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Why VP Kamala Harris is the most excited I’ve ever been for an election and why what you’ve heard of her might be wrong (a thread):
1/24 Senator Kamala Harris is no token choice. The only person who met all the requirements Joe Biden himself stated he wanted in his VP was her: balancing the ticket, being “simpatico”, experience and readiness to lead
2/ Since she’s been announced, there has been wide spread excitement and enthusiasm injected into the ticket. Women’s groups, South Asian groups, HBCUs, celebrities and Biden’s own staff have been cheering the historic selection. https://africa.businessinsider.com/news/its-about-time-howard-university-students-and-alumni-rejoice-after-kamala-harris/0ybghh5
3/ Don’t get it twisted, Kamala has been a favored choice in polls to be VP for months, especially in crucial demos like black voters (where she led YouGov’s final VP poll 31% to Warren 14% and Rice 14%) and Hispanic voters (32% to Rice 25% to Warren 13%) http://docs.cdn.yougov.com/l9txxcxdi3/20200730_yahoo_coronavirus_crosstabs.pdf
4/24 Have you heard negative stories about Kamala and criminal justice reform? @AttorneyCrump who knows justice reform inside and out and reps Breonna Taylor & George Floyd’s families requested she be VP based on her record of reform https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/01/opinions/kamala-harris-joe-biden-vice-president-crump/index.html
5/ Major Latin American media conglomerate La Opinion endorsed her for VP for her excellent immigration record. So did the Washington Blade for her LGBT record. Even Biden critics Nina Turner, Michael Moore and Sunrise Movement have sung her praises https://twitter.com/mmflint/status/1293672079728967680
6/ Heard she’s not black enough, or not popular with black voters? Kamala before she was announced had a huge +43 net favorability with black voters, the most of any woman in politics, and it has only risen she was announced. Twitter ain’t real life https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/8uw05wqpg2/econTabReport.pdf
7/ The trope from a vocal minority that ‘Kamala is an evil centrist cop who locked up more black people than any one ever!” was a Swift Boat smear campaign and agitprop. She votes top 2 or 5 progressive in the senate depending on what metric you use https://progressivepunch.org/scores.htm?house=senate
8/24 The smear campaign about her locking up black people for pot and laughing about it is DISINFORMATION. Marijuana charges and incarceration reduced drastically once she became DA and she refused to ever charge anyone for simple possession. She is pro-complete legalization https://twitter.com/pierceah66/status/1270414069376434180
9/ Ideologically, Harris is left of center of the party but she is collaborative & smart in legislature to get shit done. She co-sponsors bills constantly with @EdMarkey and @BernieSanders but she has also been praised by Republicans she sits on the judiciary committee with https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1286764850547429377
10/ Biden wanted someone ready to take over on Day 1 if needed. Harris sits on the senate intelligence, budget, homeland security and judiciary committees. She’s the highest ranking black woman ever elected to office https://www.buzzfeednews.com/amphtml/emmaloop/kamala-harris-intelligence-committee-russia-republicans-2020
11/ DAs and AGs do not create laws. Their job is executorial, meaning they manage the office that prosecutes on behalf of the state/district law. It is their job to do this regardless of their personal feelings on the law, like a public defender https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/give-kamala-harris-break/615127/
12/24 Kamala was CA’s - 40M pop - first black AG in 2000s harsh-on-crime era. People view Harris’s prosecutorial history with a lens we don’t for men or for non-black ppl. Bill Clinton & Doug Jones were AGs from the era but no one questioned their progress https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2020/08/10/kamala-harris-progressive-pioneer-san-francisco-da-column/3334668001/
13/ Voter suppression is intentionally directed at black & brown communities. Moscow Mitch is sitting on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act & enthusiasm is one of the ways of combatting suppression. Kamala brings with her the fundraising and energy from the AKAs https://twitter.com/firinglineshow/status/1273284266600755200
14/ In the last few months, Senator Harris has been very present in the media discussing reform and misunderstanding about defunding the police, a stance she has had since 2006 (not 2008) https://twitter.com/adamjsmithga/status/1269761430322139136
15/ Although Biden is polling historically high against an incumbent, Trump has enthusiasm advantage. Kamala has a dedicated and passionate multiracial supporter base mostly lead by black women — her “joyful warriors”, the K-Hive https://www.thedailybeast.com/kamala-harris-built-a-digital-army-now-she-gets-to-use-it
16/24 The K-Hive *really really really* wanted Kamala to be chosen as VP, and after the extra-harsh hate she got during the primaries, they’re armed to combat the misogyny, sexism, birtherism, smears, bots and disinformation https://twitter.com/blackwomenviews/status/1286829164842999809
17/ Kamala is fierce *and* warm. She had a personal relationship with the Biden family as she was friends with his son Beau (who was AG of Delaware) before he died. Biden swore her into office, she knocked doors for Obama in ‘07 and Biden had her speak at Beau’s funeral
18/ Kamala has super high approval ratings in the party and is beloved by her colleagues, including the other awesome women who were considered for VP https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-vp-finalists-praise-kamala-harris-pick
19/ Kamala and @CoryBooker’s relationship as the only 2 Democratic black senators is special. He always has her back, from when she’s interviewing Trump sycophants to when they’re writing sweeping reform legislation like the Justice in Policing Act https://twitter.com/kevloweryphoto/status/1293603103586099201
20/24 Kamala is married to the ubersupportive @douglasemhoff & her 2 stepkids call her Momala. Her specialty as AG was child abuse & sextrafficking. She never threw a single parent in jail for truancy (unlike her predecessors) & improved attendance for kids from working homes 20%
21/ She secured $18B from predatory banks for residents in California, cleared the rape kit backlog, knocked down the gay/trans panic defense and protected sex workers and child sex abuse victims better than any of her predecessors. She insisted on marrying gay couples in 2004 https://twitter.com/kamalaharris/status/1192570679960494087
22/ She never had the jurisdiction to prosecute Steve Mnunchin as AG. That’s disinformation. Once she became senator, she introduced legislation to make sure AGs that came after her could https://medium.com/@blackwomenviews/debunking-the-lies-smears-and-distortions-about-kamala-harris-1718881a0ec3?source=---------5------------------
23/ Many of her critics (many of whom have ulterior motives eg they were supporting other people in the primaries, she prosecuted their friends or people like them for sex crimes etc) have walked back their unfair smears against her https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/07/kamala-harris-biden-criminal-justice-reform-304534
24/24 Kamala has star power. No one who truly gets to know her has bad things to say, even people she’s interrogated like @LindseyGrahamSC. @MayaRudolph just got nominated playing her on SNL. She will eviscerate the Homophobic-White-Walker-In-Chief on October 7. Anticipate it!
Thank you for reaching the end! Please ensure you have an early voting plan, please *positively and enthusiastically* advocate for friends/family to vote for progress up and down ballot and please combat disinformation (an enemy of democracy) wherever you see it!
This thread is also available as an expanded article here: https://twitter.com/areyouthestan/status/1294053286925017090?s=21
