Kamala Harris is used to firsts. But can she be the first female president?

This episode explores Vice President Kamala Harris's candidacy for presidency, her history of breaking barriers, and her potential to become the first female president of the United States.

1. Kamala Harris could be the first woman and first woman of color to lead a major party's ticket.
2. Her career is marked by a series of historical firsts, leveraging her background as a strength.
3. Harris's approach to policy and governance is heavily influenced by her personal history and professional experience as a prosecutor.
4. The episode discusses how her identity plays a complex role in public perception and political dynamics.
5. It highlights the grassroots support and the strategic challenges facing her campaign.

1: Introduction and Background

Kamala Harris's path to possibly becoming the Democratic presidential nominee is set against her history of 'firsts' in high offices. Ari Shapiro: "Biden is out and Harris is in. Enough delegates have lined up behind the vice president to officially make Kamala Harris the democratic presidential nominee next month."

2: Political and Personal Identity

Exploration of how Harris's mixed heritage and career milestones shape her political and personal identity. Kamala Harris: "My mother used to have a saying, and she would say to me, Kamala, you may be the first to do many things. Make sure you're not the last."

3: Policy Focus and Campaign Strategy

Focuses on Harris's policy-driven approach to campaigning, her role as a communicator of democratic values, especially on women's rights, and her strategic positioning against Donald Trump. Kamala Harris: "I took on perpetrators of all kinds. And she's really trying to contrast her record as a prosecutor, prosecutor with Trump as a felon."

1. Engage in Political Discussions: Understand the significance of breaking barriers in politics; participate in community discussions to foster a diverse political environment.
2. Educate on Policy Impact: Learn about policies that impact your community and advocate for those that promote equality and justice.
3. Support Women in Leadership: Encourage and support female leadership in all spheres, recognizing the diverse perspectives they bring.
4. Acknowledge the Power of Firsts: Recognize and teach about the importance of 'firsts' in breaking longstanding barriers in society.
5. Stay Informed: Follow the latest in political campaigns to make informed decisions during elections.

If Kamala Harris officially becomes the Democratic presidential nominee next month, she'll be the first woman of color to lead a major party's ticket.

Of course, that would not be her first, first.

Harris's entire career is a list of jobs that nobody who looks quite like her had held before, including California's attorney general, Senator, and Vice President of the United States.

Harris often stresses that while she may be a first, others paved the way.

Kamala Harris has had a career full of firsts – could she also be the first woman to become President of the United States?

People

Kamala Harris, Ari Shapiro, Asma Khalid

Content Warnings:

None

Ari Shapiro
Biden is out and Harris is in. Do you think you just fell out of a coconut tree? Enough delegates have lined up behind the vice president to officially make Kamala Harris the democratic presidential nominee next month. And unofficially, pop stars and memes are juicing up the engine, too, like this remix of Charlie XCX with a catchphrase from the presumptive nominee. You exist in the context.

66 the Princess tree
66 the Princess tree. I'm everywhere. I'm so Julia of all in which. You live and what the family coconut tree that Harris comes from has a lot of branches. And yes, I know that coconut trees don't actually have branches.

Ari Shapiro
It's a metaphor. Her mother was indian, her father jamaican, and her career is a series of firsts. First woman, first person of color to hold jobs like San Francisco Da, state attorney general, senator from California and now vice president. My mother used to have a saying, and she would say to me, Kamala, you may be the first to do many things. Make sure you're not the last.

That's Harris speaking with Jake Tapper at a CNN town hall during her first run for president in 2019. A year later, she won, but not at the top of the ticket. We did it. We did it, Joe. You're gonna be the next president of the United States.

Harris often stresses that while she may be a first, others pave the way. In her victory speech four years ago after being elected vice president, she paid tribute to women of color who fought for gender equality. Tonight, I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been. And I stand on their shoulders. Consider Kamala Harris has had a career full of firsts.

Could she also be the first woman to become president of the United States?

From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro. On this week's episode of Wild Card, actor and reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton says he knows people see him in a certain way. It is hard to imagine you getting really angry about something. Oh, my God. You could not be more wrong.

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66 the Princess tree
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Ari Shapiro
It's consider this from NPR. If Kamala Harris officially becomes the democratic presidential nominee next month, she will be the first woman of color to lead a major party's ticket. Of course, that would not be her 1st. 1st Harris entire career is a list of jobs that nobody who looks quite like her has held before, including California's attorney general, senator and vice president of the United States. NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid has covered Harris for years, and she's here to talk about how this long history of breaking barriers informs HarriS and the campaign she might run.

Hi, Asma. Hi, Ari. You've interviewed the vice president a number of times. You've covered her for years. Do you have a sense of how she thinks about herself in relation to all those firsts?

66 the Princess tree
Well, I will say, Ari, that former staffers and supporters tell me this all the time. They will point out that she has been the first person like her in pretty much every job that she has held. She personally doesn't talk a whole lot about it, but she's aware of it. You know, she has said that her mother told her, Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you're not the last. And she said that's how she thinks about this idea of breaking barriers.

It's a message that we heard from her when Democrats won the presidential election in November of 2020. Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities. And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message. This election, though, Ari, is different. I mean, there has never been a woman as president.

And, you know, there's actually never even been a black woman who's been a governor of any state in country. You know, one former Harris staffer told me that Harris doesn't fit neatly into identity boxes. And sometimes it's hard for the broad public to understand her because they haven't seen anybody like her in that position before. You know, politically, being a first can be an advantage or a disadvantage. So how do you expect her campaign may use the idea of breaking barriers?

Ari Shapiro
Are they likely to focus on it or downplay it? Well, I would say I don't think she herself nor her campaign needs to explicitly talk about it because there's already been a swell of grassroots support. You know, there were thousands of black women. On a Zoom call the other night, I've spoken to organizers in key states like Georgia, african american women who are quickly rallying behind her in the indian american community. There's this photo of Harris being shared online that reads, in Sanskrit, kamala means lotus.

66 the Princess tree
In America, Kamala means POTUS. You know, the country has changed, I will say quite a bit since the years when Barack Obama, who was, of course, the nation's first black president, ran for office. And so I do think that the way they talk about this will be different than what we've seen in the. Past, the Obama presidency. And I know that Harris has resisted comparisons between the two, but there are biographical similarities.

Ari Shapiro
They were both mixed race children of divorced parents, and he made his biography such a big part of his candidacy as a way of connecting with voters. Do you expect her to follow his playbook? I don't, Ari. And, you know, you just mentioned the word biography. He wrote that very soul searching memoir about race and identity.

66 the Princess tree
I have Kamala Harris's book in front of me. I pulled it out just to refresh my memory a bit. It was a very different book. You don't see that same sort of search for racial ethnic identity. She grew up under different circumstances on the more culturally liberal, racially blended west coast.

You know, and she's also said that she was not raised to talk about herself, that she was brought up to focus on the work. And she insists that the work, her work, the policies are her motivation. And so when you hear her speak both, I think, on the campaign trail, but also here as the vice president, you hear her talk a lot about policy and very little about her own personal background. In fact, I think when reporters try to bring it up, she bristles at the idea. There's this moment that has been stuck in my mind from when she launched her failed 2020 presidential primary campaign, when she was asked about how she identifies.

Unidentified Reporter
You're an african american woman, but you're also indian american. And I'm just curious, indeed, what's the best? How do you describe yourself? Did you read my book? How do I describe myself?

Kamala Harris
I describe myself as a proud american. Her mother was indian and her father was jamaican. But it's her mother who was the primary role model and parent in her life. Her mother worked as a breast cancer researcher. And, you know, Harris has said over the years that Berkeley, Oakland, growing up in that environment really had an impact on both her parents and her views on social justice and the civil rights era.

66 the Princess tree
You know, she said that her mom taught her and her sister that if you see a problem, you don't complain about it, you do something about it. So, you know, broadly, Ari, I will say that she does not engage in questions around her personal biography in depth. She likes to focus a lot on the policy. Well, if there's one word that I have heard her allies use more than any other in the last couple days, it is prosecutor. She was district attorney in San Francisco, then attorney general for the state of California.

Ari Shapiro
As senator, she served on the Judiciary committee, where she had these moments that went viral, where she was questioning witnesses like Supreme Court nominee who's now Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. That's not my question. My question is, have you had a conversation with anyone at that firm about that investigation? It's a really specific question. I would like to know the person you're thinking of, because what if there's.

Kamala Harris
I think you're thinking of someone you don't want to tell us. That is where her supporters believe she really shines and is at her best. You know, she was only elected to the Senate in the 2016 election cycle, but her prominence grew really quickly because of how she handled some of these Senate confirmation hearings. And then she was named the ticket shortly after this. I mean, this is something she has heavily leaned into throughout her career.

66 the Princess tree
And I will say, you know, throughout her 2020 failed presidential primary, she couldn't always make the affirmative case for herself. But it's when she goes on the attack, and I think this is what we're beginning to see also in her run now against Donald Trump. It's when she goes on the attack that her supporters see her at her best. It's where she really energizes the base of the Democratic Party. During her first run for president, democratic primary voters were uncomfortable with what they saw as her role as a cop.

Ari Shapiro
Does it play differently now in a general election? It does seem to play quite differently again, because I think she is going on the attack against Trump. She is going after the republican nominee and trying to contrast her record as a prosecutor with Trump as a felon. It is a message that she had increasingly been bringing out on the campaign trail. And just yesterday at her campaign headquarters in Delaware, she made this pitch again.

Kamala Harris
I took on perpetrators of all kinds. And she's really trying to contrast her record as a prosecutor, prosecutor with Trump as a felon. Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's type. She's trying to make this election.

66 the Princess tree
A contrast, a contrast both in terms of her being a prosecutor, him being a convicted felon, but also a contrast in terms of two very different visions for the future. She talks about a vision that is focused on the future and a vision that is focused on the past. And, you know, who she is and what she represents, I think allows her to more directly speak to those contrasting visions. In the times that you have spoken to her, do you get a sense of what she sees as her biggest strength? You know, one thing I don't think you see from her campaign stump speeches is how much she really appreciates going into the nuanced details on policies that she cares about.

I interviewed her just a few days after the Supreme Court overturned that landmark decision, Roe versus Wade on abortion. You know, she had what her supporters would say foresight into what this would mean, a foresight that many men in this job perhaps might not have had. I think that the right to privacy that extends to allowing an individual to make decisions about whether they will start a family, including the access to in vitro fertilization, is arguably now at risk. I believe the right to privacy that was an extension of our finally correct decision in Obergefell to allow same sex marriage. I do believe that is now at risk.

And Ari, she went on to become the administration's main messenger on reproductive rights. And we all know that became a major campaign issue for Democrats in the midterms. It's also something that Democrats believe is one of their most persuasive issues this fall. Well, in her time as vice president, what kinds of changes have you seen that might tell us about the kind of presidential candidate she's going to be? She has become more comfortable on the job as she's gained experience.

But I also think a lot of people look to her 2020 presidential campaign and try to glean lessons from that. I think the past is only useful to a point. This is a different campaign that she is running. It is a different moment in american history. NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid.

Ari Shapiro
Thank you. Good to talk to you. This episode was produced by Megan Lim and Elena Burnett with audio engineering by Tiffany Varicastro and Ted Mebanese. It was edited by Courtney Dorning and Roberta Rampton. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun.

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