Kamala Harris Is Historic Choice in Race with Biden

Editor's Note: Today's profile is of Sen. Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party vice² presidential nominee³. Check in tomorrow for a profile of first lady Melania Trump⁴.

Presidential candidate Joe Biden made history by choosing California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. The Democratic Party nominee asked her to serve as the candidate for vice president.

Harris is the first Black woman – as well as the first Asian American - to compete on the presidential ticket of a major U.S. party. Last year, Harris entered the presidential race herself as a Democrat¹. This put her in direct competition with Biden.

The 55-year-old Harris is in her first term in the Senate. Her mother was a cancer researcher who came to the United States from India. Her father was an economist⁵ from Jamaica. The two met at the University of California, Berkeley and married in 1963. They divorced in 1971, when Kamala was seven.

Harris has often spoken about the deep relationship she had with her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, whom she has described as her single biggest influence.

When explaining to a crowd last year why she had decided⁶ to seek the presidency⁷, Harris said she remembered her mother's solution to any serious test. "She'd say, ‘Well, what are you going to do about it?'" Harris said. "So, I decided to run for president of the United States."

One memorable⁸ incident in her presidential campaign came when Harris criticized Biden during a debate among the candidates. She accused Biden of making "very hurtful" comments about his earlier work with segregationist¹⁰ senators. She also condemned¹¹ his opposition¹² to busing students to schools outside their community in the 1970s.

"There was a little girl in California who was a part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bused to school every day," she said. "And that little girl was me."

Shocked by the attack, Biden said her comments had misrepresented his position on the issue.

Harris decided to end her presidential campaign last December after struggling to raise money and rise to the top of the field in surveys of likely voters.

Harris is the fourth woman to appear on a U.S. national ticket. The others – two vice presidential candidates and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 – all lost. If the Biden-Harris ticket wins, Harris would become the highest-level female official in U.S. history.

She became the second Black woman to ever win a Senate seat when she was elected in 2016.

Harris supports a ban on assault weapons, citizenship¹³ for undocumented immigrants and workplace equality for women and gays. However, some Democrats¹⁴ have questioned her record as a prosecutor¹⁵ in San Francisco and, later, her policies as California's top law enforcement official.

At one point, Harris declared, "If you carry an illegal gun in the city of San Francisco and your case is brought to my office, you are going to spend time in jail. Period." Another time, she said, "It is not progressive to be soft on crime."

The Biden-Harris campaign website says that as California's attorney general, Harris "worked to protect Obamacare, helped win marriage equality for all" and defended the state's climate change law. Obamacare is another term for the Affordable¹⁶ Care Act, which expanded the U.S. health care system. Top Republican Party lawmakers have sought to end the Affordable Care Act.

"Kamala also fought for California communities and prosecuted¹⁷ transnational gangs who drove human trafficking, gun smuggling¹⁸ and drug rings," the campaign website said.

Biden's choice of Harris for vice president was not unexpected since he had been under pressure to choose a woman of color. His decision came as demonstrations¹⁹ continued across the country. Protesters were hoping to direct attention on racial injustice²⁰ and police violence.

Harris has taken a stronger position on policing since the killing²¹ of George Floyd. The Minnesota man died in May after a police officer held his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.

Harris co-wrote legislation that would ban police from using chokeholds and no-knock arrest raids. The measure would establish national use-of-force rules and create a national police misconduct registry, among other things. It would also reform current rules that can shield police officers from liability.

Some political observers have suggested that Biden, who would be 78 if he wins and takes office in January 2021, might only serve a single four-year term. This would immediately set up Harris, who is over 20 years younger, as a leading choice for president in 2024.

In announcing her nomination²², Biden called Harris a "fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country's finest public servants."

Harris said she was honored to join Biden on the Democratic ticket. "Joe Biden can unify²³ the American people because he's spent his life fighting for us," she wrote on Twitter. She said she thinks Biden can help "build an America that lives up to our ideals."

I'm Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

ticket – n. the candidates nominated by a political party during an election

divorce – v. to end a marriage through a legal process

segregation⁹ – n. the separation of one group of people from another, especially one race from another

survey – n. an examination of people's opinions or behavior made by asking people questions

gay – adj. sexually attracted to someone of the same sex

prosecutor – n. a lawyer who represents the side in a court case that accuses a person of a crime and who tries to prove that the person is guilty

chokehold – n. a way of holding someone with your arm tightly around their neck so that they cannot breathe easily

no-knock – adj. a law that authorizes²⁴ law enforcement officers to enter residences announced and without identifying themselves

liability – n. legal responsibility for something

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

4 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

5 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

8 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

9 segregation   

n.隔离，种族隔离

参考例句：

• Many school boards found segregation a hot potato in the early 1960s.在60年代初，许多学校部门都觉得按水平分班是一个棘手的问题。
• They were tired to death of segregation and of being kicked around.他们十分厌恶种族隔离和总是被人踢来踢去。

10 segregationist   

隔离主义者

参考例句：

• Recent federal action undermined the segregationist position. 近期的联邦行动消弱了隔离主义者的地位。

11 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

12 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

13 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

14 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

16 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

17 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

18 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

19 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

20 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

21 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

22 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

23 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

24 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。