A Kamala Harris presidential candidacy would be groundbreaking and precedent-setting, experts say

Hallie Lauer | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (TNS)

With President Joe Biden withdrawing from the presidential election Sunday afternoon and his subsequent endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, she is poised to be the first Black woman at the top of a major party ticket for the highest elected office in the country.

“This is a big moment historically, for the country,” said University of Pittsburgh Political Science professor Kristin Kanthak.

Harris, if nominated by the Democratic Party, will join a very short list of women who have run for the office. Hilary Clinton was the first woman to ever nominated by a major party for the position when she faced Donald Trump in 2016. Harris could be the first Black woman and first Asian American.

Democrats won’t officially name their candidate until the Democratic National Convention, held in Chicago this year beginning Aug. 19. But with endorsements from Democrats across the country already rolling in for Harris, it seems likely she’ll get the nod.

Pennsylvania delegates unanimously voted to back Harris Monday afternoon. Since President Biden announced his exit from the race, endorsements have been pouring in from Pennsylvania’s Democratic elected officials like U.S. Reps. Summer Lee and Chris Deluzio.

The question that appears still to remain is who Harris will pick for her running mate.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has endorsed Harris, has been mentioned as a possible candidate for vice president.

Making history isn’t exactly new to Harris. In 2004, she became the first woman to serve as a district attorney in San Francisco, and in 2010 she was the first Black woman elected as attorney general in California.

She again made history in 2021 when she was sworn in as the first woman to be vice president. She is also the only Black person and first South Asian American to have ever served in the role. She was elected as a California senator in 2017 and served until she became vice president.

“Breaking through the barrier to have females in this top position of running for the presidency under their party’s banner says a lot about not just the Democratic Party, but the country,” said Duquesne University President Ken Gormley. “It is inspiring.”

Harris is a representation of the progress that the country has made over the past few decades regarding both race and gender, Gormley said.

“When you see how markedly little we have done as a country to elevate females to positions of importance, whether it’s in the Supreme Court or in the presidency… it’s actually historic on multiple fronts to have her running,” he said. “She’s the embodiment of the struggles that people like her parents [had].”

Harris grew up in Oakland, California, the daughter of two immigrants. Her parents both moved to the U.S. to study at the University of California, Berkeley campus, which is where they met.

Not only that, Harris is “extremely well qualified” for the position, Gormley said.

“Few vice presidents get to shine to their fullest when they’re in that role; it’s the definition of the position to be second fiddle to the president,” he said. “But if she indeed becomes the candidate … she will have a chance to show the whole country what she’s really made of. I think people will be surprised how impressive a candidate she really is.”

Having a woman running for the highest office in the country could also be encouraging for other women or minority groups to run for elected office, according to Doris Carson Williams, the CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce of Western Pennsylvania.

“I think this will motivate a number of people and young people to take more of an interest in this race and politics in general,” she said.

For some, having Harris in the running for president could mark a cultural shift.

“Representation does matter,” said Carlos T. Carter, the president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, which is a nonpartisan organization. “There’s nothing more powerful than seeing yourself … so for women to stand up and see a woman representing the county, no matter what your party, it tells other women ‘I can do the same thing too.’”

The fact that there hasn’t been a woman leading the country isn’t a lack of qualified women, Carter said, but because “the systems have not allowed it.”

“When you see people of color, like Jackie Robinson or like Barack Obama, you say ‘Man this person was special’ — no, it’s not that this person is special,” he said. “It’s that the systems that control the power have allowed this person to be in that space.”

Even the possibility that Harris could be the nominee shows a marked shift in the archetype of a politician from the 1970s and 80s, Kanthak said.

“The idea that people other than white men can be seriously considered for this position … that’s the new normal,” she said. “This country is really broadening the definition of who can be president.”

It also restructures where the United States is in terms of the global political community.

“One of the things that makes the United States stand out is we have never had a woman as our leader,” Kanthak said. “This would sort of put us in a more normal situation. I think this is a moment to recognize that. This country is really broadening the definition of who can be president.”

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