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Kamala Harris and Joe Biden
Joe Biden announced his choice for Vice-President in a historic ticket. He decided on California Senator Kamala Harris. Full disclosure, I was a tad surprised by this and expected Susan Rice. Why? There is a lot of foreign relations that need rebuilding after the new administration takes over. And yes, at this point I expect the Democrats to win. There are many reasons for that and will have a piece on this in the near future. The politics of this choice make sense, as well as relationships that matter a lot to the Biden’s.
Harris met Biden’s son Beau when both were Attorney Generals. Harris rose through California politics as first the City Attorney in San Francisco and then State Attorney General. Back in 2012, when I met her at the Party State Convention, she was already considered a rising star within the party. People were talking about her as a possible presidential candidate. That was the talk back then, and as a budding political reporter, I filed that in my mental notes.
That relationship with Beau means a lot to his father. Personal friendships matter a lot in the world of politics. This is usually ignored, but like everything else, this is social capital. She also crosses a few other boxes for the Vice-President pick. She is smart, she is also not just African-American (that is the way she has been introduced in California politics for many years). She also…