Kamala Harris, key to attracting the Latino vote and evicting Trump from the White House

WASHINGTON DC- Daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father - who came to the United States as students - Kamala Harris grew up in the key years of fighting for the civil rights of African Americans and that experience, as she often tells, defined her vision of the world. Now, as a Democratic vice presidential candidate, alongside Joe Biden, she can be instrumental in capturing the black and Latino vote.

Harris, senator from California, aspired to be the presidential candidate and, although she left in just a few months due to lack of funds and strong support, she launched a campaign inspired by the figure of Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005), who in 1972 was the first African American to run for president for one of the two great political parties.

As Harris explained, he wanted the young women to see a woman, black, and the daughter of immigrants in the Oval Office. She had broken other barriers before: in 2003, she was elected as the first female district attorney in San Francisco; in 2010, she won the position of attorney general of California; and in 2016, she became the second black woman in the Senate, after Carol Moseley Brown (Illinois, 1993-1999).

[Who is Kamala Harris?]

Harris came to the Senate thanks in part to the Hispanic vote - he defeated the Mexican American Loretta Sánchez - and now the Democrats hope that he can convince the 32 million Latinos who can vote in November, the most important minority in the country in number, according to the Pew Research Center. 

Will it be able to tie the Hispanic vote?

Democratic leaders and strategists consulted by Noticias Telemundo affirmed that the political climate plays against the president, Donald Trump, and that Harris will be a fundamental piece to capture the vote of minorities.

"I think that in the moments that we are living, what happens with our African American brothers, with discrimination and racial disparities, it is important that we have a minority woman in power," said Elizabeth Guzmán, who made history in 2017 as one of the first two Hispanic delegates in the history of the Virginia General Assembly.

Harris has supported Biden's Hispanic agenda, including the legalization of undocumented immigrants, and her own trajectory as the daughter of immigrants "reflects the American dream, the idea that we are all welcome in this country," according to Guzmán, who defines it as "a strong woman who says things as they are". She thus attributes her changes in posture to the fact that she "has a willingness to listen to people."

José Aristimuño, former deputy director of the Democratic Party and president of NOW Strategies, said: "It is something historic for our country. His experience, intelligence, and diversity is just what Biden needs on his team."

Vanessa Cárdenas, former director of the National Coalitions of the Biden campaign, highlighted that Harris won the support of Mexican-American union leader Dolores Huerta last November, adding that, along with Biden, he is "a historic pairing and a nod for the role. key that minority communities will play in this election. "

[Reactions to the announcement of Kamala Harris: From "magnificent" candidate to attacks and radical accusations]

Support for immigration reform

Harris has in the past championed progressive causes like the right to abortion; an increase in the minimum wage; universal medical coverage; the legalization of marijuana; and the end of capital punishment.

Last year, he told Noticias Telemundo that he supports a comprehensive immigration reform that allows the legalization of the undocumented population, the reinstatement of DACA for dreamers, and the elimination of funds for private detention centers, among other elements.

In 2018, Harris openly attacked the separation of families on the southern border and the detention of pregnant women, in addition to demanding the resignation of then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. 

During Senate hearings, he confronted Nielsen and other high-ranking Trump administration officials over immigration policies, in addition to opposing funding for the border wall.

The first salvoes against Harris

The group Latinos For Trump said today that Biden and Harris "have embraced the policies of the extreme left," promote an "anti-Hispanic agenda," and will cause harm to the country.

During a virtual forum on Tuesday, Cuban-born advisor Mercedes Schlapp said Harris will throw Biden "off the cliff" because he has "political ambitions"; questioned whether the senator can connect with the American people; and accused her of being "a puppet of the extreme left."

The challenge of mobilizing voters

Today, Biden has the support of 60% of Latinos, and nearly 90% of African Americans, according to a recent YouGov poll.

In 2016, then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton won the popular vote and garnered the support of African Americans, Latinos and youth, but not on the level of Barack Obama, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress.

Of the voters who supported Obama's reelection in 2016, 4.4 million did not go to the polls, of which more than a third were African-American and Latino. Nine percent of those voters backed Trump, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

Now, the black vote will be key again in states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, where Trump won by a tiny difference. They will also be defining in the Deep South of the United States, in states such as the North and South Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.