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Kamala Harris Makes Her Bid to Be US Vice President

Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON - Kamala Harris has faced down violent suspects as a
   prosecutor in criminal trials and sharply questioned Supreme Court
   nominees in contentious hearings as a U.S. senator from California.
   But she is on an even bigger stage Wednesday night as she accepts the
   Democratic nomination to be the vice presidential running mate of
   former Vice President Joe Biden in the Nov. 3 national election against
   the Republican ticket of President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike
   Pence.
   She is speaking from Biden's home state of Delaware to the virtual
   Democratic National Convention but more broadly to a national
   television audience that may not have seen her before.
   Harris, 55, is the fourth woman to be on a major U.S. party national
   ticket, but the first Black woman and first South Asian American. Her
   mother was a breast cancer scientist who emigrated from India. She died
   in 2009. Harris's father, an economist, moved to the U.S. from Jamaica.
   As such, Harris is part of a demographic subset in the U.S. About 6.2
   million U.S. adults-- 2.4% of the country's adult population --
   identify as part of two or more races, according to a Pew Research
   Center analysis of 2018 U.S. Census Bureau data. Of these Americans, 2%
   are Black and Asian American, like Harris.
   The three women previously on U.S. national political tickets -- two
   vice presidential candidates, and 2016 Democratic presidential
   candidate Hillary Clinton -- all lost. If the Biden-Harris ticket wins,
   Harris would become the highest-ranking female U.S. official in the
   country's 244-year history.
   U.S. political analysts are assuming Biden, who would be 78 if he is
   inaugurated in January 2021, might serve a single, four-year term,
   instantly making Harris a leading 2024 Democratic presidential
   contender.
   Harris sought the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination but dropped
   out of the contest before voting started in February due to a lack of
   campaign funding.

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