President Joe Biden has withdrawn from the presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris, aged 59, has been endorsed as his replacement for the upcoming November 5th U.S. presidential election.
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If Harris accepts the nomination, she will be the first Black woman and Asian American presidential candidate in U.S. history. Similarly, if she wins the presidency, she will be the first Black woman to hold the office in the U.S. She has successfully dominated a white-male-dominated industry, politics. With her identity as a Black woman of Indian descent, Harris overcame severe microaggressions she faced from a young age. Now, she stands at the brink of a new challenge for the presidency of the world’s most powerful nation following Biden’s withdrawal. If she accepts, she will have less than four months until the election. It will be crucial for her to strengthen her campaign against Trump, who is currently gaining popularity.
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Born in Oakland, California, Harris is the daughter of a Jamaican immigrant father and an Indian immigrant mother. Her father was an economics professor at Stanford University, while her mother was a cancer research scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. Harris experienced a significant identity crisis growing up in predominantly white communities during her childhood as her cultural background did not conform. She attended Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, D.C. There, she solidified her identity among a diverse group of Black elite students. Due to her mixed-race heritage, she is often referred to as a “female Obama.”
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After graduating with political science and economics degrees, Harris attended law school at the University of California. She passed the bar exam and began her legal career as a district attorney in Alameda County, California, in 1990.
She then moved to the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, where she increased conviction rates in her cases, showcasing her capabilities as a prosecutor. In 2004, she became the first Black woman to serve as the District Attorney of San Francisco and was elected Attorney General of California in 2011.
After serving two terms as Attorney General, she made her mark on the national political stage by becoming the first Black woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.
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In 2020, when she was 55, she was selected as Biden’s running mate and worked in the White House as the first Black and Asian American woman vice president.
Harris’ sharp rhetoric from her prosecuting experience is one of her key strengths. Additionally, her appeal as a woman of color offers her an advantage in connecting with minority groups. However, critics have pointed out her lack of charisma and popularity as weaknesses.
Harris has faced criticism for not making a significant impact during her term. Various polls have indicated that she trails behind Trump in hypothetical matchups, leading to discussions within the party about alternatives.
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