The 2020 Election is still well over a year away, and it’s already in full swing. Many current high school students will be eligible to vote in November of 2020, so it’s important to know who to vote for.
Kamala Harris, a U.S. Senator from California, announced she was running for President on Jan. 21, 2019. She held a rally in her hometown, Oakland, CA. to gain support for her campaign. Her rally drew about 20,000 supporters, according to The Associated Press.
Other prominent Democrats that put in their bid for the presidency are Senator Corey Booker from New Jersey and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand from New York.
Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts is the most recent Democrat to officially announce her candidacy. This came shortly after criticism for claiming she’s Native American. After taking a public DNA test to prove her ethnicity, it was found that she has very little Native American DNA.
Harris’ campaign slogan is “Kamala Harris for the People,” and she definitely is.
Harris has spent her entire career fighting for the people. At the rally that kicked off her presidential campaign, Harris elaborated on this.
“30 years ago, as a young district attorney, I walked into the courtroom for the first time, and said the five words that would guide my life’s work: ‘Kamala Harris, for the people,’” she said.
According to her Senate website, Harris earned her undergraduate degree from Howard University. She then earned a law degree from The University of California, Hastings.
Harris started her political career when she was elected District Attorney of San Francisco in 2003. One of the achievements she made during her time as district attorney was starting a program that gave first-time drug offenders the chance to get a high school diploma and find employment.
“We created an initiative to give skills and job training instead of jail time for young people arrested for drugs,” Harris said at her Oakland rally.
According to The Guardian, during her time as a district attorney, Harris took a very strong anti-truancy stance. She prosecuted at least 25 parents whose children missed weeks or months of school. However, none of these parents were ever arrested or jailed.
Although some view this as controversial, this just shows that Harris is passionate about the education of children. After serving for seven years, Harris ran for attorney general of California and won. She was the first African-American woman to hold this position.
During the two terms she served, Harris prided herself on going after big corporations and banks that defrauded Americans.
“Sitting across the table from the big banks, I witnessed the arrogance of power. Wealthy bankers accusing innocent homeowners of fault, as if Wall Street’s mess was of the people’s making,” Harris said. “So we went after the five biggest banks in the United States. We won $20 Billion for California homeowners, and together we passed the strongest anti-foreclosure law in the United States of America.”
Harris shows time and time again that she truly is “for the people.”
Although she’s only been a U.S. Senator for two years, Harris has already made a name for herself.
According to the Library of Congress, Harris has sponsored 49 bills and co-sponsored 350.
She’s helped pass bills like our country’s first federal anti-lynching bill in 2018. According to BBC, the bill was introduced by Harris and fellow presidential candidate Senator Booker. Many anti-lynching bills have been introduced to Congress, but this was the first of it’s kind to pass.
Should Harris become the Democratic nominee, she would be up against President Trump, who filed for re-election earlier this year.
Junior Clayton Brosend shared why he thinks Trump will be re-elected. “Love him or hate him, it is hard to deny that President Trump has had a major impact on the direction of this country. I believe that Trump has had a positive impact on the direction of our country that will last for years to come,” said Brosend.
Unfortunately for the president and his supporters, statistics disagree with Brosend’s statement.
According to FiveThirtyEight, Trump has a very low approval rating. Only 39 percent of Americans approve of the president’s job, while 56 percent disagree with his performance.
The president himself said that Harris is the best democratic candidate so far. “I would say, the best opening so far would be Kamala Harris,” Trump told CNN. “I would say, in terms of the opening act, I would say, would be her.”
Though he’s obviously not the best judge of character, he was spot-on with his remarks about Harris.
Throughout her political career, Harris has shown she would make a great Democratic President. From a young district attorney to a U.S. Senator, Harris has shown she can accomplish anything she puts her mind to.
She’s consistently proven she’s “for the people.”