Biden out, Kamala in – Presidential candidate shuffle, New Yorkers have their say

By Nayaba Arinde
Editor-at-Large
With three weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Vice President Kamala Harris secured the Democratic Party’s nomination for the upcoming general election. This is the opportunity she and the nation are now presented with, in the wake of incumbent president Joe Biden suddenly dropping out of the race on Sunday afternoon, July 20th. He immediately endorsed Harris, the first presidential candidate of Jamaican and South Asian descent.

Former prosecutor Harris said, “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination. I will do everything in my power to unite the Democratic Party − and unite our nation − to defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda.”

Biden’s age and cognitive capacity were the subject of much reported concern and speculation over the last few months following a series of mistakes, which seemed to reflect mental confusion with verbal gaffs and physical stumbles.
The chorus for him to step aside got louder after a disastrous debate performance with Trump last month.

Brooklyn Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman told Our Time Press that she is endorsing Harris, citing “her experience as a prosecutor, Attorney General, US Senator, and Vice President makes her the most qualified candidate in the presidential race. Her unwavering advocacy for reproductive rights, historic vote for the American Rescue Plan, and leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and on the world stage are just some of the reasons for pledging my support.”

Jokata Eaddy and Win with Black Women hosted a Zoom call on Sunday night. The call was attended by 44,000 women and raised a reported $1,000,018.54 in 3 hours to bolster Harris’s historic campaign.

Zinerman was on the call “pledging our support to elect Kamala Harris to become the first woman President of the United States of America. We have a plan. We are ready. And we will win! #WinWithBlackWomen.”
“KH2024’’ merch was immediately available.

November 5th, 2024 is General Election Day. Who will she choose for her vice presidential candidate should she become the nominee? Names such as Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Michigan Governor Gretchen Witmer are doing the rounds.

Veteran WLIB and WBAI radio host Imhotep Gary Byrd told Our Time Press, “On the one hand, I think that it was unfortunate for him and the country that circumstances conspired the way they did to force him out of the race. However, providence opens the way for history to be made with VP Kamala Harris to become the first woman president in US history.

“It is a fitting legacy for Mr. Biden, and equally important, it positions her as the best person–being a former prosecutor to make the most powerful case against Trump and to lead a Rainbow Coalition to defeat him.”

Lester Holloway, the former editor of London-based Voice Newspaper, told Our Time Press, “It shouldn’t even be a question whether Kamala runs for president. She’s the Veep, that’s how it works, end of story. What Kamala brings is the ability to finally articulate the good things this administration has done, and the freedom to lay out a fresh vision so it’s not just more of the same, plus national name recognition that other names being touted lack.”

Holloway said that the DNC must “rally behind Kamala, especially given the fulsome backing from Biden. While doubts remain about her progressiveness on the economy, it’s up to us to make demands for change so loud they can’t be ignored. We can’t underestimate how incredibly important it will be to have a Black woman as president if she defeats Trump’s neo-fascism, and how symbolic it will be on both counts.”

In 2019, the Senator for California announced her run for president against a packed field that included Biden. She dropped out of the primary and went on to become his running mate.

Calling this a “pivotal moment for the Democratic Party and the American people,” Fatiyn Muhammad, host and executive producer of Openline on 107.5 WBLS-FM/WBLS.com, said that President Biden’s “unwavering support for Harris and his call for Democrats to unite against former President Donald Trump underscores the critical importance of this election.”

Muhammad told Our Time Press, “For many Americans, particularly Democratic voters who continue to confront the realities of racism and sexism, this moment holds profound significance. Vice President Harris’s nomination is not just a testament to her qualifications and leadership, but also a powerful statement against the prejudices that still persist in our society.”

“She will definitely be the candidate,” said former City Councilman Charles Barron. There is not enough time to find someone else, “no one is as well known,” he told Our Time Press, “They do not want to upset the Black vote. It will be interesting to see who she picks as vice president. It will probably be somebody from the battleground states. They are NOT going to go with two Black people on the ticket. Some of the racist, right-wing people in the Democratic Party will not vote for her. The Democrats never win the white vote, so now they are going to lose more of the white vote with Kamala. So the key to her victory will be how much of the Black vote she can get out.”

There is much discussion about Harris’s history as the DA of San Francisco and her role as Attorney General of California. Retired Brooklyn Daily Challenge staffer and Afro Times editor J. Andrée Penix-Smith told Our Time Press, “On the issue of police brutality and civilians killed by cops, she may appear to be saying all the right things now, but as California attorney general, she was so pro-police that she was often called the state’s ’top cop.’ She had a chance to do something about police accountability, but she was silent. In San Francisco, police killed 18 people during Harris’ six years as attorney general.”

A national anti-police brutality activist, Penix-Smith, said that her “youngest son, Justin H. Smith, 24, was beaten to death by five sheriffs in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and continued that in 2012, Harris was asked to review the fatal police shooting of 23-year-old Mario Romero outside his home in Vallejo.

“We went to Kamala Harris’s office in Sacramento three times; we were turned away every time…Because of her consistent refusal to investigate police shootings in the Bay Area, protesters in Oakland distributed fliers saying: ‘Tell California Attorney General Kamala Harris to prosecute killer cops! It’s her job!’”

Penix-Smith added, “If she becomes the Democratic nominee, I will volunteer to get the vote out. Defeating Trump is vitally important.”
@NayabaArinde1