Kamala Harris Case for Socialism

Kamala Harris, A Case for Socialism

 Since 2008, when I was twenty years old and fully committed to Barack Obama, I have not been enthusiastic about the Democratic nominee for president. By his second term, the fervor had subsided as his liberalism's limitations became apparent. I've now shifted to the left and started to view voting as a duty rather than an activity that I look forward to. I realized that my only option was to hold my nose and vote Democrat even after Senator Bernie Sanders was defeated by Hillary Clinton for the nomination in 2016. I repeated it for Joe Biden four years later. I finally have a request for the party, even if I'm bracing myself for the same tedious exercise this year. I won't cast my ballot for an 81-year-old guy who last week was unable to respond to a simple question regarding abortion. Instead, give me Kamala Harris.

I would have written a different essay if Sanders were ten years younger, but he isn't, and he still plays a significant role in the Senate. Really, we don't have many options. Even if Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, is hardly the great hope of the American left, she is an excellent politician with a bright future for the country. She has never won a national race, though, and her name is not well known outside of her native state. For the most part, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker has the same disadvantages. Therefore, Harris has a partially clinical case. She is recognizable. She has served on a ticket that defeated Donald Trump in the past, so she may brag about her democratic legitimacy. She is also "within striking distance" of the former president, according to a recent CNN poll, suggesting that a change might not significantly hurt Democratic chances.

The discourse on Thursday was illuminating. In spite of what his inner circle and family may believe, Biden's time in office is drawing to an end. The American people require a strong substitute for Trump and his depressing outlook on the nation. Harris has a compelling clinical, moral, and material argument. A second Trump presidency might further destabilize the nation, worsen the situation for the working class, and restrict the rights of women and LGBT individuals. Democrats need to face the fact that Biden is unwinnable if they are sincere about defending underrepresented populations or advancing their economic heritage. Now is Harris's turn.

I never would have thought to make this argument four years ago. In 2020, Harris was not my top pick or even my second choice. She had been a prosecutor in the past, was prone to mistakes, and her ideas were excessively technocratic. (Take into account her promise to pay back student loans for "Pell Grant recipients who start a business that operates for three years in disadvantaged communities.") She initially backed Sanders' Medicare for All proposal before deciding against it as part of a larger shift from the left to the center. That tactic, of course, was unsuccessful. That rendered her a figure of speech, an ugly counterpoint to Sanders's moral convictions or even Senator Elizabeth Warren's leftist nonsense. The so-called Khive barraged her detractors online with vicious insults; offline, her funds dried up, and she withdrew from the primary before casting a ballot. Before Biden selected her as his running mate, the presidency appeared distant.

Voting represents a compromise to a large number of leftists. Even though the candidates we choose claim to be socialists, they won't always uphold our values. As soon as they win, they are absorbed into a corrupt political system. I never thought that Biden, who had worked for the Establishment for so long, would challenge it. He was no Sanders. However, in several ways, the Biden-Harris government exceeded my expectations. Biden has largely fulfilled his pro-labor pledges, and any union supporter or member should be concerned about the possibility of a GOP-controlled National Labor Relations Board.  

I would still rather have Biden's vice president over Trump, even if I don't think the Democratic Party will be the only factor in the labor movement's ability to recruit more Americans. There's no reason to believe she would perform worse than Biden in terms of labor. She would likely adopt Biden's generally progressive economic views, in my opinion. (They're not flawless, but they're still considerably better than what President Trump would deliver.) Although the administration has not gone above and above in absolving the country of its student loan debt, Harris's previous Pell Grant proposal still seems unimaginable given how drastically the discourse has shifted.  

 Furthermore, supporting her would be endorsing an administrative state that places a higher priority on economic advancement than on tax breaks for the wealthy.

Deep-seated resentment at Biden, his advisors, and even his family—who allegedly encouraged him to continue running—is another thing that drives me. I can somewhat see how humiliated he must have felt following the debate on Thursday. However, he is the president, not a family member or friend, and it is not my responsibility as a voter, much less a journalist, to appease him. I believe it is improbable that he is up to the presidency, one of the most challenging positions a person might aspire to, if he isn't capable of competing with Trump in a debate. Because his advisers have shielded him from the public and media for the most part, it is hard to believe in him or them when the party maintains its insistence on his fitness. We're all aware of what happened on Thursday, and contrary to what a DNC email claimed, there's no need for alarm over "bedwetting." The implication that the Biden we saw last week is somehow better than Harris is insulting not only to Harris but also to the average voter's intelligence.

The Democratic Party cannot put all of its expectations on Biden if, as it claims, this race is genuinely an emergency. Harris seems like the greatest option because it needs a steady hand. While representation has never been at the top of my list of political objectives, it's unfortunate that this is the route we may take to elect our first female president. I still support universal access to Medicare, free public higher education, and student debt relief. I desire a president whose foreign policy isn't marred by the deaths of innocent people. I'm looking for someone who understands how inadequate the codification of Roe v. Wade is. However, I would much rather settle for Harris if I can't get what I want this year.