Rise of Kamala Harris: Junior senator from California is a strong contender for the 2020 US presidential race

The joyful warrior. That’s her call to her country and the nickname given to her. The junior senator from California and former attorney general of the state, she is half-Jamaican and half-Indian and full on democratic candidate for the president of the United States. Her father Donald came to the US in 1961 and was an economics professor at Stanford. Her mother Shymala Gopalan is from Tamil Nadu and emigrated from Chennai in 1960. She was also a well-known researcher for breast cancer and she passed on in 2009. [caption id=“attachment_1693981” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Kamala Harris. AFP[/caption] Kamala Harris has, in a year at the Senate, fast-tracked her career by espousing causes closest to middle-class America. Bills to pay, children to educate, immigrants to protect, jobs to find, vets to be cared for. “Unless you are a native American or were kidnapped and brought here on a slave ship,” said this enormously eloquent woman, “You are an immigrant.” Ergo a whole nation founded on immigrants cannot separate families and pull children away from their parents through a toxic anti-immigration policy. Largely known and unsung, she has been catapulted into prominence and is now the leading user of social platforms and self-advertising in the political firmament. And it is working.  It is a paradox that Harris leads the betting polls as the top candidate for the presidency. Come 2020, political pundits are giving this in-your-face and personal powerhouse, who reflects what is good about America, the best odds. And the groundswell of support is visibly increasing. Some time back, she was introduced most seriously by Ellen Degeneres as the next President of the United States. Even her home state is surprised at the traction she is getting. Three months ago, she lacerated Homeland Security chief Kirstjen Nielsen on the issue of children being separated from deported parents and what protocol there was for reducing their trauma. Her unswerving value system has struck a chord in the media and the masses. Even though there was some blowback from pro-immigration lobbies at her holier than thou stance, since then, she has been marketed as the knight in shining armour. Although the meteoric rise does make one recall Sarah Palin’s rise and then, her precipitous fall. There is a differernce. Palin had paddle pool depth. The maturity, intelligence and knowledge this lady has makes Harris a formidable foe and not one likely to stumble on faux pas or suffer from foot-in-mouth disease. As the Trump administration bumbles from pitfall to pitfall, the Democrat senator’s erudite and balanced gracefulness is cutting across even party lines. Even in the Republican camp, no one has anything negative to say. Helping her along indirectly is President Trump after he targeted her for her zeal in defending ‘illegals’ and being against the policies of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE is the big elephant in the room in the USA today and the White House recently tweeted:

.@SenWarren, why are you supporting criminals moving weapons, drugs, and victims across our nation’s borders? You must not know what ICE really does. Here is a link to help you out: https://t.co/5CiTKkIs4c

— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) July 2, 2018

Harris hit back:

As a career prosecutor, I actually went after gangs and transnational criminal organizations. That's being a leader on public safety. What is not, is ripping babies from their mothers. pic.twitter.com/WyyHU3U7jE

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) July 2, 2018

Several democrats called for the abolition of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in response to the Trump administration’s detention policy with regard to undocumented immigrants. The Washington Post even carried a report on her potential to take it all the way. Harris has taken the high road: half-Jamaican, half-Indian, all American and totally savvy.