The last 12 months, however, have revealed a transformed Harris (File)
Washington:
For years, Kamala Harris has faced criticism that she is not up to the task of being one step away from the presidency. Now, she is celebrated by Democrats as the best hope to prevent Donald Trump’s return.
Despite blazing a trail as the first Black and South Asian female vice president in U.S. history, the 59-year-old Democrat has long struggled with approval ratings as bad or worse than President Joe Biden’s.
The last 12 months, however, have revealed a transformed Harris.
And with Biden’s support of Harris after surprising the world by abandoning his own re-election bid on Sunday, she is suddenly on the brink of history.
Harris hopes she has done the hard work to win the support of her entire party amid the crisis.
As Biden’s aging faded last year, his “veep” emerged as a force on the campaign trail, pushing for abortion rights and reaching out to key voters, including suburban women and black men.
With her taste for the F-bomb and her family nickname of “Momala” going viral, she also finally began to cut through the noise for voters who were previously barely paying attention.
She also won plaudits in party circles for remaining loyal to the 81-year-old president during recent weeks, even as political vultures circled his candidacy.
Now she is likely to face Trump – a brutal battle against a candidate who defeated Hillary Clinton in her bid to become the first female commander in chief in 2016.
The fact that Harris attributed much of the criticism leveled at her by Republicans to racism and sexism would likely make a victory seem even more vindication for her.
Trump and other Republicans notably stepped up their attacks against her as Biden’s position weakened and polls showed Harris would fare better against him than Biden.
‘Ready to serve’
The daughter of immigrant parents – her father was from Jamaica and her mother from India – Harris grew up in Oakland, California, in an activist family that saw her attend her first rallies in a baby stroller.
Her focus on rights and justice saw her build an impressive resume, becoming California’s first black attorney general and the first woman of South Asian descent elected to the U.S. Senate.
Harris then faced Biden in the 2020 primaries. In a scathing attack, she criticized him for allegedly opposing busing students to segregated schools.
“There was a girl in California who was in the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day. And that girl was me,” she said in a scathing attack on her future boss.
But, like his running mate, she consolidated the coalition that helped defeat incumbent Trump in 2020.
His transition to the White House, however, proved difficult.
Critics said she was off-putting and prone to gaffes in a job that often confounds many government officials.
Struggling for a role, she was tasked by Biden with getting to the roots of the illegal migration problem, but fumbled and then became defensive in response to a question during a visit to the Mexican border.
Exceptionally high staff turnover has fueled rumors of discontent in the vice presidential office.
And Republicans tirelessly pointed to her as incapable of assuming power if the worst happened to America’s oldest president, often resorting to stereotypes that her supporters classified as sexist and racist.
Harris told the Wall Street Journal in February: “I’m ready to serve. There’s no doubt about it.”
‘Momala’
Things started to change with the start of the 2024 race.
Biden’s campaign has repeatedly sent her to battleground states to deliver the party’s message on abortion rights, with Harris becoming the first vice president to visit an abortion clinic.
Gradually, she began to attract warm and enthusiastic crowds.
Some of the disclosure was, however, frightening. Earlier this year, she was mocked after telling chat host Drew Barrymore that her family sometimes called her “Momala,” and Barrymore responded, “We need you to be the country’s Momala.”
But voters seemed to be calling.
A clip of her quoting her mother always saying “Do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree?” became a meme, with a growing sense among supporters that now could be her time.
If elected, Harris would break one of the highest glass ceilings that still exists for women in the United States – that of holding the highest office in the country.
Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, would also be breaking new ground, going from current Second Gentleman to the country’s first First Gentleman.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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