Biden’s History-Making Pick of Kamala Harris as VP Lights Up Twitter: ‘For Every Little Black and Brown Girl Out There’

Joe Biden’s historic selection of Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) to be his 2020 vice presidential running mate ignited online praise among wide swaths of liberals Democrats, but left some progressives and conservatives cringing.

Harris, who would be the first Black and Asian-American woman on a major party ticket, had mounted her own unsuccessful 2020 presidential primary run, but withdrew from the race before the Iowa caucuses. After Biden pledged to choose a woman as his VP pick during a March debate — and amidst a high-profile public campaign pushing him to pick a Black woman — Harris’ stock rose sharply in recent days. The former California attorney general and first-term senator had gained national attention before her presidential run for her particularly skillful and tough cross-examinations of Trump officials like Attorney General Bill Barr during Congressional hearings.

The responses to what had become a near-consensus pick were swift and complimentary, including from her rumored VP short-list rival, Susan Rice.

My warmest congratulations to ⁦@KamalaHarris⁩. I am confident Biden-Harris will prove to be a winning ticket. I will do my utmost to help them win and govern. ?? pic.twitter.com/9pfJggZSV9

— Susan Rice (@AmbassadorRice) August 11, 2020

Others focused on the groundbreaking nature of the choice.

Kamala Harris is:

-the first Black woman selected for a national ticket.
-the first South Asian woman selected for a national ticket.
-the first person from west of Texas selected for a Democratic ticket.

— Kevin Robillard (@Robillard) August 11, 2020

There’re gonna be 10K @KamalaHarris VP think pieces. I won’t be writing one, but I’ll say this: Not only are Black women the Democratic Party’s most loyal base,BW are the most loyal to our fellow Americans, to community. BW vote for the common good at highest rates of all groups.

— Ida Bae Wells (@nhannahjones) August 11, 2020

Kamala. Boom.

— deray (@deray) August 11, 2020

Biden’s choice of @KamalaHarris is a tribute to the Black women in South Carolina who saved his presidential bid.

Black women have been saving Democrats for a while.

I have my many policy and ideological disagreements with Harris but diversity matters. Representation matters.

— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) August 11, 2020

For every little brown or black girl out there including mine. Go Kamala Go. #BidenHarris

— Kavita Patel M.D. (@kavitapmd) August 11, 2020

Some noted that the Biden team managed to build anticipation of what ended up being a not very surprising result.

Biden did a good job of generating a lot of drama out of reaching the widely predicted conclusion.

— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) August 11, 2020

So it’s set: Biden/Harris v. Trump/Pence.
In our six-state battleground poll, Harris favorability rating was at +5, 35 to 30 percent, with a 62-8 rating among Biden voters an 8-57 rating among Trump voters.

— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) August 11, 2020

One of Kamala’s big advantages is that, as with Biden, it’s not obvious what to hit her with, so you have to make shit up — like, she’s a cop in thrall to cop-haters. https://t.co/DatVXuJIa2

— Josh Barro (@jbarro) August 11, 2020

Joe Biden will need Kamala Harris more than Kamala Harris will need Joe Biden. If he wins, we cannot forget how much of an asset she will have been to him as a candidate.

— Liz Plank (@feministabulous) August 11, 2020

Many pundits began looking forward to the lone VP debate, with, shall we say, very high expectations that Harris will perform well against Trump VP Mike Pence.

Kamala Harris debating Mike Pence.

The carnage. lmaoooo

— Imani Gandy ☄️?? (@AngryBlackLady) August 11, 2020

.Kamala Harris is going to absolutely destroy Mike Pence in the debates and it’s going to be delicious

— Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) August 11, 2020

Trump cannot deal with strong women – especially strong women of color. His man-child head must be exploding right now.

— Amy Siskind ?️‍? (@Amy_Siskind) August 11, 2020

pool feed of Pence is hard to watch pic.twitter.com/sqtp2acsLG

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) August 11, 2020

At least one conservative saw the Harris pick as worrisome enough to prompt him to vote for Trump instead of staying home.

I go back and forth, depending on the day, on whether I think I’ll stay home or go vote. Harris a heartbeat away from the presidency has me filling out my absentee ballot request form to vote for Trump.

— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) August 11, 2020

Among progressives, a key member of Bernie Sanders’ primary campaign was anything but impressed by the pick.

We are in the midst of the largest protest movement in American history, the subject of which is excessive policing, and the Democratic Party chose a “top cop” and the author of the Joe Biden crime bill to save us from Trump.

The contempt for the base is, wow.

— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) August 11, 2020

And finally, some saw the bonus entertainment value of a Harris nomination.

Some more good news: @MayaRudolph will be on SNL a lot more with her FUNT (Fun Aunt) Kamala Harris impression.

— Wajahat “Wears a Mask Because of a Pandemic” Ali (@WajahatAli) August 11, 2020