A California take on Joe Biden's selection of Kamala Harris

Don't get me wrong -- I am thrilled to see an accomplished woman who identifies with her Black and Indian American ancestry, who comes from an immigrant family, right at the center of this life-and-death election. I've never been a particular Harris fan, but damn right, I'm happy for what her rise means: Democrats cannot take the changing face of the country for granted. Somehow Dems have to find a way to hold together a majority coalition that is far more complicated and inclusive and far more forthrightly on the side of those who are newly seizing their rightful power. This goes way beyond Obama in 2008.

Once again, many media and pundit reactions reveal ignorance of California. They instinctively describe Harris as "liberal," making reference to her Senate votes. Nonsense. She's a dead center California Democrat. This is what a contemporary Democrat who juggles all our coalition pieces looks like. Donors like her and she knows what to say to those of us who have less money and power. These are baseline requirements for statewide success here.

I suspect some of the pundits of racial preconceptions. Harris is Black. They assume she must be from the left. Nope.

Harris went to college at Howard University, an honorable, formative choice. That woman is sharp -- I feel sure she could have gone to Stanford or UC Berkeley, but she didn't choose to. Interesting.

East Coast-oriented pundits also attribute to Harris a level of electoral savvy and dynamism that I suspect is misplaced. For example, here's Perry Bacon from FiveThirtyEight:

"Harris is a good politician based on these facts alone: She was elected senator in the nation’s most populous state and in a country with a lot of race and gender discrimination ..."

Actually, she barely squeaked through her only tough race (in 2010 for state Attorney General) and otherwise has enjoyed pretty smooth sailing in the contests she has chosen. Her brief exploration of a Presidential bid was sadly disorganized and lacked a galvanizing message.

A Politico profile captures something I find most hopeful in Harris' ascent: she's from a NorCal political background.

“... there’s a reason so many successful statewide elected officials have come out of the Bay Area, and that’s because Bay Area politics is a contact sport,” [Brian] Brokaw said. “San Francisco is not California. Most of the population is Democratic and the fights are between the progressives and the ‘moderates,’ and I say that in quotes. The battles are mostly civil wars, but you have to be able to navigate that sort of dynamic.” ... 

“San Francisco is a tough town for a politician, and to make it through San Francisco, you have to have thick skin and the ability to move forward after disagreements,” said Shawnda Westly, former executive director of the California Democratic Party ...

We toughen up 'em up around here. They learn they have to engage with in-their-face constituents whose backing they may someday need. They sometimes take progressive positions because this is simply the water they swim in -- and when they move up the political ladder, they then carry those positions with them. And they don't entirely shed this positive baggage in the next round. Harris' semi-Medicare for All Maybe in the primary is a perfect example. She knows where the issue is moving; she only learned in the primary process how treacherous health care plans might be outside California.

I liked Ronald Brownstein's observation about the Harris nomination:

... whether Biden wins or loses in November, her nomination may be remembered as a moment when the pinnacle of Democratic Party leadership came to more closely resemble the base of voters that elects it to power. Even as the GOP at every level remains dominated by white men—starting with Trump and Pence—the Democrats haven’t nominated a presidential ticket of two white men since 2004. It’s difficult to imagine when they ever will again.

We don't have to love her -- San Franciscans are hard on our pols. I know there's plenty of bad baggage as well as good baggage. Elections are about winning what you can, not falling in love. And then, getting into position to go back for more.