Mississippi Republicans have voted en masse for Donald Trump in the past. In 2016 and 2020 both, Trump gathered about 58% of the Mississippi vote. The Democratic nominees had a hard time cracking above 40% here. Yet, Mr. Trump has advanced in years; at the end of a second term he would be 82. Nor in the intervening years has Mr. Trump mellowed in any way.
Have at least some Mississippi Republicans seen enough of Mr. Trump since 2020, his character and his advancing age, to reconsider in November?
Recently, I had a Republican friend tell me he was facing the hard choice of voting for a Democrat for the first time in his life, but finding it difficult. He said the choice was between “a person of despicable character and an empty pants suit.” He didn’t yet know what he would do.
I did not want to argue with a friend on the spot, so I’ll record my thoughts here. Kamala Harris is no “empty pants suit.” Contrary to the constant propaganda on Fox News, Harris is a person of substance and years of governmental experience. In fact, Kamala Harris’ story is an extraordinary American story. Let’s dig in.
Born in Oakland, California, Kamala Harris received her law degree in 1989 from UC Hastings. Since then, Ms. Harris has served in governmental service for 35 years. She is an experienced professional. By contrast Mr. Trump had no governmental service when he went into office and has always eschewed briefing books as tedious. No wonder the American people saw enough of Mr. Trump’s mercurial amateurism to reject him for a second term in 2020.
Kamala Harris started her law career in 1989 as a deputy district attorney of Alameda County. She was described as “an able prosecutor on the way up.” The San Francisco DA’s office then recruited her as a prosecutor. From there she joined the office of the City Attorney of San Francisco as an Assistant DA. She became the chief of the Career Criminal Division, supervising five other attorneys. She prosecuted homicide, burglary, robbery and sexual assault cases. She then became the head of the Family and Children’s Services Division of the City, prosecuting child abuse and neglect cases.
In 2003 Kamala Harris ran for the office of San Francisco DA. She was elected, serving as the DA in the same City DA’s office she had worked earlier as an Assistant DA. Seven years later, Ms. Harris ran for the office of Attorney General of California; she won in 2010. She was reelected as the California Attorney General in 2014. By 2017 Harris had spent the prior 28 years as a professional prosecutor. She then decided to campaign for the United States Senate.
Harris served as a United States Senator from 2017 to 2021. As a Senator, she advocated for reforms to healthcare and taxation. In the Judiciary Committee she developed a reputation for her sharp cross-examination of judicial nominees.
Joe Biden selected Ms. Harris from the Senate as his running mate for the 2020 presidential race. Together they defeated Donald Trump’s bid for a second term.
As the presiding officer of a closely divided Senate, Vice President Harris cast more tie-breaking votes than any other vice-president in history. She helped pass the American Rescue Plan of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022—two solid pieces of legislation that, together with the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, put the American economy back on track following the pandemic. As a result, by August 2024, inflation had fallen to 2.5%, bringing inflation back below where it was in February 2021. The unemployment rate by August 2024 fell to 4.2%, meaning most Americans looking for work found it. The stock market has continued to reach new highs. Kamala Harris helped get things done.
Of course, extraordinary people are the product of exceptional people. Kamala’s mother, Shamala Gopalan, is a biologist who came to American from India in 1958 to enroll in graduate school at Berkley. Her 40-year research career led to advances in fighting breast cancer.
Kamala Harris’ father, Donald Harris, arrived from Jamaica in 1961 to enroll in Berkeley to study economics. Donald Harris was the first Black scholar to be granted tenure at Stanford University. Kamala’s parents met and married in the US in 1963. Kamala was born in October 1964.
Kamala Harris has had a rock-solid, honorable career in law and government—the kind of education, experience, honor and service focusing on the needs of others that is entirely alien to Donald Trump. I hope my Republican friend, already put off by Mr. Trump’s lack of professionalism and decency, is ready for a new approach. I hope he will reconsider in November and cast his vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Above all party considerations, she is running to represent us all.
Robert P. Wise is a Northsider.
