Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris formally launched her presidential bid Sunday in her hometown of Oakland, Calif., vowing to 'lead with i...
Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris formally launched her presidential bid Sunday in her hometown of Oakland, Calif., vowing to 'lead with integrity' and 'speak the truth' in a speech containing rebukes to President Donald Trump's leadership.
'With faith in god, with fidelity to country, and with the fighting spirit I got from my mother, I stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the United States,' she told a cheering crowd of 20,000 supporters.
'And as we embark on this campaign, I will tell you this, I am not perfect. Lord knows I am not perfect. But I will always speak with decency and moral clarity and treat all people with dignity and respect. I will lead with integrity, and I will speak the truth,' she added.
Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris formally launched her presidential bid Sunday in her hometown of Oakland, California
A crowd estimated to be 20,000 cheered her entrance into the 2020 field
'I'm running for president because I love my country,' Harris told the crowd
Harris, 54, entered the race with the potential advantage of being the Democratic candidate who looks most like the party's increasingly diverse base of young, female and minority voters.
'I'm running for president because I love my country. I'm running to be president of the people, by the people and for all people,' she told her hometown crowd.
She spoke before a giant American flag with yellow and purple campaign signs waving in the crowd behind her. Her campaign music showed her personality: she came out to 'Work That' by Mary J. Blige and exited the stage after her speech to the mixtape version of 'My Shot' from the musical 'Hamilton.
Her address was filled with soaring rhetoric and repeated the line 'let's speak the truth' as one of the passion points of her campaign.
But her words also featured pointed criticism of President Trump, charging him with making America 'weaker.'
'Under this administration, America's position in the world has never been weaker. When democratic values are under attack around the globe, when authoritarianism is on the March, when nuclear proliferation is on the rise, when we have foreign powers infecting the White House like malware, let's speak that truth. And let's speak truth about what are clear and present dangers. And let's speak the biggest truth, the biggest truth of all. In the face of powerful forces trying to sow hate and division among us, the truth is that as Americans, we have so much more in common that what separates us,' she said.
She slammed Trump's idea of a border wall as 'a medieval vanity project' and criticized the administration for its immigration policy.
'When we have children in cages, crying for their mothers and fathers, don't you dare call that border security, that's human rights abuse,' Harris said.
Harris holds her niece Amara while standing with her husband Douglas Emhoff and her family as she launches her candidacy
Harris greeted supporters after her announcement
She did not mention Trump by name but her criticism of his administration was obvious in her words.
'We are here because the American Dream and our American democracy are under attack and on the line like never before,' Harris said. 'We are here at this moment in time because we must answer a fundamental question. Who are we? Who are we as Americans? So, let's answer that question to the world and each other right here and right now. America: we are better than this.'
She slammed the 'people in power' who 'are trying to convince us that the villain in our American story is each other.'
'But that is not our story. That is not who we are. That is not our America,' the California senator said. 'The United States of America is not about us versus them.'
In addition to her attacks, her speech had red meat for liberals, advocating for 'Medicare for All,' universal kindergarten and 'debt-free' college.
'I am running to declare, once and for all, that health care is a fundamental right, and to deliver that right with 'Medicare for All.' To declare education is a fundamental right, and we will guarantee that right with universal pre-k and debt-free college,' she said.
She also called for criminal justice reform, a reduction in the gender pay gap and a middle-class tax cut.
'I am running to guarantee working and middle-class families an overdue pay increase. We will deliver the largest working and middle-class tax cut in a generation,' she vowed.
Republicans were quick to attack her 'liberal policies.'
'It's fitting that Harris chose the most liberal district in deep-blue California to launch her campaign. Government-run health care, weaker borders and higher taxes might be popular there, but her liberal policies are totally out-of-step with most Americans. President Trump has led this country to record economic highs and strengthened our national security, and it's why he's going to be re-elected in 2020,' said Republican National Committee spokesman Michael Ahrens in a statement.
Harris announced her intention to run last Monday and slipped in a few campaign appearances before Sunday's formal launch. She heads to Iowa for a town hall in Des Moines this Monday evening.
By launching her bid in the town where she was born, she used her speech to highlight her biography and her work for the community - a tactic similar to one Barack Obama used when the then-first term senator announced his candidacy.
'It was just a couple of blocks from this very spot nearly 30 years ago as a young district attorney, I walked into the courtroom for the first time and said the five words that would guide my life's work. Kamala Harris for the people,' she said.
Harris argued she's the kind of leader who can unify the country and would fight for the needs of all Americans.
Harris appeared at a fundraiser for Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., of which she is a member, Friday, Jan. 25, 2019 in Columbia, S.C.
Harris appeared on 'Good Morning America' last Monday to announce her intention to run
Harris used her announcement speech in her hometown to highlight her biography
The appearance at a plaza outside City hall was intended to portray her candidacy as the latest chapter in a lifetime of advocating for all people and to promote a message of unity. She began her career as a prosecutor in Oakland and later became California's attorney general.
'My whole life, I've only had one client: The people,' Harris said, echoing the words she has used in courtrooms and has adopted as her campaign's slogan.
Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, has drawn deeply from symbolism as she has rolled out her campaign. Her first name, pronounced 'comma-la,' is from the Sanskrit word for 'lotus flower.'
She entered the race on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Campaign aides say she has drawn inspiration from Shirley Chisholm, who in 1972 became the first black woman to run for president from a major party.
If Harris were to win the White House, she would be the first African-American woman and first person of Asian descent to be president.
Her first news conference as a candidate was on the campus of Howard University, the historically black college in the nation's capital that she attended as an undergraduate. On Friday, she was in South Carolina to speak to members of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, of which she is a member.
She made a national name for herself with her questioning on the Senate Judiciary Committee, where she sits with Sen. Cory Booker, who may also run for president
Other women already in the 2020 Democratic field (L to R): Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts
Harris' campaign is expected to highlight her career as a prosecutor as part of her rationale for seeking the presidency. Harris was the first black woman elected district attorney in California, as well as the first woman, first African-American and first Asian-American to hold that job. Some of her tenure as attorney general, particularly relating to criminal justice, has come under early scrutiny.
The former California state attorney general has become popular with liberal activists for her tough questioning of Trump administration appointees and officials, including Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, during Senate hearings.
Harris is among the first major Democrats to jump into what is expected to be a crowded 2020 presidential contest and she is one of several women competing.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York have announced exploratory committees. Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney and Julian Castro, federal housing chief under President Barack Obama and a former San Antonio mayor, already are in the race.
Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Bernie Sanders of Vermont may also run.
After the rally, Harris planned to her first trip to Iowa as a presidential candidate. In the weeks before last November's elections, Harris traveled to the leadoff caucus state to campaign on behalf of Democrats, and also visited other early-voting states.
Harris's campaign will be based in Baltimore and led by Juan Rodriguez who managed her 2016 Senate campaign. Aides say the campaign will have a second office in Oakland.
the democrats will nominate a ticket of ronald mcdonald & the burger king guy in order to ensure the trump reelection.
ReplyDeleteIdea for Dimotard Fundraiser. Harris and Gabbard Mud Wrassel on National TV. Warren and Gillibrand way too whitebread for the party of color. Warren and Gilibrand could announce a committed relationship that would put them back in the running?
ReplyDelete