Kamala can do it!

United States (US) vice president, Kamala Harris, still draws strong support from her father’s hometown of Brown’s Town in St Ann, Jamaica. There is firm belief among some residents in the town that Harris should be the Democratic party’s candidate for the November 2024 election, and that, they believe, would ensure that the Democrats beat the Republicans.

Harris’ father, former Stanford University professor, Donald Harris, is originally from Brown’s Town, a place where the vice president has spent several holidays over the years, with both still having relatives there.

Former councillor for Brown’s Town, Delroy Redway, who also served as deputy Mayor of St Ann’s Bay between 2012 and 2016, believes that with President Joe Biden facing challenges, he should step back and allow Harris to serve as president for the remainder of the term and be the party’s candidate. From there, he believes she would go on and get her own mandate.

And one of the vice president’s cousin, Sherman Harris, also supports her, saying a more brilliant person on earth is hard to find.

Their support come as some of Harris’ supporters began seeking ways to build a campaign should Biden step back, according to NBC news on Friday. The NBC said a group of Democrats, who believe Harris should be the party’s nominee if Biden steps down, have started mapping out what her presidential campaign would look like. The report said, Harris continued to publicly and privately support Biden remaining in the race.

Biden, 81, is currently in isolation after contracting COVID-19.

The Associated Press reported that almost 35 Democrats in Congress say it’s time for Biden to quit the race.

“There is no joy in the recognition he should not be our nominee in November,” said Democratic representative Morgan McGarvey of Kentucky, one of the Democrats urging his exit from the race. “But the stakes of this election are too high and we can’t risk the focus of the campaign being anything other than Donald Trump.”

The Associated Press reported that a new poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about six in 10 Democrats believe Harris would do a good job in the top slot. About two in 10 Democrats don’t believe she would, and another two in 10 say they don’t know enough to say.

Since Biden’s debate debacle on June 27, many Democrats have privately and even openly looked to Harris to step in and succeed Biden as the party’s presidential nominee, believing she has a better chance against GOP nominee Donald Trump. For her part, Harris has remained completely loyal to Biden, being one of his toughest defenders in the aftermath of the disastrous debate performance.

The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that Harris’ favourability rating is similar to Biden’s, but the share of Americans who have an unfavourable opinion of her is somewhat lower. The poll showed that about four in 10 US adults have a favourable opinion of Harris, while about half have an unfavourable opinion. There are more Americans with a negative view of Biden: approximately 6 in 10. About one in 10 Americans say they don’t know enough to have an opinion of Harris, whereas nearly everyone has an opinion on Biden.

About three-quarters of Democrats have a positive view of Harris, which is in line with how Democrats view Biden. Seven in 10 have a favourable view of him.

In Brown’s Town, the Jamaican community that still lay claim to Harris, Redway, like other residents, hold the view that Biden should withdraw from the race.

“My opinion is that Biden really should take a break and have Kamala Harris act as president for the remainder of the term,” Redway told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.

“That would then give her some level of exposure as to her ability to lead, which I have no doubt she has because I think the bulk of what is being done in the Biden administration, the horse work is being done by Kamala Harris,” he suggested.

“I think she has been sufficiently exposed in terms of her experience from being a major player in the legal side of the administration, leading up to her becoming vice president. I think Biden should step back before the term is finished so as to allow her to have at least three months of presidential authority.”

Redway believes Harris has a “good chance” of winning the November election, citing her biggest obstacles as coming from within her own party.

If Harris were to create history and become the first woman president of the US, Redway believes she would be up to the task.

“I think she wouldn’t be coming out at the end of it as the best president the US has ever seen but I think she would perform better than a lot of them because of her own experience from the legal side of things, because no matter what happens in America the legal side of history has to play a role in what she does going forward. And when you go back into the pages when she was campaigning, it will show that some of her ideas are very, very creative and innovative to allow some of the changes that America needs.”

Redway continued: “For the black people in America to reach any level of change successfully, you have to have somebody who has come through that sort of birth and experience, so she has grown up having that experience and she has crossed the threshold but obviously has not forgotten the past. So, she knows what it is, coming with the background out of India, coming with the experience out of the Caribbean and then being part of the mainstream of America, she would be a more balance person to apply her own experience to make a difference if she gets the opportunity. My opinion is that Kamala should be given the nod. I think she would make a good president of America.”

Redway warned, though, that if Harris were to become US President, Jamaica should not expect any direct benefits. But he believes that Harris would make a difference on the world stage that might allow Jamaica to benefit indirectly.

Meanwhile, Sherman Harris continues to fully support his relative.

Shortly after the Democrats won the 2020 election, which confirmed Kamala as vice president, Sherman told The Gleaner: “I knew from the beginning that she would have won because anything she is involved in becomes a total success. We are accustomed to success and I think we are all elated about her success.”

On Friday, with the glimpse of an opportunity to become president now seemingly emerging for Kamala, something Sherman never thought possible four years ago when she was confirmed as vice president, the Brown’s Town resident was nevertheless cautious.

“That girl is a God-blessed girl and a more brilliant person on earth is really hard to find. She takes after her father, Donald Harris, and that man is just a natural genius, a brilliant father. I think she would do a good job as president but I don’t know if America will accept a woman president, I’m not sure. But I think that she would do a great job as president.”

Sherman believes Kamala’s work as vice president puts her in good stead to become president, if the opportunity arises.

“As far as I can see, she is well-loved by the American people and is doing a great job with the army reform and the school system. Her performance speaks for itself. She’s doing a great job and I think the people are now adapting to her and liking her more and more.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com