The California progressive who ran roughshod over the southern border and then laughed about it: This is Kamala Harris

Just hours after Joe Biden announced that he would not seek re-election, he officially endorsed Kamala Harris to be the Democratic Party's new nominee for president. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the still president highlighted the Californian and assured that having chosen her as his running mate in 2020 was "the best decision" possible. 

As days went by, dozens of legislators, governors and activists joined the president and endorsed the former senator to face Donald Trump in November, defending her record in public service.  

Chris Coons, a Delaware senator and co-chair of Harris for President, was asked directly about that record, particularly about what Harris' greatest accomplishment during her years as vice president was. His answer? "Her passion for entrepreneurship."

In just a few months, Harris went from making history as the first woman to serve as vice president to becoming the most unpopular person to hold office in modern history. Here is a look back at her history and beliefs, which led her to be crowned as the "most progressive senator" in 2019. 

Who is Kamala Harris? 

Of Asian-American descent, Harris was born in Oakland, California, on October 20, 1964. She spent her teenage years in Canada, returning to the United States for her college years. She attended Howard University, historically African-American, from which she emerged with degrees in political science and economics.

She developed her activism at the University of California Law School, where she was president of its chapter of the Black Law Students Association. After a first failed attempt, she was admitted to the California Bar in 1990. 

Willie Brown and her rise in California politics

The big break in Harris' political career would be her 'affair' with Willie Brown, then speaker of the California Assembly, who had been with her for more than 30 years. During their relationship, Brown introduced her to the Golden State's elite, contacts she would leverage over the next few years to climb the ranks. He even appointed her to the state's Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board and later to the California Medical Assistance Commission, positions that came with a handsome salary. 

Defined as the "kingmaker" of the era, Brown furthered her career as a prosecutor in San Francisco, where she worked alongside Terence Hallinan. Harris would first meet the ballot box in 2004, when she was elected San Francisco district attorney, defeating her former boss and serving until 2011. 

Leap to national fame and "most progressive" senator of 2019 award

Propelled by the media as a "rising star" within the party, it was Barack Obama who ended up elevating her name when he named her the "prettiest attorney general" in the country. Harris married Doug Emhoff in 2014 and, in keeping with her ladder-climbing nature, took aim at the seat held by Barbara Boxer in the Senate. She won the election in 2016 and came to Washington as the female version of former President Obama. 

Harris quickly drew attention for the aggressive manner in which she conducted her questioning, something that continued during the Brett Kavanaugh nomination process for the Supreme Court. The judge eventually defended himself in his final speech, claiming that what he went through was nothing more than "an orchestrated political coup" to damage the president. 

As for her activity in the Senate, the Californian worked alongside Cory Booker and Tim Scott to pass the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, legislation that did not reach President Trump's desk because it was not passed by the House of Representatives before the 115th Congress adjourned. 

Furthermore, her voting line made her the "most progressive" senator of 2019, surpassing Bernie Sanders and Jeff Merkley. According to GovTrack.us, the ranking is done by analyzing senators' "legislative behavior based on how similar the patterns of bills and resolutions they co-sponsor are to those of other members of Congress." 

When confronted about her record in 2020, her response was to blame Mike Pence and then laugh about it to dodge the situation. 

Having raised her popularity thanks to Barack Obama and her viral moments at Senate hearings, she decided to take advantage of that favorable climate for her political aspirations. Under the slogan 'Kamala Harris for the people,' she made her presidential campaign official on January 21, 2019. 

"That little girl was me" 

At her launch event, Harris used the phrase that would accompany her for the rest of her political career, "What can be, without the burden of what has been," which is mocked by her political opponents. 

Despite starting far behind names like Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, she took a stand after the debate round, particularly after her viral attack on Biden, accusing him of working with segregationist senators to limit school integration. She was referring to Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond, who were also personal friends of Biden. 

That personal attack did not go down well with the Biden campaign, even provoking the fury of Jill Biden, who has since looked at Harris sideways. Harris also addressed allegations several women made about some inappropriate rubbing by Biden. "I believe them," she assured a news conference. 

However, the progressive Californian profile didn't get much traction outside the East Coast. Harris was still not measuring very well in the polls, which was quickly compounded by funding problems and poor internal organization. As POLITICO reported in late 2019, after speaking with members of the campaign, the situation could be defined by the following phrase: "No discipline, no plan, no strategy." 

To the bad climate behind closed doors was the added punch line delivered by Tulsi Gabbard in another Democratic debate. The congresswoman slammed Harris' record as a prosecutor, a moment that quickly went viral on social networks. Gabbard remarked on the fact that Harris has held inmates beyond their sentences to "use them as cheap labor for the state of California." 

"Advisers complained that Harris had never managed to build a base. College-educated white liberals (a group that strongly supported her in previous campaigns) were split between Elizabeth Warren and Pete Buttigieg. Biden, meanwhile, retained the loyal backing of African-American voters," POLITICO reported after Harris suspended her campaign on Dec. 3, 2019, without even getting to compete in any primary. 

VP Harris 

Although Joe Biden was more inclined to choose other female candidates as running mate, George Floyd's case led him to narrow his search to that of an African-American woman. 

Harris began to climb the ranks because of her longtime friendship with Beau Biden, the eldest son of Joe Biden, who had recently passed away. Her performance during in-person interviews added to her contrast with Biden in age and race. 

Biden officially named Harris as his vice president nominee in August 2020 and the duo beat Trump-Pence in November. 

Southern border "czar" and historic level of popularity for a vice president

Already as the first woman and the first African-American to be vice president, and, faced with the increasing immigration influx at the southern border, Biden appointed Harris as the one in charge of the issue. However, the situation quickly escalated into the worst immigration crisis in modern history. 

Harris made trips to Mexico and to Central American countries, attempting to dissuade migrants from undertaking that "dangerous journey" to the southern border. In June 2021, she gave an interview to Lester Holt, who reminded her that she had not yet visited the border, something Kamala first falsely denied and then laughed about. 

Harris' performance as southern border manager? More than 12 million illegal crossings, a figure that exceeds the population of 44 states, thus constituting the worst immigration crisis in modern history. Her handling of this issue has made her the most unpopular vice president in history, with levels of positive support up to 28% in November 2021. 

The vice president was never able to recover her image, to which was compounded by frustration with the little role the White House gave her in the government. In February 2023, The New York Times published a piece reflecting the anonymous opinion of members of Harris's team, who expressed annoyance at the treatment they received from the Oval Office, where they perceived the vice president as a "political liability." She denied any involvement in that report. 

Another problem that plagued Harris as VP was tensions with her staff. It turns out that the atmosphere in her office doesn't have the best reputation in the world, leading to massive resignations and cross-statements. For example, only five of the 47 members of the Democrat's team who started working in January 2021 are still on board. 

What does Kamala Harris believe in? 

Kamala Harris' profile is that of a San Francisco progressive, which probably inclines her to choose a more moderate running mate, such as Roy Cooper, Andy Beshear or Tim Walz. In office, she supported the entire agenda of the Biden Administration, being the deciding vote on two of the most controversial pieces of legislation of this administration: the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and the American Bailout Plan Act of 2021. 

As for her most famous positions, supporting eliminating the private health option and the'Medicare for all' of Bernie Sanders, as well as banning fracking on U.S. soil. Harris is also a loyal ally of the Green New Deal, going so far as to propose changing the Senate rules and getting rid of the filibuster to make sure it passes.

In turn, she promised to codify Roe v. Wade through Congress, come out in favor of 'sanctuary cities' and even, during the 2020 presidential campaign, said she would not treat people who illegally cross the border as "criminals." 

Also during the 2020 presidential campaign, she made a social media post explaining her perspective on the concept of "fairness." According to Ben Shapiro, her explanation"would make Karl Marx proud." She even responded with her characteristic guffaw when asked if she was a socialist in 2020. 

Her stance on crime has been mixed throughout her years as a prosecutor. With examples of heavy-handedness and soft-handedness, she prefers her image as a progressive prosecutor over that of her early years in San Francisco. She even supported the 150 million dollar budget cut to the Los Angeles Police Department made in 2020 by Mayor Eric Garcetti. 

Harris even spread on her social networks ways to raise money to help those who had been arrested for violent demonstrations. It was during the 2020 campaign, when she prompted her X supporters to donate to the Minnesota Freedom Fund to help free people arrested for vandalism. 

When it comes to trade, she said she would have voted against the 'TLCAN'and was one of 10 senators who opposed its reversal, the 'T-MEC.' 

Although her approach to foreign policy appeared to be an unknown, since POLITICO anticipated that it could be very similar to Joe Biden's, something that worries considering that the still-president's diplomacy was perhaps one of the lowest points of his administration. 

In regard to Israel, Harris' position is mixed. While she has had rhetoric very favorable to the Jewish state, some diplomatic gestures raised doubts about her position. 

"I believe Israel should never be a partisan issue and, as long as I am a U.S. senator, I will do everything in my power to ensure broad, bipartisan support for Israel's security and right of self-defense," she assured in 2017 at an event organized by AIPAC, for example. 

However, in the wake of the war with Hamas, she began to criticize Benjamin Netanyahu's stance calling for a ceasefire by the Israeli government, formalizing her displeasure by refusing to preside over the Senate during the prime minister's last speech to a joint session of Congress. 

Harris for president?

Minutes after announcing he would not seek re-election, Joe Biden officially endorsed Kamala Harris to be the new Democratic nominee and continue his legacy. 

The imposition of her candidacy by party leadership, primarily Nancy Pelosi, seemed to go down well among a diversity of governors and lawmakers, although her name did not have the initial backing of Barack Obama. 

Even Black Lives Matter were wary of the imposition of the vice president and encouraged the creation of a process that would allow voters to choose President Biden's replacement. 

For now, Harris is emerging as the eventual Democratic nominee and hopes to make history by breaking the famous "glass ceiling" Hillary Clinton famously spoke of and becoming the first female president in U.S. history.