Biden’s deputy has a crucial role to play

Harris ‘spokeswoman Simon Sanders said that while Harris’ role in the administration has not yet been finalized, it will play a part in all aspects of Biden’s agenda. “There are issues that Biden might ask her to lead specifically, but beyond that she will be around the table on every issue, she will be involved in everything, give her feedback and be for Biden a supportive partner on all issues,” Sanders said.

Sources close to Harris on the transition team reject the idea that it will only address specific issues at the outset of the administration’s path, especially given the wide range of challenges at hand. They say it will be involved in all four major goals Biden has set for itself: improving the economy, fighting the Corona virus, tackling the climate crisis and eradicating racial discrimination.

“She has a voice in all these things,” says her spokeswoman Sanders. “Someday we will probably get to a point where it will focus on some of them more specifically. But right now I think what we are dealing with in this country is so big, that everyone needs to cooperate.”

Since their election victory in November, Harris has been involved in each of the key decisions Biden has made, and has stood by him in all crucial meetings, such as the election of cabinet ministers, the formulation of the economic aid package and security and other issues. The two talk to each other almost every day, and Harris travels frequently to Delaware (where Biden lives) several times a week, to take part in transition team events and meetings.

Those involved in the team say that both Harris and Biden took the election of President-elect too seriously that Harris would always be the “last voice in the room” before making important decisions, that is, the one who gets to express her position just before the decision. Biden often turns to Harris to hear her opinion on the issues at hand.

Biden and Harris met even before the 2020 election campaign, in part in light of Harris’ friendship with Biden’s late son, Bo, who died in 2015 of cancer. They have never worked so closely together.

Sources close to Harris say that since joining Biden as his deputy in the presidential race, she has made tremendous efforts to deepen their friendship. This personal relationship, says presidential historian Joel Goldstein, is a crucial factor in whether the partnership between the president and vice president will be successful. “The vice president and president’s relationship is the most important relationship. Establishing mutual understanding and trust is the key for a successful vice president,” he said.

Goldstein cites as an example Biden’s relationship with his former boss, Barack Obama. Biden and Obama also came from different backgrounds and bonfires, and entered the White House when they had no joint work experience. But their friendship and mutual understanding grew over the eight years they worked side by side, and Obama must have been in Biden on key issues such as the realization of economic recovery after the 2008 crisis or the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq.

Harris, it seems, sees Biden’s tenure as vice president as a role model. Unlike Biden, however, Harris will constantly face questions about her political future. The 78-year-old Biden will become the oldest president in American history with his inauguration, and many commentators in the US are wondering if he will be ready to run for president again in four years. Biden himself has hinted in the past that he will be satisfied with one term. Leading the Democratic primaries on the 2024 presidential candidacy.

Despite this, Harris’ associates say she will not be afraid to express her position. “She’s not a shy person,” says California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee. “If she believes that a certain decision should be made instead of another decision, she will intervene and express her thoughts and positions.”

Biden has a personal fondness for diplomacy and he has built close relationships with leaders around the world over the years, and Harris will probably not be able to match him in this respect. But advisers on the transition team say it will still be involved in advancing the administration’s key diplomatic goals, largely because of the sheer amount of challenges Biden will have to face. It may also be responsible for managing one of the issues related to the corona crisis.

Harris will also have a critical right to vote: In the next Senate there will quite rarely be equality between the number of Democrat and Republican senators, 50-50, and in the event of a tie, the vice president, who also serves as Senate president, will be called to vote and break equality. In this way, Harris will be able to skew the vote in the event of a tie in favor of moves promoted by Biden, and establish a practical democratic majority.

Democratic activists are expected to put pressure on Harris to advance an African-American perspective in White House decision-making processes. Leah Daughter, a former senior Democrat at the National Democratic convention, says the very fact that Harris will be present in the chamber will bring about the desired change. “The fact that Kamla Harris is a black woman, a woman of Indian descent, who is a woman, automatically makes her different from any other vice president this country has ever seen,” she says. “This combination of experiences brings with it a set of values ​​and experience to a room where they did not exist in the past. And that can only be good for American democracy.”

South Carolina black lawmaker Jim Claiborne emphasizes the great responsibility now placed on Harris’ shoulders: “Those of us who reach such positions (power) are aware of our responsibility to ensure we do our job in a way that will have people coming after us.”

Claiborne believes Harris could become the focus of attacks by some of outgoing President Donald Trump’s supporters, who he says prevent racism against blacks – a factor that Claiborne has contributed to the deadly onslaught on Capitol Hill. “They still have a lot of resentment for Barack Obama, and they’re going to pass it on to her, just like they passed it on to others in this building.”