Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
As of this writing, over 20 candidates have tossed their hats into the ring for the Democratic nomination for President in the 2020 election. Assuming the Republicans stick with the incumbent, it is essential that the Democratic candidate is someone who will think about those Americans who have felt left behind and who, once in the oval office, will be able to begin the work of repairing the damage that has been done by this administration. That candidate is, without a doubt, Senator Kamala Harris. She is a "joyful warrior" with an impressive background and real, implementable plans for America.
1. Kamala Harris sees those who have felt forgotten and left behind.
Those who are struggling financially, whether that struggle is related to one event like a foreclosure or living for an extended period of time with little to no safety net, can often feel forgotten. Both her record and her recent statements show that Kamala is not someone who will leave these Americans in the cold.
As Attorney General of California during the Great Recession, Kamala took on big banks and "won 20 billion dollars for California homeowners," in addition to working to get "the strongest anti-foreclosure law in the United States of America" passed.
As United States Senator, Kamala introduced the LIFT Act. The act would, as she writes in her book, provide "a different kind of safety net, one that prevents hardworking people from falling out of the middle class, or gives them a fair shot at attaining it for their families" [1].
2. She is, in her own words, a "joyful warrior."
Fear is not sustainable in the way optimism is. Kamala is more than capable of fighting the battles necessary to improve conditions for this and future generations, but she always does so from a place of joy.
3. She understands technology.
If the hearings with tech leaders, including Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai, have shown us anything, it's that it is essential for policymakers to understand technology. Kamala Harris is lightyears beyond the Congressmen who asked how Facebook makes money and thought that Google makes the iPhone.
As a U.S. Senator, Kamala has served on both the Homeland Security and Intelligence Committees. At the end of 2017, along with other senators, she introduced the Secure Elections Act, aimed at securing future elections in the United States. One of the most impressive elements of the act is the inclusion of a bug bounty program. As she writes in her book, "Commonly used in tech firms, a bug bounty is a system by which altruistic hackers are paid for identifying software vulnerabilities" [1].
Campaigns are only won through the support, and participation, of citizens. Visit kamalaharris.org to get involved.
[1] Harris, Kamala. The Truths We Hold: An American Journey. Penguin Press, 2019.