Being a pessimist, Trisanku does not see a chance for Senator Kamala Devi (Goddess Lakshmi) Harris or Representative Tulsi (holy basil) Gabbard winning the Democratic ticket to challenge the Republican candidate, most probably President Donald Trump, in 2020.
Worse, Trisanku doubts if any Democrat can defeat Trump next year if the current national mood prevails.
Let us analyze some of the facts that give rise to these assertions.
Though a formidable candidate with great potential and support, Senator Harris (54) is considered too liberal by many people. At 37, Rep Gabbard is considered as too young and inexperienced. No doubt, their presence has enlivened the contest.
Many in the Democratic Party doubt the chances of a woman taking on Trump, whose relentless attack on Hillary Clinton is still not forgotten. Some others worry about presenting a candidate of color, when the country is polarized along racial lines.
Though former vice president Joe Biden has not announced his candidacy, pundits believe he has a better chance of clinching the candidacy. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, an advocate of socialist policies, is also very popular. Another potential contender is former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke,but he, too, is young and inexperienced.
Observers like George F Will believe Amy Klobuchar, senator from Minnesota since 2006, has a better chance than all these candidates. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey is expected to split the African American votes with Sen. Harris. The votes of Hindus will also be divided between Sen. Harris and Rep. Gabbard.
As of now, Biden leads the pack as the front runner. Unlike Sen. Sanders, he is a centrist with a lot of experience. But he too faces challenges, especially an age barrier. At 76, many consider him too old to lead the country. Sanders is 77.
Overcoming these challenges, if Biden still wins the Democratic ticket, Sen. Harris could be an effective vice president. Sen. Harris has many advantages. As a young woman of African American and Indian heritage, with her husband of the Jewish faith, the backing of different communities will certainly be an asset to her in any election.
When New York Times asked President Trump to identify the ‘toughest’ Democratic candidate so far, the President replied, ‘I would say, the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris. I would say, in terms of the opening act, I would say, would be her.
‘A better crowd — better crowd, better enthusiasm (around 20,000 people). Some of the others were very flat.’
A CAMPAIGN IN FULL SWING
Meanwhile, Senator Harris’s campaign is in full swing. Kicking it off, she warned that the US and the world were at ‘an inflection point’ in history and called on all Americans to ‘speak the truth about what's happening.’
Before a crowd of more than 20,000 people in her hometown Oakland, California, Harris threaded together a biography from her years in the Bay Area with her work as a prosecutor and a senator, and set those details against a broader populist vision about ‘running to be President of the people, by the people and for all people.
‘We are at an inflection point in the history of our nation. We are here because the American dream and our American democracy are under attack and on the line like never before... When we have leaders who bully and attack a free press and undermine our democratic institutions, that's not our America.
‘Too many unarmed black men and women are killed in America. Too many black and brown Americans are being locked up. Our criminal justice system needs drastic repair. Let's speak that truth.
‘People in power are trying to convince us that the villain in our American story is each other. But that is not our story. That is not who we are. That's not our America. You see, our United States of America is not about us versus them. It's about ‘we, the people.
‘We have foreign powers infecting the White House like malware.’ She pledged that if she is elected President, she ‘will always speak with decency and moral clarity and treat all people with dignity and respect. I will lead with integrity. And I will tell the truth.’
RELATION WITH MOTHER
In her memoir, ‘The Truths We Hold: An American Journey,’ Harris vividly portrays her late mother Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, who was a cancer researcher, and describes what she inherited from her mother.
‘My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters. She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls. She was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women.
In a country where she had no family, they (the black community) were her family – and she was theirs. From almost the moment she arrived from India, she chose and was welcomed to and enveloped in the black community. It was the foundation of her new American life.
My mother, grandparents, aunts and uncle instilled us with pride in our South Asian roots … We were raised with a strong awareness of and appreciation for Indian culture. All of my mother’s words of affection or frustration came out in her mother tongue (Tamil) – which seems fitting to me, since the purity of those emotions is what I associate with my mother most of all.
‘There is no title or honor on earth I’ll treasure more than to say I am Shyamala Gopalan Harris’s daughter. That is the truth I hold dearest of all.
‘It was really my mother who took charge of our upbringing. She was the one most responsible for shaping us into the women we would become.’
Harris credits her maternal grandmother for the crusading civic spirit that both her mother and she inherited.
Her mother also taught her that being a good person meant standing for something larger than yourself; that success is measured in part by what you help others achieve and accomplish.
Dr Shyamala Gopalan died in 2009
LOOKING BACK TO 2004
Harris took charge as the District Attorney of San Francisco in 2004 winning a run off against the incumbent DA with a promise to be smart on crime. In her inaugural speech she thanked her mother. ‘One individual here deserves a special tribute. She is a woman who has given of herself unconditionally throughout my life. She is the most inspiring and courageous person I have ever known. Please help me honor Dr. Shyamala Harris, my mother,’ she told the crowd.
She also thanked her sister Maya Lakshmi Harris West and brother-in-law Tony West for their support.
Underscoring her commitment to always defend the rights of the people of San Francisco, Harris received the oath of office on the Bill of Rights.
As the District Attorney she did not seek death penalty.
‘As far as I'm concerned, the death penalty is morally wrong, and I'm not going to make an exception to that principle,’ she said.
When police officers questioned her stand, she replied, ‘I made a decision.’
Harris worked as a deputy district attorney in San Francisco and Alameda County before becoming the DA.
In 1998, the Daily Journal named her one of the top 20 young lawyers in California.
Dr. Shyamala Gopalan came to the US in the 1960s, when she was 19, for higher studies. She married Donald Harris, a Jamaican American, who later became a Stanford economics professor. Kamala was born in 1964 and her sister Maya two years later. The couple separated when Kamala was five.
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