Kamala Harris Emerges Amid COVID-19 Elections Scenarios

​Recent Elections have been foremost amid the coronavirus pandemic to attract attention. The most recent buzz revolves around the announcement on August 11th of Senator Kamala Harris as the Vice Presidential candidate on the Biden-Harris Democratic ticket  to challenge the Trump-Pence incumbent Republican team in the USA election on November 3, 2020. This event was an exciting climax to a week which  involved a change in Government in the Republic of Guyana and the re-elections of the People’s National Congress in Trinidad and Tobago. In Belarus,  President Alexander Lukashenko in power since 1994 has claimed a landslide victory amid widespread protests and  police violence against protesters. The common factors that prevail  in these electoral scenarios are essentially responses to  the constraints of COVID-19 era which require that special attention given to health security, economic stimuli to rescue flagging economies and focus on reducing rather than increasing inequalities which have been the concerns of our previous two blogs 
 
In Guyana elections are over.. almost: but that’s the easy part (Griffith)
 
After 5 months of agonizing delays involving  litigations in the national and regional courts,  Dr. Irfaan Ali  of the People’ Progressive Party/Civic with a narrow 33-31  victory over the APNU-AFC,  celebrated  his inauguration as President of the Republic of Guyana on August 9, 2020. In his inaugural address, he pledged to be ‘President of all the people’. This aspiration is most welcome especially in light of the festering disaffection as a result of a protracted electoral process, and the underlying social and racial cleavages that have underscored continuous acrimony following elections dating back to the early 1960s. These trends have been the subject of many books, commission reports, newspaper columns and contentious debates. They have  led to “racial” violence in some instances. In a very perceptive article,  Guyana’s elections are over.. almost: but that’s the easy part, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, former University of Guyana Vice Chancellor points out that the key values of good governance revolve around integrity rather than corruption, equity rather than racial triumphalism and  transparency rather than kleptocracy, especially with the likely influx of petro-dollars. See link:   https://menafn.com/1100605204/Guyanas-elections-are-over-almost-But-thats-the-easy-part
 
In Trinidad and Tobago where elections were held on August 10, Prime Minister Dr. Keith  Rowley, Leader of the ruling People’s National  Movement (PNM) has claimed victory with a 22-19 seat majority.  However, up to the time of writing this blog the results have not been officially declared  because the United National Congress (UNC)  opposition leader Kamla Persad Bissessar has challenged the results in three (3) marginal constituencies,  so we must await the official declaration.  The voter turnout in 2020 at 58% is much lower that the 66% in 2015.  This has been attributed to the fact that a relatively high percentage of older voters did not go to the polls, no doubt due to fear of being infected by the coronavirus.  But there are also underlying factors that have to await further analysis. Like Guyana,  they include the persistence of race as a factor of voting patterns. Unlike Guyana, which has a system of proportional representation,  Trinidad and Tobago’s first past the post system can lead to a party winning the popular  vote which may not translate into the majority of seats. Given the ethnic demographics  of constituencies  with either African/Mixed or Indian majorities, election results often revolve around which party can capture the majority of 7-9 marginal seats. In addition,  consideration for electoral reform should be given to accommodating  postal ballots, especially in circumstances of a pandemic. More immediate,  is the need for   monitoring and mitigating the spread of  COVID-19 in the aftermath of the elections where it was reported that social distancing  was not always adhered to.   
 
In Belarus authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko has cracked down on demonstrators with stun grenades, rubber and real bullets and tear gas after what domestic critics and other countries have called a fraudulent outcome in the August 10 elections. Lukanhesko, who has been in power since 1994, said he received more than 80 percent of the vote. It is interesting to note that Svetlana Tikhanovsky a vibrant opposition leader left Belarus for Lithuania as part of a deal for the release of her campaign manager, Maria Morez who was detained on the eve of the elections. In addition,  the complicated and strained relations between Russia and Belarus which receives substantial financial subsidies from Moscow, is being sustained because Russia is wary of the prospects of a pro-Western Revolution in Belarus.  Is this a manifestation of Putin’s expansionism in Europe    See The Belarus Election and  its Aftermath
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/belarus-election-and-its-aftermath-expert-analysis
 
Kamala Harris and the Biden-Harris Moment
 
The issues of COVID 19 , race , electoral  fraud and  Russia which have emerged as endangering  the democratic process in varying degrees in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago  and Belarus,   resonate in the USA and will test the mettle of the new Democratic leadership.   
 
Kalama on the verge of an historic moment  but Challenges Loom
 
Kamala Harris is the first Asian American and the first Black woman in American history to be a general election candidate for president or vice president for either of the two major political parties. Her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris , born in India, received her PhD from the University of California, Berkley  in  nutrition and endocrinology and specialized in breast cancer research. Her father,  Donald Harris a University of California Berkley trained Economist and Stanford University Professor was  born in Jamaica.  Kamala Harris  is  the second Black person (after Barack Obama) and the fourth woman (after Democrats Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and Hillary Clinton in 2016, and Republican Sarah Palin in 2008) to be on a presidential ticket for one of the two major parties. If she and Biden win the November election, she would be the first Asian American, the first woman of any race or ethnicity and the second Black person in U.S. history to be vice president or president. Does this portrait of success by  one  from immigrant  roots inspire voting for the American Dream ? 
 
 
 
 
 
Overcoming the COVID Factor
 
While the opinion polls have so far been stable  in their projection of a Biden lead over Trump, Presidential debates and the party conventions are yet to occur.  And while Biden  just named  Harris as his running mate,  a significant revelation is that in the 24 hour hours after announcing her candidacy,  the campaign raised the largest ever amount of US$ 26M in the first 24 hours. Yet  there is need to  recognize that the campaign is being conducted amid a pandemic the likes of which the United States has not seen in more than 100 years, which is resulting in an unprecedented and volatile economy. The issue is whether the Biden-Harris ticket  can overcome the obvious Trump strategy to place impediments in the path of  their support from the traditional marginalized groups  who will be most affected. A recent study by the Hamilton Project which produces evidence based policy proposals and analysis provides   some of the major social determinant which could prevent black and Hispanic voters from turning out to vote. They are  most severely affected by weak  safety nets, disproportionate health and economic  disadvantages, high unemployment, food hardships and hunger, lack of health insurance and disparity in receiving unemployment benefits by nearly 6 weeks after the average unemployed person.   
 
 
The Race plus Gender Factor
 
It is no doubt hoped  that Kamala Harris on the ticket will catalyze  a robust voting infrastructure in black and brown constituencies,  motivate black nonvoters and maximize voter turn- out , thereby reversing Hilary Clinton’s  dilemma in 2016. Electoral trend analyses show that in 2008 and 2012 when black voter turnout was 65% and 66 % respectively the Obama- Biden Democratic ticket won compared with 2004 and 2016 when black voter turnout was 60% and 58% respectively which resulted in Republican Presidencies.   At the same time, Kamala Harris’  choice should  not be portrayed as a manifestation of an affirmative action.  Her political pedigree belies that perception.  It  is most amenable to attracting a rainbow-multiracial  coalition of support.  Within that coalition, however,  it must be an explicit recognition that her ascendancy within the democratic party is  as a result of the hard work of black female political leaders, political strategists, ardent campaigners  and voters that form the backbone of the party. Indeed, a plethora of dynamic black females  were considered as worthy candidates for  the post of Vice Presidential candidate.  According to statistics from the Hamilton Project  more than 90% of Black women on average have cast their ballots for the Democratic Party.  Frank Bruni’s op-ed in the NY Times  August 11, 2020 ,Kamala Harris is the Future Mike Pence May Well be History  aptly puts it: “the expected Vice Presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence is more than a clash of perspectives and philosophies , it is an extraordinary collision of life experiences with racism and sexism at its core”
 
 
 
The Hurdle of Electoral Fraud
 
It is clear from the statements made by  Donald Trump that Republican  fraud is focused not on the standard process of adding fake voters but subtracting real ones .  Hence there is need to make it hard to cheat and easy for legitimate voters to vote. The most obvious ploy is the attempt to  curtail postal vote by enfeebling the post office services so they  cannot deliver the ballots.  The  current policies of Postmaster General De Joy  to slow down the mail distribution services include classifying postal votes as bulk mail. This attempt to restrict postal votes runs counter to US Constitution.  A 2017 Study by  the Brennan Center for Justice shows that voter fraud in the USA is between 0.00004 - 0,00008%.  The Voter Fraud Data Base at the Arizona State University found  491 postal frauds between 2000 and 2012.  This is very important since 72% of Democrats intend to vote by mail compared with 22% Republicans.  
 
In 2016,  the Russian interference  in the electoral process in the USA was clearly exposed by the FBI as well as in the Mueller Report. Intelligence officials have reportedly found that Russia is again interfering in the 2020 election to try to support President Trump’s reelection and that they meddled  in the Democratic primaries to help the Bernie Sanders campaign. The use of internet links to  facilitate  the Kremlin’s digital  campaign has resulted in a Facebook announcement that it had taken down about 75,000 posts across 50 Internet Research Agency. The vigilance of the Democratic representatives in the House and their Senators is vital to the oversight and continued efforts to expose and remove these hurdles
 
A Dilemma in Branding Kamala
 
In the attempt to create a negative narrative around the imagery of Kamala Harris, President Trump and other detractors refer to her    as ‘nasty’, ‘mean’, ‘disrespectful’ and more recently “a birther” whose American citizenship is being doubted.  In fact all these are in deference  to the reality  that herein is the persona of a strong , proud, ambitious articulate,  brilliant, beautiful,  black lady: a potential President of the USA. The reference to  her harsh policies against crime and criminals is correct but by itself it fails to capture the essence of her career profile. Her book, The Truths we Hold: An American Journey   reveals that as California’s attorney general,  she prosecuted transnational gangs, big banks, big oil, and for profit colleges. She battled the big corporations and mortgage companies and landed a deal of US18 Billion in 2012 as substantial relief for  home owners following  the 2008 economic crisis.  She also supported  the Affordable Care Act and fought to reduce elementary school truancy, pioneered the nation’s  first national data initiative  to expose racial discrimination in the justice system and implemented implicit bias training for police officers. She has been an advocate for increasing the minimum wage, making higher education tuition free for the majority of Americans and for protecting the rights of refugees and immigrants the protect.  
 
 
 
 
Conclusions
 
At the beginning of the debates for the Democratic Presidential nomination, there was a notion that the  Party maybe  moving left ideologically. In the campaign,  Kamala Harris’ positions did  not clearly fit with any ideological classifications  other than here was a pragmatist and a  progressive. This makes  the attempted stigmatization of her as  leftist,  far-fetched.  What is  more,  even if Democrats control the House, Senate and the Presidency in 2021 the most important figures in Washington might be Biden, Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi  and Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, all of whom have progressive inclinations and  have kept some distance from, but with respect for the party’s left wing.  Let the attached video shine its light on Senator Kamala Harris emerging..
 
https://www.today.com/video/why-kamala-harris-s-selection-as-biden-s-running-mate-is-so-historic-89940549723
 
 
Eddie Greene