Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is encouraging disillusioned voters to back the Biden-Harris ticket but admitted that they “may not fall in love” with who they ultimately rally behind.
The Biden-Harris ticket has come under scrutiny from not just the right, but many progressives who believe the Democrat establishment steamrolled their movement yet again.
Former Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spokeswoman Briahna Joy Gray encompassed that view, telling Democracy Now! last week that there remains a “great deal of frustration” due to the Democrats’ choice “not only to nominate a candidate who is known as the author of what is actually called the Joe Biden Crime Bill, but he’s gone and also selected a running mate who is known for being the top cop from California — the state that has the second-highest number of incarcerated people in America.”
Harris, in a Sunday interview with theGrio, said it is crucial to “meet people where they are and address their needs,” although she essentially admitted that the Biden-Harris ticket may not excite everyone in the party.
“You may not fall in love with who you’re voting for,” Harris explained, likely referencing the age-old cliché, “Democrats fall in love while Republicans fall in line.” Harris’s admission represents yet another shift for Democrats, as they failed to rally behind Hillary Clinton (D) with the same tenacity and sheer admiration as they had in years past for former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Despite that, Harris is encouraging voters to get specific and “look down on a piece of paper at the issues that are impacting you every day.”
“Whether you’ve got relatives who have been impacted by the COVID virus, you’re unemployed or trying to get that extra check that unemployment, that six hundred dollars,” she said.
She also implied that it is the Biden-Harris administration, exclusively, that will “pay attention to whether the Black community is going to have equal access to a vaccine when it’s created.”
“There is so much on the line in this election,” she continued, encouraging people to vote to “honor the ancestors” and others, like the late Rep. John Lewis.
“We have to be heard and not let them stop us or prevent us or deter us from exercising our voices,” Harris continued, ultimately asking voters to examine leaders and their actions and ask themselves, “Is that working for you?”
Harris has drawn mixed reviews from those on the left, particularly given her record as a prosecutor, locking up nearly 2,000 for marijuana-related offenses but refusing to prosecute cases of priests’ sexual abuse during her tenure as San Francisco’s district attorney. She also suppressed the release of “clergy abuse files,” which would have named specific priests accused of the abuse.
Despite the hesitancy within the party, the Biden campaign raked in $48 million in the 48 hours following his announcement of Harris as his running mate.