Hillary Clinton on Kamala Harris’ Presidential Campaign: “A Race Democrats Can and Must Win”
Hillary Clinton was quick to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris after President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign. And now, in a guest essay for The New York Times published on Tuesday, she shared more thoughts about the 2024 election and Harris’ campaign.
Clinton reminded readers that while the “next 15 weeks will be like nothing this country has ever experienced politically,” this is “a race Democrats can and must win” with Harris, who seems likely to be the Democratic nominee.
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Clinton praised Biden for making the “hard and rare” decision to end his own 2024 bid, a move Clinton recognizes as requiring “real moral clarity.”
“The country mattered more,” she wrote. “As one who shared that dream and has had to make peace with letting it go, I know this wasn’t easy. But it was the right thing to do.”
Clinton then shared why she is “excited” that Harris is running. “She represents a fresh start for American politics,” the former First Lady opined. “She can offer a hopeful, unifying vision. She is talented, experienced and ready to be president. And I know she can defeat Donald Trump.”
With Harris, Clinton argued, there is now “an even sharper, clearer choice in this election. On one side is a convicted criminal who cares only about himself and is trying to turn back the clock on our rights and our country. On the other is a savvy former prosecutor and successful vice president who embodies our faith that America’s best days are still ahead.”
“It’s old grievances versus new solutions,” she added.
Clinton acknowledged that as the first Black and South Asian woman to be “at the top of a major party’s ticket,” Harris “will face unique additional challenges.” However, she advised voters not to be afraid of those obstacles, as “it’s a trap to believe progress is impossible.”
She also praised many of Harris’ accomplishments throughout her career. “As a prosecutor and attorney general in California, she took on drug traffickers, polluters and predatory lenders. As a U.S. senator, she rigorously questioned squirming Trump administration officials and nominees and was inspiring to watch,” Clinton wrote.
The former U.S. Secretary of State continued, “As vice president, Ms. Harris has sat with the president in the Situation Room, helping make the hardest decisions a leader can make. And when the extremist Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, she became the administration’s most passionate and effective advocate for restoring women’s reproductive rights.”
She closed her essay with a message for voters: “The time for hand-wringing is over. Now it’s time to organize, mobilize and win.”
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