These initiatives are designed to increase financial security for middle-class families, ensuring that people from all classes are growing economically.
I find Kamala Harris to be a compelling candidate for the presidency, especially given her strong commitment to justice reform, environmental rights, and economic equity. However, I can't help but find it surprising how overwhelmingly popular she has become, especially considering how unpopular she was during her brief 2020 presidential run. She struggled to gain support and faced criticism from all sides, which makes her current increase in popularity quite unexpected to me. It almost seems as if Democrats want anyone but Trump to win, forcing them to jump on the Harris train fully. Despite this, her record of advocating for criminal justice reform and her focus on addressing the rising cost of living through affordable housing and healthcare reforms have made her a standout candidate in this election. For middle-class progressives, Harris represents a promising path forward, and I’m curious to see how her campaign evolves as she goes deeper into her presidential campaign.
Photo Courtesy BBC
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