Was Kamala Harris selected or elected?
Harris earned her nomination
A common accusation against Kamala Harris is that she somehow was appointed the nominee in a non-democratic process. The accusation is sometimes from people who never would vote for Harris, and proffered as a concern trolling argument to undermine her legitimacy as a candidate rather than any true concern for the democratic process.
The truth is that Harris ran for the nomination in 2019 and lost to Joe Biden, but then Joe Biden picked her as his running mate because he wanted a safe pick that he could rely on.
Biden said, during his announcement of his VP pick (apologies for the caps, this is cut and pasted from the transcript):
WHEN I AGREED TO SERVE AS PRESIDENT OBAMA'S RUNNING MATE, HE ASKED ME A NUMBER OF QUESTIONS THAT I ASKED KAMALA. THE MOST IMPORTANT TO ME, HE ASKED WHAT I WANTED, MOST IMPORTANTLY? I TOLD HIM I WANTED TO BE THE LAST PERSON IN THE ROOM BEFORE HE MADE IMPORTANT DECISIONS. THAT IS WHAT I ASKED KAMALA. I ASKED HER TO BE THE LAST VOICE OF THE ROOM, TO ALWAYS TELL ME THE TRUTH, AND SHE WILL CHALLENGE MY ASSUMPTIONS IF SHE DISAGREES. ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS.
Choosing Harris was his prerogative as the nominee, and then it was up to every voter whether or not they wanted to choose between option 1, Biden-Harris, or option 2, Trump-Pence.
I voted for Biden in the primary, and then I chose to vote for Biden-Harris as a ticket with the understanding that the Constitutional role of the Vice President is to step in for the President when called upon. The VP is trusted by the President to be loyal to the administration ready to act in that capacity if needed from day one.
And indeed, my ballot on election day read as follows:
Joseph R. Biden and
Kamala Harris
Democratic Party Nominees
There’s an “and” and a plural “s” in there that are meaningful. And along with my vote, the Biden-Harris ticket received 81 million other votes, the most votes ever cast for a candidate in a U.S. presidential election.
Kamala Harris has faced the voters of the United States and been elected with the understanding that she is ready and qualified for that job, and that job includes being President if necessary. And to defend our democracy, it became necessary.
If you are a Democrat and you think she was unfairly appointed as the 2024 nominee, would you have thought the same had Biden resigned during his term?
If you are not a Democrat or voting for Democrats, then if you care about Democracy, and you are voting for Trump, then I disagree with your choices. But you have no right to lecture me on mine.