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Kamala Harris Feature photo
A “LOCK THEM UP” MENTALITY
Democratic Establishment Commits to Status Quo with Kamala Harris VP Pick
Just as America seemed to be in the midst of reckoning over-policing and racial
justice, the Democratic establishment threw its support behind a hawkish former
prosecutor with a questionable record.
by Alan Macleod
August 12th, 2020
By Alan Macleod
There were mixed reactions to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden
choosing Kamala Harris as his running mate last night. Many at the top of the
party hailed the pick as a strong choice. “I’m thrilled to welcome Kamala
Harris to a historic Democratic ticket,” said Biden’s predecessor Hillary
Clinton, who described her as “an incredible public servant and leader, “I know
she’ll be a strong partner to Joe Biden. Please join me in having her back and
getting her elected.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Trump campaign opposed the move, a newly-released
advertisement describing her as a “phony” controlled by “the radical left.”
“Voters rejected Harris,” the ad says, referring to her failed campaign for the
presidential nomination. “They smartly spotted a phony. But not Joe Biden. He’s
not that smart.”
Yet the Harris pick appears not to have gone down at all well with those on the
left. Political commentator and co-founder of the leftist group Justice
Democrats Kyle Kulinski reacted by claiming Biden was “going with the
strategically brilliant move of picking somebody for VP who is despised by both
the right and the left.” Journalist Elizabeth Lea Vos wrote that the DNC has
chosen to “run an alleged rapist and a corrupt prosecutor… against Trump in the
age of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter. In other words, the Democrats are the
Republicans and everything is business as usual.” Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders’
National Press Secretary Briahna Joy Gray could not contain her dismay at the
pick. “We are in the midst of the largest protest movement in American history,
the subject of which is excessive policing, and the Democratic Party chose a
‘top cop’ and the author of the Joe Biden crime bill to save us from Trump. The
contempt for the base is, wow,” she said.
A memo from the Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins described the
announcement as Biden “doubling down” on his “long history of excessive law
enforcement and support for the war on drugs.”
While the left might think Harris’ past role as a California prosecutor is a
negative, business executives felt it added to her campaign. “Her experience as
a prosecutor makes her uniquely qualified to deliver the case against Trump,”
marketing executive Mike Kempner told CNBC.
A “lock them up” mentality
Harris certainly has a controversial professional past. Although presenting
herself as a “progressive prosecutor,” her record more closely resembles a
tough on crime, “lock them up” mentality commonly seen among Republican
lawmakers. Over the protestations of her own team, she pushed forward on her
plan to jail parents for their children’s truancy, later publicly laughing
about imprisoning them. She also has a long history of ethically questionable
practices, including withholding evidence that would have freed innocent people
from prison. As The New York Times wrote, “Ms. Harris fought tooth and nail to
uphold wrongful convictions that had been secured through official misconduct
that included evidence tampering, false testimony and the suppression of
crucial information by prosecutors.” In 2014, Harris’ legal team argued in
court that if minimum-custody inmates were released early, the state of
California would “lose an important labor pool.” These inmates included
firefighters, who are paid $1 an hour to confront the state’s deadly blazes.
She later claimed she did not know her own office argued in favor of keeping
parolees in jail so they could serve as cheap labor.
Kamala Harris Israel
Harris speaks at the 2017 American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
Conference in Washington. Jose Luis Magana | AP
During her short and unsuccessful shot at the party’s presidential nomination,
Harris received more funding from billionaires than any other candidate. In
2017, she also broke ranks to side with Trump against outgoing president Barack
Obama over the latter’s position on Israel, leading Grayzone journalist Max
Blumenthal to describe her as a “political algorithm programmed by the Israel
lobby.”
The establishment’s warm embrace
Her competitors for the vice-presidential nomination, however, appeared
happier, at least publicly, about the decision. “My warmest congratulations to
Kamala Harris. I am confident Biden-Harris will prove to be a winning ticket.
I will do my utmost to help them win and govern,” wrote Obama national security
advisor Susan Rice, tipped by many to be Biden’s choice.
Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, who was considered the favorite for the job by
some until MintPress revealed that, while state prosecutor, George Floyd’s
killer Derek Chauvin also killed another black man, tweeted that she was
“filled with joy” at yesterday’s announcement. “This is a historic moment,” she
said, adding that “her leadership, experience and character will help move our
country forward when she and Joe Biden take back the White House!” Other
organizations like Greenpeace offered more qualified praise.
Support for President Trump has been sliding over his handling of the COVID-19
pandemic and the George Floyd protests. While Biden leads in polls, he still
suffers from an enthusiasm gap, with most Republicans fully behind the
president. In contrast, Democratic voters are less passionate about Biden, the
majority seeing their vote primarily as one against Trump. Nina Turner,
co-chair of the Sanders campaign described the choice leftists face in choosing
between Biden and Trump as, “like saying to somebody, ‘You have a bowl of shit
in front of you, and all you’ve got to do is eat half of it instead of the
whole thing.’ It’s still shit.” If Biden is to win in November, he may need the
enthusiasm and volunteers Sanders was able to draw upon. But judging from their
response, his Kamala Harris VP pick is unlikely to secure it.
Feature photo | Then-Democratic presidential