Is Kamala Harris a good VP choice? It depends on what Biden wants
By: Xiaodong Fang
Tags: Politics, Biden, Kamala Harris, President, Election 2020

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

President-elect Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees may face a gauntlet in a GOP Senate. However, the Vice Presidency of Kamala Harris doesn’t require confirmation.

On August 11, 2020, Joe Biden has officially picked Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his vice presidential nominee. Shortly after Biden made the decision, many experts and the media have listed various pros and cons of the choice.

To better evaluate the VP pick of Kamala Harris, we should comprehensively review the underlying purpose, process, and strategy of the Biden campaign. I would like to break down the discussion into three areas: party, election, and governance.

A Unified Democratic Party? Mixed.

As the first Black woman on a major party ticket in the United States and the first person of South Asian ancestry, Kamala Harris will obviously balance the Democratic ticket demographically and, to a lesser extent, ideologically. The California senator will also open up Biden’s financial resources by appealing to Harris’ significant base of donors and activists.

However, though Harris is well to the left of Biden, her “ pragmatic moderate” image will probably make many Sanders delegates reluctant to throw their supports to the “centrist” ticket. Harris was initially a co-sponsor of Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) “Medicare for All,” plan, but she is now backing away from the plan, just two years after she co-sponsored the bill in the Senate. Sanders still controlled thousands of delegates at the

Source: USA TODAY

Democratic national convention. As Sanders delegates have signed on to a pledge to vote against the Democratic Party’s platform if it does not include support for “Medicare for All,” there seems little help of unifying the party by selecting Harris as Biden’s running mate.

2. More Chances to Win? Yes.

Choice of the vice presidential candidate is highly strategic, of which campaigns and elections are top concerns.

A leading Senator who proposed to impeach President Trump, Kamala Harris appears to be the right choice to take on Trump.

Harris will bring Biden a direct link to the party’s African-American base, at a time when demands for racial justice and inclusion are surging; her experience as California’s attorney general will help design campaign promises to unleash confrontational approaches against Trump’s policies on Day One.

Choosing a California Senate as the VP candidate doesn’t seem to be a state strategy, as the “Golden State” is Solid Democratic in presidential elections. | Photo by Nadine Shaabana on Unsplash

Perhaps the only downside is about geography. Domestically, a California-based VP nominee brings little help with regard to the state strategy under Electoral College. Trump’s strength in the Midwest and industrial states won’t be hurt by Harris.

Internationally, Harris offers no enhancement on foreign policy. Her Indian ancestry makes little connection to deal with the threats posed by China and Russia.

Biden calls China a competitor, but there is little Harris can offer to the U.S.-China relations. | Photo by Liam Read on Unsplash

However, Biden’s long-term leadership on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has already granted him more experience than others in U.S. foreign policy.

3. A Useful Aid as Vice President? No.

In elections and campaigns, Harris has a natural appeal to African Americans and certain issue supporters. However, governing is different from campaigning.

According to the Constitution, “the function of the Vice President, such as acting as an adviser to the President, preside over Senate deliberations, and meeting with heads of state or government of other countries.” Experience is required and should be balanced. That’s why the novice Trump chose the experienced Pence, and the young Obama chose the senior Biden.

Biden, if become the President, does not need an experienced VP to help deal with the Congress and other domestic and foreign affairs.

What the Biden-Harris ticket lacks is the experience dealing with the governors and executives of states. Therefore, in terms of governance, a woman governor or other executive officeholder might be a better VP choice than a congresswoman.

Conclusion

Based on the discussion of purpose, process, and strategy of the Biden campaign, we can conclude that the pick of Kamala Harris as the VP nominee is a questionable approach for unifying the Democratic Party, a smart move to win the 2020 presidential election, and an unwise choice for effective governance of the potential Biden presidency.