2020 race: Joe Biden chooses Kamala Harris as running mate

The daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India would become the US’s first female VP if Joe Biden wins the election.

During her bid to become the US Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris would play her favourite music from Hamilton on the campaign trail: “I’m not throwin’ away my shot”.

Senator Harris did throw it away, dropping out of the race early, but now Joe Biden has given this daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants a second shot at history — as America’s first female vice-president and the first black woman on a presidential ticket.

Mr Biden’s choice of the 55-year-old California senator as his running mate was the biggest decision of his campaign and one that will shape the November election.

The move gives the Democrats the most diverse presidential ticket ever seen: the oldest white man to run for president alongside the first black woman to run for vice-president.

Back when Kamala was Attorney General, she worked closely with Beau. I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I'm proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) August 11, 2020

.@JoeBiden can unify the American people because he's spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he'll build an America that lives up to our ideals.

I'm honored to join him as our party's nominee for Vice President, and do what it takes to make him our Commander-in-Chief.

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 11, 2020

“I have the great honour to ­announce that I’ve picked ­@KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” 77-year-old Mr Biden tweeted.

“Back when Kamala was ­Attorney General, she worked closely with (Biden’s late son) Beau. I watched as they took on the big banks, lifted up working people, and protected women and kids from abuse. I was proud then, and I’m proud now to have her as my partner in this campaign.”

Democrats lauded the choice of Senator Harris, a former attorney-general of California and a district ­attorney who has a record of being tough on law and order but whose policies straddle the progressive and moderate wings of the Democratic Party.

“Joe Biden nailed this decision,” former president Barack Obama said. “By choosing Senator Kamala Harris as America’s next vice-president, he’s underscored his own judgment and character.”

But Donald Trump attacked the choice, describing Senator Harris as a failed presidential candidate who was a part of the radical left.

“I was a little surprised that he picked her,” the US President said. “She very big into raising taxes, wants to slash funds for our military … she is in favour of socialised medicine (and) she did very very poorly in the primaries.”

He described Senator Harris as “the meanest, most horrible and disrespectful of anyone on the US Senate (and) just about the most liberal person on the US Senate”.

The Trump campaign released a pre-prepared attack on the senator, describing her as a member of the “radical left” and a “phony”.

Republican and staunch Trump supporter Sarah Palin — a former vice-presidential nominee — congratulated Harris on Instagram and posted a long list of ­advice for the campaign trail.

pic.twitter.com/jXoffXyZed

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2020

The two Democrats were ­expected to meet in Wilmington, Delaware, on Tuesday as they kick off their joint campaign from Mr Biden’s hometown. They will also deliver acceptance speeches next week when the party convenes its convention.

Senator Harris said she was “honoured” to join Mr Biden on the ticket.

“Joe Biden can unify the American people because he’s spent his life fighting for us. And as president, he’ll build an America that lives up to our ideals,” she said.

Senator Harris was the frontrunner in a final field of about six shortlisted women for the job that included former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice, California congresswoman Karen Bass and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Her policies are similar to those of Mr Biden and she has shunned the far-left positions of some party members such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

Senator Harris was a key advocate of racial justice legislation after the police killing of George Floyd in May.

But her own tilt for the presidential nomination failed amid mixed messages and a lack of ­momentum and she withdrew from the race in December before the first primary contest.

Senator Harris became a big advocate of Mr Biden after he won the party’s nomination.

However, she clashed with Mr Biden over race issues on stage during an early Democrat presidential debate last year, raising initial doubts about whether he would choose her.

Mr Biden’s wife Jill said the ­attack was a “punch to the gut”, given that Senator Harris was close to Beau Biden, who died in 2015.

“Our son, Beau, spoke so highly of her (Harris) and, you know, and how great she was. And not that she isn’t, I’m not saying that. But it was just like a punch to the gut. It was a little unexpected,” Jill Biden said earlier this year.

But the Bidens and Senator Harris reconciled, with the senator saying recently that the comments were just a part of the rough and tumble of politics.

The Biden-Harris ticket gives Mr Biden the diversity he was looking for in a year when race ­relations have become a major issue in the US.

Cameron Stewart is also US contributor for Sky News Australia