Sen. Kamala Harris is a presidential candidate in her own right and is tired of people asking her about running as Joe Biden’s running mate.
Kamala Harris keeps being asked about being Biden’s running mate
But inside her campaign and among allies, such talk is not a laughing matter. They’re rankled by the suggestion, privately venting that it’s demeaning to a woman of color and perpetuates an unfair critique that she’s somehow not prepared for the job she’s actually seeking.
“It’s infuriating,” a Harris confidant fumed several days before the idea began taking hold in the media.
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
….
Harris had already been working to dispel the narrative that she’s less “electable†than other 2020 contenders as Democrats try to win back white, working-class voters who backed Donald Trump. The focus on her as vice presidential material is seen by some allies as sexist given the general lack of discussion about whether male presidential hopefuls are viable.
Video of Harris:
Senator and 2020 hopeful @KamalaHarris just flipped the "running mate" question and it's pretty entertaining to watch.pic.twitter.com/ERthuE0xvE
— Brooke Thomas (@BrookeOnAir) May 15, 2019
Sexism and the rush to a 2020 nominee
There is a belief whether they express it out loud or not among some Democrats and the pundit class that since Hillary Clinton lost to Trump in 2016, the 2020 nominee has to be a man. This is textbook sexism. There are roughly somewhere between 20 and 1 billion Democratic presidential candidates so no one would fault primary voters who are eager and focused on beating Trump if they wanted to rush to the primary and get to the general election, but all of the Democrats should be judged on their own merits.
Kamala Harris and every other female candidate running deserve an even playing field and equal opportunity to make their case to the voters.
People shouldn’t be asking Sen. Harris about being Biden’s running mate. A single vote has yet to be cast, so let’s let the voters decide before we start relegating candidates to the vice presidency.
For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.
Follow Jason Easley on Facebook
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
