Kamala Harris, the fighter | So close to making history, but not to be

It’s not grist for a Hollywood sweeping saga but often described by political observers as 'unique and fraught', a fighter’s tale inside the 'American dream' and not without its dramatic twists.

In her words, Kamala refers to herself as a ‘joyful warrior’, who had to face a lot of criticism and scrutiny that come with attempting to be a new first. However, she philosophically brushes aside her challenges, staying close to her mother's advice, “never complain about injustice, do something about it.”

For she writes in her autobiography, “when you break through a glass ceiling, you’re going to get cut. "(Her book “The Truths We Hold”, however, is not rated as high as Barack Obama’s elegant memoir).

What brought Harris so close to the White House's most powerful chair? Here's a glimpse into the life of this bi-racial woman politician with rock solid experience in grassroots politics, who, it seems ended up aiming for the moon. 

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Her roots

Harris was born in Oakland in California in 1964 when the civil rights movement was at its peak in the US.

Her Hindu Indian-born mother Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a cancer researcher and civil rights activist at Unviersity of California, Berkeley, was a huge influence in her life. She doesn’t talk much about her Jamaican-born father (her parents were divorced when she was five) but she tends to identify herself with her African American roots. (much to the chagrin of Indians back home and the Indian American community who are less likely to vote for her )

Political observers say that her rise in politicis is not suprising considering that she is the tenacious eldest child of 'supremely motivated, risk-taking immigrants'. Her father went on to become Stanford University’s first Black professor of economics to achieve tenure.

But, Harris always recalls her mother in her speeches. “She was tough, courageous, a trailblazer in the fight for women’s health," she says proudly of her mother.

Proud black women

Harris did visit India with her mother and was drawn to her maternal grandfather. But, her mother raised her younger sister Maya and her as “two black daughters”.

She nurtured them to be “confident, proud black women” and they became part of Oakland's black culture. It was also an intellectually charged environment as they frequented a cultural centre in California called the 'Rainbow Sigh', where black writers like Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, singer Nina Simone and Shirley Chisholm took the stage.

However, Kamala says that her time at Howard University, one of the nation's famous historically black colleges and universities, where she studied political science and economy, was among the most formative experiences of her life. For her, it was all about people of colour coming out of colonisation realising that they have a special role and having an education to give them a special position in society to help effect change.

Her long-time friend told Washington Post that Kamala always had her own style and was never a follower. And that she had been "wearing pearls as long as she can remember.” An ex-boyfriend has commented that she remains a "mystery" even now to him.

At Howard University and then the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law, Harris concentrated on being more of a careerist than activist, winning competitive internships and joining academic societies.

If questioned about her identity, on where she feels she belongs, Harris has always said that she simply describes herself as an "American".

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Controversies that stuck

Harris began her career as a district attorney and then later became California's attorney general, becoming the first woman and first black person elected to serve as the top lawyer in America's most populous state.

It is in these positions that she took some tough calls supporting death penalty and spearheaded an initiative that threatened the parents of habitually truant school children with prison sentences. This came back to haunt her, when she made a bid to be nominated as Democratic Presidential candidate in 2020.

Being tough on criminals, mostly black at that time, she writes in her book that some “questioned how I, as a black woman, could countenance being part of ‘the machine’ putting more young men of colour behind bars”, and acknowledges deep flaws in the criminal justice system.

But, she adds that she believed there must be serious consequences for people who commit serious crimes. However, later, she did a turnaround upholding the state government’s stance against death penalty.

Major criticisms

One of the major criticisms against Harris is that she struggles to define herself. She has a history of pivoting on issues depending on the political weather.

But Harris also has an uncanny ability to seize the moment when others have counted her out.

Her 2020 presidential bid that began with big crowds and major debate moments fizzled out as Harris grappled with trying to articulate her ideology and policy platform. Her campaign died in less than a year and it was Biden who brought her back into the national spotlight.

It was "a big reversal of fortune" in her career.

Many people didn't think she had the "discipline and focus" to climb to the top position in the White House so quickly. But people knew she had ambition and star potential. For many, it was always clear that she had the raw talent, said journalists analysing her political journey.

Also watch: Watch | Kamala Harris' ancestral village in TN in prayer for the Democrat | US

The wins

However, after she became vice-president, Harris focused on several key initiatives and was instrumental in many of the Biden administration's most appreciated achievements.

She set a new record for the most tie-breaking votes cast by a vice-president in the history of the Senate, helping pass the Inflation Reduction Act and the American Rescue Plan, which provided Covid-era stimulus payments and other relief. There were other initiatives she undertook as well not wanting to just remain a figurehead.

According to one of her campaign managers, Kamala carved her own path and left a whole bunch of people behind who counted her out and underestimated her.

Harris’s “Back on Track” initiative, a re-entry programme for former prisoners that she developed as San Francisco district attorney, featuring GED courses, job training, community service and drug testing, is remembered and went on to become a national model.

Migrants issue

However, her Achilles Heel turned out to be the issue of influx of migrants into the US.

Though she was assigned the task by Biden to study the issue behind the root causes of migration amid a record influx of undocumented migrants at the US-Mexico border during Biden's tenure, Harris took her time to even visit the border. She is often receives a lot of flak on not having tackled this issue.

When asked about it in interviews, she tended to get defensive.

Abortion rights

However, Harris, who has a legacy of focussing on women and children's issues, needed a serious reputation boost. So, Harris made abortion rights a central piece of her political identity, pushing for abortion access. 

Putting abortion at the forefront of her work, in the wake of the overruling of Roe v. Wade, in March 2024, she toured a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota that provides abortion services. However, a CBS exit poll data suggests that Harris may have under-performed with women in this election.

Leftists scoff at her history of opposing legalising prostitution in the past.

But, her supporters believe Harris’s “deep, deep knowledge in so many areas of expertise” makes her a worthy contender as the Presidential nominee.

“She was District Attorney of San Francisco and Attorney General of California, which is a huge executive job for a state with the fourth largest economy in the world. Add her strength in domestic and foreign policy from her time in the Senate and she’s the whole package," is one such comment.

But now, Harris has been stumped once again in her bid to become President of the US. Who knows, she may just bounce back, Trump did, when he was all but written off.