'Just think about it. She's a prosecutor, he's a convicted felon. I love that juxtaposition.'
'She's a woman, and she's black and South Asian. He's a white guy who grew up with enormous [wealth].'
'She grew up in a very average, lower middle class/middle class kind of setting with a single mother.'
When United States President Joe Biden stepped aside to make way for Vice President Kamala Harris, the presidential race substantially changed.
Many Democrats were concerned about a sharp cognitive decline in President Biden, as seen in his first debate with former president and current Republican candidate Donald Trump.
But the anointing of Harris saw a sharp but quick infusion of funds into the Democratic party, suggesting that funders saw some new hope.
One of the party's leading backers is Shekar Narasimhan, co-chair of the Democratic National Committee's Indo American Council, and chair of AAPI Victory Fund, a PAC (political action committee) that aims to increase the representation of Asian Americans and Pacific islanders in elected offices.
Narasimhan, who has been active in presidential elections since 2004, and influenced some of President Biden's early agenda, spoke to Rediff.com US Senior Contributor P Rajendran about what a Harris nomination means, and what it augurs for the future.
The first of a two-part must-read interview:
Women in general, whenever they stood for president, have been blocked or had a high hill to climb.
The only example we have is Hillary Clinton. That is literally the only example we have of another woman in the United States who has run for president and lost.
But I don't know that the level of concern about having a woman as president [is justified]. Look, they had years and years and years to vilify Hillary Clinton, tie her to her husband, and all of those things.
This is a very different situation. We have a short, compressed campaign. They will attack her [Kamala Harris]. The right wing attacks have already begun.
You know, saying, she's South Asian, she, her mother came from a different country, was she even eligible, because both her parents were not [citizens].
We don't have statesmen left in the Republican party. So no one will refute it. They will foster it.
My view is, first of all, she's tough. She's been through the mill. She's been the vice president. She already understands what she's getting into. And at the end of the day, those [attacks] will just brush off her shoulders.
People will want to see her vis-a-vis Trump and say, who is this stronger person? Who is the person who knows the issues? Who is the person with the right, with the compassion?
He [Trump], unfortunately for him, cannot help himself. He can speak for five minutes with some empathy, and then 95 minutes it's got to be about him and other things -- hatred and danger.
So, that's who he is and he's going to keep showing it.
The contrast is somebody who's tough, come up to the grassroots, has this incredible immigrant background, who can really bring people together.
I think she needs to really work on broadening the tent, you know. How do we have the largest mandate that we can get so that she wins the House and holds the Senate at the same time.
So what are you and AAPI Victory doing to make that possible?
I'll tell you what we are already doing -- and we are just going to double down. We are already active in Michigan. We have already spent time and money, actively started to build networks, and work with the local groups.
In fact, we were going to begin the ground work, knocking on doors with our partners in the middle of August. We were going to do it for the Biden-Harris ticket.
What about now?
Obviously this [Biden's withdrawal] is like a jolt. Somebody asked, what does it feel like? I said, somebody took an injection of adrenaline and put it in my head. That's how I feel this morning.
I may not have slept, but I feel pumped up. I feel energized. That is what I'm sensing from a lot of people. It's like a jolt of adrenaline there.
We needed it to feel, hey, this not only is a windfall, but we can pull together a coalition so broad that we can actually win this country and win the hearts and minds of people.
So we're going to keep working in Michigan. We are already working in House races. The second place that we are is Nevada. We think it's eminently winnable with Asian American votes.
Then we want to help our partners. We have an alliance with black and Latino groups as well. We have an alliance that is broader than just Asian Americans because we believe that a lot of these issues are cross-cutting.
We need to talk to each other and build a pro-democracy coalition.
We will at least add one more state to the map, in terms of where we are going to work. I can't tell you which one it is yet, but we're going to add one more state and go to work there immediately.
What about places like, uh, you know, Florida and Illinois, where there are, there's a huge South Asian population, right? Which can at least change some local races.
Realistically we do not believe that Florida is within reach in the presidential race. But we believe that Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who's a Latina woman running there, who's got a fantastic resume, has got a shot at defeating [Republican Senator] Rick Scott. We are going to spend some time there.
What we like to do is not just about the election. We like to mobilize the community so that the next time around there's more leadership, there's more receptivity.
Our concentration in Florida right now is in central Florida-Orlando and those counties surrounding it. That is where we are going to spend time.
And we are promoting Debbie Mucarsel-Powell and her senate bid. It's a small effort, but it's still a real effort.
We're not going to pretend that we think that we can win the state. But we are going to say she's got a chance to win and we need to help her and support her.
We're building leadership and capacity [in Florida], but without having our eyes closed and pretending that everything we work on is going to be won.
What do you think are the biggest drawbacks that Harris has to contend with, and what will she seek in a vice-presidential candidate?
I think she will pick a VP that complements her. One that is going to add to the coalition and to build the base. I think it's a combination. Um, but it's always a partnership.
So whatever [the drawbacks], I honestly think that against Trump, she's formidable, because she's such a contrast.
I mean, just think about it. She's a prosecutor, he's a convicted felon. I love that juxtaposition.
She's vice president of the United States, he's a former president. He's from New York, she's from California.
She's a woman, and she's black and South Asian. He's a white guy who grew up with enormous [wealth], She grew up in a very average, lower middle class/middle class kind of setting with a single mother.
He grew up with a hundred million dollars in his pocket.
The contrast is just so obvious, right? And it's just physically and visually but also that her history, while progressive and from California, is not elitist at all.
So they try to paint her so she doesn't have those glaring weaknesses.
So what lies ahead?
I think the main thing is that she's got to step up, build a team that's much more ruthless about expecting the best of everybody, and build an agenda that is forward looking and forward thinking.
There's a lot of work to be done but I don't see a flaw or anything that I would consider to be a weakness that makes her more vulnerable than we already were. It's always better to prepare for the worst.
Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
