We are now getting ready to kick off the 2020 Presidential Campaign in earnest and the stage is now set with former VP Biden nominating Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate yesterday. This is an intriguing pick and our observations are as follows:

1. There was a lot of excitement in the African-American community with VP Biden and his staff making bold predictions that he was going to choose an African-American woman as his running mate. However, now many “true multi-generational African Americans” who are peers or descendants of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr do not consider Sen. Kamala Harris to be a “true African American”, since her parents are first generation immigrants to the USA, with father from Jamaica and mother from India. Consequently, “true African American” populace feels very betrayed and disappointed – they would show more enthusiasm if say Ambassador Susan Rice, Rep Stacy Abrams or First Lady Michelle Obama were the Running Mate. Hence, there is a strong possibility that African-Americans, Democratic Party’s key demographic, may not show up to vote in November, which could be an issue for the Biden/Harris ticket 
2. As an Indian-American, it was good to see Senator Kamala Harris take the oath of office ago as the “first Indian-American” Senator. However, the Democratic Party now presenting her as an African-American woman is being viewed as a cynical opportunistic attempt to “rebrand” her to fit their narrative. I see African-American commentators on a number of networks pose the question – is she an Indian (Asian) or is she a Black candidate?  This query with various clips of her taking the Senators oath of Office, is now making the rounds and will form part of GOP campaign ads. Could this fact have an impact and split the African-American Voters? 
3. Senator Harris, as a DA for San Francisco and later as the Attorney General of California, was not very popular among the African-American community, as they blamed her for record incarceration of Black Men during her term in California. There have also been a number of high profile “miscarriage of justice” accusations and cases against her including a couple of prisoners who were sitting in death row because she would not allow DNA Tests etc. This point was brought up very forcefully by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard during the Democratic Primary Debates and this footage is also making the rounds now.
4. Her previous leadership roles in Law Enforcement as DA and AG has not been lost on the BLM supporters of the Democratic Party, These BLM Voters will now have to reconcile this critical fact against their raison d’etre that Law Enforcement Officials are the source of America’s problems. Will this fact affect turnout of this key Democratic Party demographic which includes a large number of progressive white men and women?
5. During the primary process, Sen Harris was never very much up in the polls and exited the race with around 2%-3% relatively early. Typically, running mates are chosen for post of VP based on their strengths during the primary process and the ability to “lock” certain states or demographics which may not be required here since California is already a Blue State. This leads us believe that this calculus appears to be “under-weight” in Biden camp’s decision to go with Sen Harris
6. Of course in this day and age, personal morality is not an issue to get elected to High Office and leaders in both parties are guilty of moral transgressions. However, there are potential accusations of impropriety in her personal relationship with a married mayor of San Francisco that are expected to be “aired in public” in coming weeks and we wonder if such revelations will sway undecided voters
7. Finally, this “the 800 lb. gorilla in the room” , which I call the “Silent White Voter Bias” and I have described in one of my earlier blog posts a couple of years ago, could be a key driver in this Election also. Opinion Polls and Exit Polls during BREXIT, UK General Elections and our 2016 Presidential Elections have not been accurate because generally “white voters” are reticent to speak up against “non white candidates” as they will be considered “racist” or “primitive” and be “cancelled”. Hence, these white voters when polled, respond that will vote for progressive candidates, but when voting they pick “white candidates” as they are more comfortable voting for them. This factor cannot be underestimated and since “whites” are a majority in this country, they can make or break any candidate.

In conclusion, it is our view that the above factors, make Sen Harris a less appealing choice for VP in the Biden Presidential Campaign and the odds of President Trump’s Re-Election for 4 more Years appears to have increased significantly.