‘We have arrived,’ say Indian American after Kamala Harris selection
“We have arrived,” said Ramesh Kapur, an Indian American Democratic operative, about Kamala Harris joining Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for vice-president.
“We have arrived,” said Ramesh Kapur, an Indian American Democratic operative, about Kamala Harris joining Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for vice-president.
The Tuesday announcement sent a wave of excitement coursing through the small Indian American community of about 4 million people. There was a sense, cutting across party lines, that Harris’s name on the presidential ticket was a badge of recognition for the entire community.
Kapur, a veteran Democratic fundraiser, insists that the Biden-Harris ticket, as the team will be called now and until the November 3 elections and beyond, should be called, instead, the “Biden-Kamala” ticket.
“The ‘Biden-Kamala’ name,” said Kapur, who had hosted a fundraiser for Harris at his home in Boston in 2016 during her senate race, had a better Indian ring to it.
No American of India descent has ever made it on to a presidential ticket. Bobby Jindal, a former governor of Louisiana, was the first of Indian-descent to run for president. But he lost in the Republican primaries to Donald Trump, who went on to win the White House in 2016.
Harris became the second Indian American to try, in 2019. But her run for the Democratic ticket did not last long either, to the disappointment of the community, many of whom were girding up for a long run. including Kapur, who had held some fund-raisers.
Her return to the fray Tuesday, rekindled that optimism and re-energized the community.
“Moment of great pride for the Indian American community,” said Shekar Narasimhan, chairman of Victory Fund, a Democratic party-affiliate focussed on Asian Americans. “It’s a first in so many ways and will help Joe Biden win the presidency which is the first priority. A seismic shift occurred today and its ramifications will be felt for many decades.”
Frank Islam, a major Indian American fundraiser for Democrats, said, “This is a historical day for America, especially for the African American and Indian American communities.”
“Since Dalip Singh Saund entered the US Congress in 1957 against all odds, the community has made tremendous strides in politics,” he added, referring to the first Indian American elected to US congress. “This unquestionably trumps every milestone. Vice presidency is generally referred to as a position that is a heartbeat away from presidency.”
Most vice-presidents go on to run for the top job, with the rare exception in recent years of Dick Cheney, vice-president to President George W Bush. And most of them win, against with the rare exception in recent years of Al Gore, vice-president to President Bill Clinton. And former Vice-President Biden is himself in the fray, continuing the tradition.
The nomination sets up Harris for another presidential run, according to experts. It could be in 2024, if Biden, should he win this time in 2020, doesn’t want to continue, which is a widely considered possibility given his age (he is 77 now); or in 2028 at the end of the full two-term Biden presidency.
“It’s the beginning of her becoming the first Indian American president,” Kapur said of the Tuesday announcement.
