Will Harris excite the Democratic base? She has a chance of reviving her party’s fortunes

WITH US President Joe Biden exiting the presidential race, Vice-President Kamala Harris is now regarded as the Democratic Party’s likely pick to take on former president Donald Trump.

That could give the 59-year-old Harris a chance to make history by notching several firsts – becoming not just the first female president of the United States, but also the first woman of colour (first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent) to be elected to the high office.

Harris has earned endorsement from President Biden, as well as from other leading Democrats, including former president Bill Clinton and the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But Harris isn’t guaranteed the nomination, and she herself noted that she would have to “earn” the required delegates to take Biden’s place at the Democratic Party’s national convention in Chicago in August.