By Kamala Harris, Democrats can bet against US history of sexism, racism By Reuters

Written by Jeff Mason and Bianca Flowers

(Reuters) – The Democratic Party will be taking a historic gamble if it turns to Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency, betting that a black woman can overcome racism, sexism and her own failings as a politician to defeat Donald Trump.

In more than two hundred years of democracy, American voters have elected only one black president and never a woman, a record that makes even black voters wonder if Harris can crash the hardest ceiling in US politics.

“Is his race and gender going to be an issue? Absolutely,” said LaTosha Brown, political scientist and founder of the Black Lives Matter Fund.

Harris would face other major challenges: if he was promoted to the top of the ticket, he would have just three months to campaign and rally the party and sponsors behind him.

However, many Democrats are happy about his chances.

Some Democratic Alliance lawmakers have expressed fear that President Joe Biden, 81, will lose the election that the party has entered as a battle for the future of American democracy because he does not have the mental and physical strength to win and serve for another four years.

Many fear Trump and the Republicans could not only take the White House, but both houses of Congress.

Biden also said on Friday that he will not step aside and will continue to campaign after recovering from COVID-19. Harris pressed his re-election case Saturday at a fundraiser.

Harris, 59, is two decades Trump's junior and is the party's leader on abortion rights, an issue that resonates with young voters and the progressive base of Democrats. Supporters argue that he will energize those voters, rally Black support, and bring sharp debate skills to prosecute the political case against the former president.

His candidacy will provide a contrast between Trump and his running mate, Senator JD Vance, two white men on the Republican ticket, Brown said.

“That to me shows America's past. It shows America now and tomorrow,” Brown said.

But despite receiving praise in recent weeks for his staunch defense of Biden, some Democrats remain concerned about Harris' first two years in office, the short-term campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2020, and — perhaps most of all — the weight of the long history of racism and sexism in the United States.

In a hypothetical head-to-head, Harris and Trump were tied at 44% support each in a July 15-16 Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted immediately after the assassination attempt on Trump. Trump led Biden 43% to 41% in that same poll, although the 2 percentage point difference was within a 3 percentage point margin of error.

Harris' approval ratings, while low, are markedly higher than Biden's. According to polling outfit Five Thirty Eight, 38.6 percent of Americans approve of Harris while 50.4 percent disapprove. Biden has an approval rating of 38.5 percent and a disapproval rating of 56.2 percent.

'THERE IS NO SAFE OPTION'

“If you think there's a consensus among the people who want Joe Biden to go that they're going to support Kamala — Vice President Harris — you'd be wrong,” said Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, a Biden supporter, on Instagram. “There is no safe option.”

The United States elected Barack Obama, the first and only Black president in 2008. The only woman who ran a major party presidential ticket, Hillary Clinton, lost to Trump in 2016.

Supporters of Harris, the first woman and the first black and South Asian vice president, say she has endured unfair attacks related to her race and gender and is ready for more.

“America has a history of racism, sexism, so I'm sure that will influence this conversation, influence his campaign,” said Jamal Simmons, a former Harris aide.

But he said there is a flip side: Black voters could be empowered if Harris is placed at the top of the ticket, and women, including some who regret not voting for Clinton in 2016, will also support him.

“It is also true that he will benefit from his race and his gender, that many African Americans may participate in his election,” he said.

Harris is benefiting from bigger name recognition than other Democratic leaders who have been floated as potential presidential candidates, he said. California Governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer are among those being talked about in Democratic circles as possible candidates.

“Even though he has flaws and mistakes like everyone else, we know those flaws and mistakes, so you can build a clear campaign. Any of the other candidates are unknown,” Simmons said.

One former Democratic congressman, speaking about the disclosure, said he thinks Harris is more at risk because of his record than his race.

Harris was plagued by staff turnover early in his vice presidency and showed little progress on his portfolios of protecting voting rights and curbing Central American immigration.

“I think race is a unifying factor or an aggravating factor,” the former attorney said. “Either way it's going to be a gamble, but I like to disagree with another candidate, even if that means Kamala is at the top of the ticket.”

'PATRIARCHY IS MY HELL'

Trump has used racist and sexist language, overtly and in code. In 2020 he said he “heard” Harris, a US citizen born in California, was not qualified to be vice president.

At a rally in Michigan on Saturday, Trump poked fun at Harris.

“I call her Laughing Kamala,” Trump said. “Do you ever watch him laugh? He's crazy.”

Trump's campaign said Democrats were using “old-fashioned disinformation” in his language and noted Harris's spat with Biden in a 2019 debate over school busing and his criticism of Biden for working with racists in the Senate.

“To the contrary, President Trump is polling at very high rates with African Americans,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said in a statement.

Trump made false “birther” claims for Obama, who was born in Hawaii. Those lies resonated with far-right activists and his nationalist base, prompting an exasperated Obama, blasting “carnival barkers,” to release a longer version of his White House birth certificate.

Polls at the time showed a quarter of all Americans — and 45 percent of Republicans — believed Obama was not born in the country.

“You have birtherism 2.0,” Cliff Albright, founder and CEO of the Black Voters Matter Fund, an Atlanta-based nonprofit, said of Harris.

Nadia Brown, who is the director of the women's and gender studies program at Georgetown University, said that although there has been an increase in Black political leaders, there is still a visible reluctance to accept women in important leadership roles.

“Patriarchy is a dangerous drug,” Brown said. “Racism, we know it, we can't call it. A situation where we don't see each other is a real setback to having a black woman especially as a leader.”

Harris' standing in the party has been enhanced by her strong advocacy of reproductive rights after the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v Wade, which protected women's right to abortion.

Biden has credited her with helping to prevent a “red tide” of Republican victories in the midterm elections, and Harris has gone national as a leading spokesman for the abortion rights campaign.

Harris could also inherit Biden's strong support among Black voters, which helped propel him to the Democratic nomination in 2020.

But Black women have never completely abandoned Biden.

Donna Brazile, a political strategist and former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said Friday that she joined 1,400 black women in a letter supporting the Biden-Harris ticket and criticizing the rift in the party.

And if the party ends up rallying around Harris, he could draw some skepticism from voters who say Democratic leaders are hiding his weaknesses.

“I'm done with the Democrats. A lot of them knew about Biden's situation and hid it. Kamala was part of that,” said Gina Gannon, 65, a retired military veteran of Georgia, who voted for Trump in 2016 again. Biden in 2020.