Harris Set to Tackle New and Challenging Political Test in 2024 Campaign

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WASHINGTON (AP) — She strutted, she pointed her finger, she made people feel motivated. She even cracked a few jokes.

This week at Howard University, we could get a sample of what Vice President Kamala Harris could bring to her campaign for the upcoming election. People noticed that she was more confident and willing to give impromptu speeches compared to before. This all changed after Kamala went on a trip to Africa last month.

“For the first time ever, America will have the opportunity to get acquainted with a Vice President,” said Laphonza Butler, a person who leads EMILY’s List and was an adviser of Harris.

Kamala Harris is now the first woman and person of color to hold her position. President Joe Biden chose her as his running mate in hopes of winning a second term, but usually the Vice President doesn’t have much influence in re-election efforts. However Harris is making an exception. She’s doing her best on Democrats’ most important cause – ensuring people can keep their right to abortion. Also, she’s running with the oldest man ever elected president which highlights whether or not she could take over if needed.

Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, said on Wednesday in an interview with Fox News that if you vote for Joe Biden, you should expect Joe Biden to be replaced by President Harris. She believes it’s unlikely Joe Biden would make it until 86 years old at the end of his second term.

Harris’ job until the day of the election will be to get people who usually vote Democrat – like women, people of color, and young people – excited and ready to show up at the polls. This way she can discourage attacks from Republican candidates.

Joel Goldstein, an expert on vice presidents, said that even if the vice presidential candidates don’t have a huge impact in elections, they can still make changes at the edges and that these differences could be the deciding factor in who is elected president.

On Tuesday, Joe Biden announced he was running for reelection. The same day, Harris visited her college – Howard University – and talked about abortion rights. She strongly criticized those who were trying to take away people’s rights in regard to this topic.

Harris said to not stand in her way because she will fight back and not take it lightly. She also said to those who want to control people’s abortions, “take a look at what is inside your medicine cabinet”.

Everyone in the crowd began to laugh. She said, “You don’t want me getting involved in this right?”

Harris showed how the Republicans try to control what happens with abortion and also make it harder for people to vote and decide what should be taught in schools.

“Be aware of what’s happening.” she said. “You can’t ignore this”.

Cornell Belcher, a Democratic pollster, thinks that Vice President Kamala Harris is doing a really great job and has a lot of support from younger people who are important for them to win the majority. However, not everyone agrees and some people have suggested Biden replace her because Harris’s polling numbers aren’t as good as Biden’s.

In a survey taken in January, 43% of Americans had good opinion about Biden and 36% said the same for Harris. 78% of Democrats liked Biden and 67% felt the same for Harris. 10% did not know much about her.

Biden’s announcement video showed him with Harris– they were walking together, Harris giving a hug to Mrs. Biden and taking photos with fans.

At the top of Joe Biden’s campaign website, you will see the words “Biden Harris” and there is also a picture of them both smiling with a fundraising message. Joe Biden’s Twitter account also shared this same image along with the caption “in this together”.

Mini Timmaraju from NARAL Pro-Choice America commented that some people thought Kamala was not a great asset but she believes Kamala is actually their biggest strength.

Last year the Supreme Court decided to change some things that were part of Harris’ workplace. This decision overturned another legal case from 1973 called Roe v. Wade which protected the rights of women to have an abortion. Until then, Harris was dealing with hard issues in her work, like stopping people from entering the U.S from Central America, but now she had a different role: defending pregnant women’s right to choose what they want to do even more passionately than before.

When news of the decision came out, Harris was really mad in a West Wing office with her aides. She kept saying to them, “How could they do this?”. This phrase was used in a speech later that same night. A lot of people were upset about abortion which helped Democrats not lose too much during the midterm elections and it looks like it will be important for deciding votes in the future as well.

Celinda Lake, a pollster working with Joe Biden, said the issue of abortion is going to be an important one to many people. To make sure it stays that way, Republicans are making laws about it. For example, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has just made a law banning abortions after six weeks. Women who need an abortion because of rape or incest can have more time but they must show proof like a restraining order or police report.

Erin Perrine, a spokesperson for Never Back Down, which supports Governor DeSantis, says that Kamala Harris would not be helpful to Biden’s reelection chances. She said Harris usually messes up her message and starts laughing when she gets uncomfortable. Poll numbers even show that Democrats don’t want either of them running as President or Vice President.

Donald Trump, who is trying to become President again, recently said in an interview with Newsmax that having a running mate does not make much difference when it comes to the US election. He said that it does not impact how people vote because they always just choose one person. However, he also said that being Vice President is a very important role, since if something happens to the President then the VP would be the new President.

Democrats really appreciate the support of Black women in elections, and this was proved during a special event that took place at Georgia Tech University in February. Vice President Harris attended it to discuss the government’s energy strategy, but the people there wanted to show her their love and respect for being such a significant role model.

Camille Zeigler, a 65-year-old retired educator, said that Kamala Harris is setting an example for other African American women by not fitting into the usual stereotypes. She is making her mark in a unique way as a woman and as an African American.

Zeigler added that people are trying to label Harris “an angry Black woman or a mad Black woman or a Black woman with an attitude”, but she keeps responding gracefully and poisely which shows her resilience.

Beverly Rice, a 65-year-old who runs an organization dedicated to improving literacy, was really happy that a Black woman is finally holding power after so many years.

She said it’s about time, as Black people have been helping build America for forever.