By Arul Louis New York, November 20, : , Kamala Harris is the first woman ever to serve as head of state for the nation’s most powerful country.This feat was accomplished even though it took 85 minutes because President Joe Biden had been temporarily incapacitated for an emergency procedure.
On Friday, at 10.10 am, Vice President Harris was given the power.At 11.35 AM Biden received anaesthesia following a colonoscopy.
Jen Psaki, Biden’s spokesperson announced that Harris would be taking over as president for “very short periods” and she will “work from her West Wing office during this period.”
It was the first female presidency in America’s 245-year history.
Harris was the first female vice-president of the country, making her just a few beats away from the presidency.She also has the constitutional right to act as president if the head is incapacitated under the amendment to the Constitution.
Harris, who was the acting president and commander-in chief of the US military for the duration of 85 minutes, had full control over the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.
Biden had his medical procedure performed at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Washington, just before his 79th Birthday.This was amid speculation regarding Harris’ future.A reckoning will be done three years later when Harris is elected president.
Nikki Haley (another leader of Indian descent) is now preparing for a possible run for the presidency as a Republican.She will be traveling around the country raising money for politicians she could support.
Haley was the first Indian-American to become a US cabinet member when President Donald Trump made her Permanent Representative to United Nations.She told The Wall Street Journal she planned to decide the race in the early 2023.
Uncertainties for Harris are behind the minute-long, historic but inconsistant wielding by Harris of presidential power.
Biden stated that he will run for reelection, even though he would reach 82 years old in 2024.
However it is still unclear if it would happen.
Questions are being raised about Harris’ future.Would the Democratic Party nominate her as their successor? And if Biden does not run for office, will he continue to have Harris run his race mate?
Her future depends on Biden’s inflation of 6.2%, Taliban rule in Afghanistan and illegal immigration, which is showing up in the polls.
The RealClear Politics aggregated polls show that Biden is favourable at 42.3 percent, and Harris is only 40.2 percent.
Trump’s favorability of 41 percent is slightly lower than Harris’s, and just 1.3 percentage points higher than Biden.
Only 41 percent of members of his party believed that the party would have better chances in 2024 if Biden ran for office.
In another poll by National Public Radio 44% of Democrats and supporters of Biden said they didn’t think he should run.
Harris was a frequent guest of Biden in public during her first months, but this has slowed down and led to speculation in the media about Harris’ standing at the White House.
She was a coy at the events, and Biden gave her tasks to take charge.
Harris is not a success in three of the areas she was given – getting legislation to allow for voting, curbing illegal migration, and the National Space Council which formulates policy in this area.
She was unable to complete all three.
It was not clear what her role was in immigration.
Her supporters and media suggested that she was “immigration secretary” and in charge of the next impossible task: stopping illegal immigration.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary, admitted that the president didn’t appoint the vice-president to the role of border czar at a senator hearing.
She was asked to head the efforts in dealing with the root causes for irregular migration.These are very distinct things.
This distinction is not well-known and the 1.6 million illegal immigrants who flooded into the country in October, setting a record for 21 years, has been resentful to her.
The root causes, poverty and violence in Central America are out of her control.Her trips to Mexico and Guatemala didn’t stop the flurry to cross the border.
She joked about her role in a television interview, telling an interviewer that she hadn’t been to Europe and quipped “I haven’t been to the border either.”
Because of the Republican resistance she is unable to move the voter legislation — and has not been willing to compromise with the other parties.
Space Council has a low-profile role in the public eye and news about space is dominated by Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos, private investors.
Her office, however, is apparently in chaos amid all of this.
Ashley Etienne, her communications director, was charged with shaping her image.This follows several media reports that have been made about dysfunctional morale and staff leaving.
Politico reports that 22 former and current vice presidential aides and administration officials, as well as associates with Harris and Biden, described an office environment in which there was tension and sometimes even a sense of doom.
Harris’ harsh spotlight has been attributed to misogyny and racism by Psaki, among other people.
It has been more difficult and harder for some of the right-wingers to pursue her, because she is first women, first women of color.”I’m not saying anyone will admit that publicly,” Psaki stated this week during a Virtual Politico event.
However, some White House and Democrats officials also attacked her while she was away.
According to reports, she was excluded from Biden’s inner circle.
His White House is a Byzantine bubble filled with secrecy and access controlled by loyal and protective operatives.It does not appear that it has been directed against her personally.
She does, however, participate in intelligence briefings and other important briefings every day with Biden.
The White House spoke unfailingly about the “Biden-Harris Administration”, which shares the marquee alongside her.
Biden also tried to improve her foreign relations skills, which is a weakness due to her previous work as an attorney general and prosecutor in California before she was elected senator.
She’s been meeting dignitaries and speaking with leaders all over the globe.
Biden actually stepped in and allowed her to lead the Quad Summit’s second session, September 2, with Scott Morrison and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Yoshihide Suga was then the leader of Japan – Modi however boycotted the event.
After a diplomatic dispute over the US-Australian nuclear submarine agreement that ended in Paris, she went to France for a “fence-mending” trip.
In an effort to gain support for Biden- Harris policies and build her presence, she has been traveling across the country.
One problem is that she and her handlers limit her media interactions – possibly out of fear of making gaffes such as the one about immigration in her first primetime TV interview.
She was selected to be vice-president based on her gender, her African American primary identity and the fact that she attempted to run for President.
Harris must overcome her 2020 failures in the next two years before 2024 elections heat up.
Her polling numbers dropped before the heat got to her, and she didn’t even make it to primaries.
Because of her record as a prosecutor, she doesn’t command the unqualified support of this important group of Democratic Party constituents despite her African American heritage.
Also, she did not possess – nor does she have – an clearly defined ideology package.
You can reach Arul Louis at arul.l@ians.in or follow @arulouis.
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