-OPINION March 14th, 2016 by:
Dr. Sherice Janaye Nelson
Kamala Harris native of Oakland California and a an alumnus of my Alma mater, Howard University, is a very capable woman. She is currently serving as California State Attorney General.
This was a natural fit for her position achieving a jurist doctorate and her decade of experience at the district court level in the state. Not to mention Harris’ mixed heritage. She is the product of an Indian mother and Jamaican father.
This allows her to be empathetic to the multicultural nature of the state of California. Harris has been a shrewd throughout her legal career. She has used her intellect and her political adroitness better than any of her colleagues. This has allowed her not only to win elections, but understand the timing necessary to be successful in an campaign and raising money.
Harris’s, political astuteness has allowed her to be an excellent administrator. During her tenure, in her current position, she has been able to implement legislation passed by the state in a way that better solves the in equities of black and brown people throughout the entire state.
As a trial lawyer, at the district level working with the prosecution, she was able to see firsthand the inequities that she has tried to cure as State Attorney General. This was a poignant and sobering realization being raised in a self-declared progressive liberal state. Harris grew up in the time with the War on Drugs.
CA Attorney General Kamala Harris, more valuable off the SCOTUS
Her experience in impoverished Oakland was congruent with the impoverished state of the nation’s capital. Therefore, Harris is in a unique position to help craft and build legislation that is hard on crime without being prejudiced towards black or brown people, or overly punitive supporting the overreach of the prison industrial complex in the state of California. Her mix heritage will also provide an interesting perspective on immigration.
Criminal Justice, Gun Reform, and Immigration all important national issues which can be formative for a newly elected Democratic president. She is currently running for the vacant Senate seat of retiring Barbra Boxer in the state of California.
This coveted position is important not only in the state of California, as the state currently has two female Democratic women, but also in the overall Senate for Democrats. If the Democrats have any hope of flipping the Senate, they will have to win that seat California. Pulling her out of the race to nominate her as a Justice, assures the lost of that seat. Also, Harris has not been a judge at any level. Therefore her experience, along with her race will make her appointment almost impossible.
This would not be ideal when the president has less than a year to secure a confirmation. Which, is more than enough time to make a sound decision about any candidate and not unprecedented as the Republicans would like you to think. Just rare, as Supreme Court Justices serve until their death, like Scalia, or their retirement.
There are better qualified less objectionable appointees, if there is such a thing with this brand of recent Republicanism. Harris’s election into the Senate will be historic in its own right. We have only seen one Black woman to serve in the Senate, Carol Moseley Braun, and ten Blacks since the ratification of the Constitution in 1788. Her election will also be important into the Senate because the current Minority Leader, Harry Reid, will vacate his seat as well.
This will give her a chance to have input on a new Democratic leader in the Senate whether in the majority or the minority. Lastly, she will serve as a powerful ally to female interest and strengthen the voting bloc of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Although many have diminished the power of the CBC voting block, data shows their relevance and importance since their existence and today in the time of political stalemate.
The most notable modern day example of their power is them stunning the political career of former House Representatives Artur Davis. His career was ceremoniously halted after he repeatedly voted against the President’s signature legislation, The Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act affectionately known as Obamacare, and his slight separation from the Black electorate in hopes of courting White constituents in his run as governor in Alabama.
The Women’s caucus is posed to produce the most women in Congress historically, which has profound implications for a female president making her case for women’s rights throughout the world. Discussing President Obama’s short list of candidates would require another essay; nevertheless, Deval Patrick is an excellent choice. His appointment would have the same impact as a Harris appointment and he is much more qualified. Also, the vacation of his seat would require a special election as the filing date to run for this election cycle has past. This would give time for the Democrats to retool to fill that seat with another Dem.
Dr. Sherice Janaye Nelson is a Howard University trained political scholar living in Washington DC, follow her on Twitter: @Drjanaye
©Copyright 2016 RBR Network Inc.
