OPINION
President Biden ended any guessing games surrounding a second term. He announced Tuesday that he will run for President in 2024 and he will retain Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Since the moment Biden chose Harris for his Vice President, she has been under constant attack by conservative news outlets orchestrated by the Republican Party and its supporters. The onslaught of criticism -- ranging from the sound of her laugh to her inability to carve out her own identity -- eventually seeped into some Democratic doubters who saw her as a drag on the ticket.
Much of the criticism could be traced to outright racism and sexism, demanding more from the country's first woman Vice President, first Vice President of Asian and Black descent than they would expect from any White male predecessor.
Really? The role of Vice President is not to carve out her own identity but to support the President and his policies. The President's policies, not her's.
Can you think of any "accomplishments" by Vice President Pence?
Even Joe, Biden, as President Obama's Vice President, failed to inspire Democratic supporters with his lackluster track record at the White House as Obama's closest advisor despite his "good-ol'-Joe" image.
The upcoming GenZ voters, who have shown to be more prone to voting and influential than previous generations, were just toddlers when Dick Cheney was Vice President under former President George W. Bush. And, could you even name Gerald Ford's Vice President? (I'll save you the trouble: From 1974 to 1976, it was Nelson Rockefeller. In his unsuccessful bid to be elected President in 1976, Ford's running mate was Sen. Bob Dole.)
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BIDEN CAMPAIGN President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will team up again in 2024. |
Some Harris skeptics have questioned whether Biden should have chosen her to be his running mate again, citing low ratings and asking whether she has done enough to define herself in her historic role as the first woman, first Black person and first Asian American to be vice president.
Biden's and Harris' popularity ratings remain low, according to FiveThirtyEight polling averages, but Harris' 40% approval is even lower than Biden's 42%.
Whoever the Republican nominee will be, (It is very likely we will see Donald Trump in that role.) you can be sure that Harris will continue to be in Republican crosshairs during the entire campaign.
Biden will be 82 in 2024, so the GOP propaganda machine will try to ramp up the fear factor by emphasizing that Harris would become President if Biden was somehow impaired by illness or dementia. Much like the conservative media and Republicans turned Rep. Nancy Pelosi into a bogeyman, they will likely paint Harris as incompetent with red-meat attacks that will stir up misogynists, conspiracy theorists, the NRA, Christian Nationalists and white supremacists.
Media outlets need to guard against being sucked into the anti-Harris vortex that will assuredly come out of Fox News, New York Post, Breitbart News and other conservative news outlets by amplifying the negative assertions by playing catch-up.
To be fair, Harris was hampered by being assigned the no-win task of the border issue and to undo the pass a voting-rights bill caused by the conservative Supreme Court gutting portions the Voting Rights Act.
On the other hand, Harris has exceeded expectations on abortion rights and attacking racism. She has shined. when she's in campaign mode with the ability to communicate the administration's accomplishments to nonpoliticians in infrastructure and economy.
Harris is also has strong appeal with those constituencies that Biden needs in order to win in 2024, including Blacks, AANHPI communities, women and young voters.
To emphasize Biden's support for Harris, the Vice President was featured prominently in the three-minute video launching their 2024 campaign showing her alongside the President greeting voters allowing her to bask in the Presidential power that comes with the position of the most powerful person in the world.
In order to give the campaign a rolling start, Harris' first visit after the campaign announcement was to Howard University, her alma mate,r for an invent co-hosted by Planned Parenthood and NRAL Pro-Choice America so she was assured of a freindly reception. She took the stage to a standing ovation and left the podium to chants of "Four More Years."
“We are living, I do believe, in a moment in time where so many of our hard-won freedoms are under attack,” Harris said. “And this is a moment for us to stand and fight."
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