She害羞草研究所檚 already broken barriers, and now Kamala Harris could shatter several more after President Joe Biden abruptly ended his reelection bid and endorsed her.
Biden announced Sunday that he was stepping aside after a disastrous debate performance catalyzed fears that the 81-year-old was too frail for a second term.
Harris is the first woman, Black person or person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president. If she becomes the Democratic nominee and defeats Republican candidate Donald Trump in November, she would be the first woman to serve as president.
Biden said Sunday that choosing Harris as his running mate was 害羞草研究所渢he best decision I害羞草研究所檝e made害羞草研究所� and endorsed her as his successor.
害羞草研究所淒emocrats 害羞草研究所� it害羞草研究所檚 time to come together and beat Trump,害羞草研究所� he wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 害羞草研究所淟et害羞草研究所檚 do this.害羞草研究所�
Harris described Biden害羞草研究所檚 decision to step aside as a 害羞草研究所渟elfless and patriotic act,害羞草研究所� saying he was 害羞草研究所減utting the American people and our country above everything else.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淚 am honored to have the President害羞草研究所檚 endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination,害羞草研究所� Harris said. 害羞草研究所淥ver the past year, I have traveled across the country, talking with Americans about the clear choice in this momentous election.害羞草研究所�
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Prominent Democrats followed Biden害羞草研究所檚 lead by swiftly coalescing around Harris on Sunday. However, her nomination is not a foregone conclusion, and there have been suggestions that the party should hold a lightning-fast 害羞草研究所渕ini primary害羞草研究所� to consider other candidates before its convention in Chicago next month.
A recent poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 6 in 10 Democrats believe Harris would do a good job in the top slot. About 2 in 10 Democrats don害羞草研究所檛 believe she would, and another 2 in 10 say they don害羞草研究所檛 know enough to say.
The poll showed that about 4 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of Harris, whose name is pronounced 害羞草研究所淐OMM-a-la,害羞草研究所� while about half have an unfavorable opinion.
A former prosecutor and U.S. senator from California, Harris害羞草研究所� own bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination imploded before a single primary vote was cast. She later became Biden害羞草研究所檚 running mate, but she struggled to find her footing after taking office as vice president. Assigned to work on issues involving migration from Central America, she was repeatedly blamed by Republicans for problems with illegal border crossings.
However, Harris found more prominence as the White House害羞草研究所檚 most outspoken advocate for abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. She has also played a key role in reaching out to young people and voters of color.
In addition, Harris害羞草研究所� steady performance after Biden害羞草研究所檚 debate debacle solidified her standing among Democrats in recent weeks.
Even before Biden害羞草研究所檚 endorsement, Harris was widely viewed as the favorite to replace him on the ticket. With her foreign policy experience and national name recognition, she has a head start over potential challengers, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Harris will seek to avoid the fate of Hubert Humphrey, who as vice president won the Democratic nomination in 1968 after President Lyndon Johnson declined to run for reelection amid national dissatisfaction over the Vietnam War. Humphrey lost that year to Republican Richard Nixon.
Nixon resigned in 1974 during the Watergate scandal and was replaced by Vice President Gerald Ford. Ford never won a term of his own.
Vice presidents are always in line to step into the top job if the president dies or is incapacitated. However, Harris has faced an unusual level of scrutiny because of Biden害羞草研究所檚 age. He was the oldest president in history, taking office at 78 and announcing his reelection bid at 80. Harris is 59.
She addressed the question of succession in an interview with The Associated Press during a trip to Jakarta in September 2023.
害羞草研究所淛oe Biden is going to be fine, so that is not going to come to fruition,害羞草研究所� she stated. 害羞草研究所淏ut let us also understand that every vice president 害羞草研究所� every vice president 害羞草研究所� understands that when they take the oath they must be very clear about the responsibility they may have to take over the job of being president.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 no different.害羞草研究所�
Harris was born Oct. 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, to parents who met as civil rights activists. Her hometown and nearby Berkeley were at the heart of the racial and social justice movements of the time, and Harris was both a product and a beneficiary.
She spoke often about attending demonstrations in a stroller and growing up around adults 害羞草研究所渨ho spent full time marching and shouting about this thing called justice.害羞草研究所� In first grade, she was bused to school as part of the second class to integrate Berkeley public education.
Harris害羞草研究所� parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised by her mother alongside her younger sister, Maya. She attended Howard University, a historically Black school in Washington, and joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, which became a source of sisterhood and political support over the years.
After graduating, Harris returned to the San Francisco Bay Area for law school and chose a career as a prosecutor, a move that surprised her activist family.
She said she believed that working for change inside the system was just as important as agitating from outside. By 2003, she was running for her first political office, taking on the longtime San Francisco district attorney.
Few city residents knew her name, and Harris set up an ironing board as a table outside grocery stores to meet people. She won and quickly showed a willingness to chart her own path. Months into her tenure, Harris declined to seek the death penalty for the killer of a young police officer slain in the line of duty, fraying her relationship with city cops.
The episode did not stop her political ascent. In late 2007, while still serving as district attorney, she was knocking on doors in Iowa for then-candidate Barack Obama. After he became president, Obama endorsed her in her 2010 race for California attorney general.
Once elected to statewide office, she pledged to uphold the death penalty despite her moral opposition to it. She refused to defend Proposition 8, a voter-backed initiative banning same-sex marriage. Harris also played a key role in a $25 billion settlement with the nation害羞草研究所檚 mortgage lenders following the foreclosure crisis.
As killings of young Black men by police received more attention, Harris implemented some changes, including tracking racial data in police stops, but didn害羞草研究所檛 pursue more aggressive measures such as requiring independent prosecutors to investigate police shootings.
Harris害羞草研究所� record as a prosecutor would eventually dog her when she launched a presidential bid in 2019, as some progressives and younger voters demanded swifter change. But during her time on the job, she also forged a fortuitous relationship with Beau Biden, Joe Biden害羞草研究所檚 son who was then Delaware害羞草研究所檚 attorney general. Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015, and his friendship with Harris figured heavily years later as his father chose Harris to be his running mate.
Harris married entertainment lawyer Douglas Emhoff in 2014, and she became stepmother to Emhoff害羞草研究所檚 two children, Ella and Cole, who referred to her as 害羞草研究所淢omala.害羞草研究所�
Harris had a rare opportunity to advance politically when Sen. Barbara Boxer, who had served more than two decades, announced she would not run again in 2016.
In office, Harris quickly became part of the Democratic resistance to Trump and gained recognition for her pointed questioning of his nominees. In one memorable moment, she pressed now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on whether he knew any laws that gave government the power to regulate a man害羞草研究所檚 body. He did not, and the line of questioning galvanized women and abortion rights activists.
A little more than two years after becoming a senator, Harris announced her campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. But her campaign was marred by infighting and she failed to gain traction, ultimately dropping out before the Iowa caucuses.
Eight months later, Biden selected Harris as his running mate. As he introduced her to the nation, Biden reflected on what her nomination meant for 害羞草研究所渓ittle Black and brown girls who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities.害羞草研究所�
害羞草研究所淭oday, just maybe, they害羞草研究所檙e seeing themselves for the first time in a new way, as the stuff of presidents and vice presidents,害羞草研究所� he said.
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Chris Megerian, The Associated Press
