(Jacksonville) The brass band played, the crowd chanted “Four more years” and American Vice-President Kamala Harris, who came to campaign in Florida against Republican Donald Trump, visibly relished being alone in the spotlight.
Whether it is defending the right to abortion or mobilizing the African-American electorate, the 59-year-old Democrat is traveling across America to call for votes in November for the “ticket” she is forming with the President Joe Biden.
From there to being the secret weapon of the unpopular 81-year-old president, when she herself does not enjoy a very valiant rating of confidence?
The former California prosecutor is already assured of having her place in the history books, being the first woman, the first African-American and the first Asian-American to occupy this often-said position. that it is only separated from the Oval Office by a heartbeat.
The main cause she has taken up is the defense of the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy in the face of what she calls “Trump’s bans”, in reference to the sometimes extremely severe restrictions decided by around twenty American states. .
“This is a battle for freedom!” » insisted Kamala Harris on Wednesday in Jacksonville, Florida, where a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy had just come into force.
Inspiration
PHOTO BONNIE CASH, REUTERS ARCHIVES
Kamala Harris
The former president regularly boasts of having, through his appointments to the Supreme Court, led the institution to put an end to a federal guarantee of the right to abortion in 2022.
Kamala Harris is an “inspiration in the fight for women”, greeted the mayor of Jacksonville, Donna Deegan, during an event concluded by the marching band of a historically black university.
The Democrat’s entourage highlights her ability to address women and the African-American electorate.
“On the subject of abortion in particular, she is mobilized in a very strategic way,” notes Thomas Whalen, social science researcher at Boston University, for whom the vice-president “seems to be doing effective work” on the issue. ground.
Kamala Harris has also, on several occasions, seemed to be one step ahead of the octogenarian president when it comes to the war in Gaza, a politically hot topic.
The former magistrate, who as a child accompanied her parents to civil rights demonstrations, was the first high-ranking official to call for an “immediate ceasefire” in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Her advisers, however, assure that she is, in this matter, on the same line as Joe Biden, who has shown unconditional support for Israel since the unprecedented attack by Hamas on its soil on October 7.
Stereotype
Kamala Harris has been criticized for failed diplomatic outings or for a political scope considered small, but also targeted on more personal subjects, such as the time she devotes to her hairstyle or the tone of her laughter.
This week, she was mocked on the internet after recalling, in an interview with actress and presenter Drew Barrymore, that in her blended family she had the affectionate nickname “Momala”. His interlocutor commented: “You must be the Momala of the country. »
“Kamala Harris is not our “Momala”, she is our vice-president,” replied a New York Times columnist, Charles Blow, who fears that she is being reduced to a “stereotype”, that of “ black nanny” who is said to have a “supernatural” ability to comfort others.
The Democrat occupies a position which is, in itself, the most thankless there is.
“I am vice-president. That is to say, I am nothing, but I can be everything,” said John Adams, vice-president of George Washington, then himself president from 1797 to 1801.
If Joe Biden, who is already the oldest president in American history, was re-elected, Kamala Harris would succeed him in the event of his death or incapacity, as provided for in the Constitution.
She has already exercised presidential power for exactly one hour and 25 minutes in November 2021, while the president underwent a colonoscopy under general anesthesia.