COMMENTARY: With Kamala Harris, the fix is in

By Margaret Kimberley

It is painfully obvious that Kamala Harris is unprepared for the scrutiny that comes with waging a presidential campaign. But it is equally obvious that her lack of gravitas may not matter at all.

“The fix is in,” as the old saying goes. She is the choice of the Democratic Party leadership, the Black misleaders, and their partners in corporate media. They will give her cover whenever she needs help. Gaffes and comical pandering at the expense of Black voters may not hurt her chances at all.

Kamala Harris has no natural constituency. She is a relative newcomer on the national political scene and is known only for somewhat close questioning of Trump appointees during Senate hearings. Her record as a prosecutor and California attorney general ought to make her persona non grata with the Black voters who she sought to lock up as often as possible. But she is being foisted upon voters because the party and their rich backers have made her their choice.

The Obama formula

The Democrats are hoping that having another biracial Black person on the ticket can make up for their lack of substance and hers. All Harris knows how to do is pander, and she doesn’t even do that very well.

On The Breakfast Club radio show, she was asked if she opposed marijuana legalization. “That’s not true… Half my family is from Jamaica. Are you kidding me?” She was lying. As a prosecutor, she opposed a 2010 proposition that would have legalized recreational use. She opposed it as late as 2015.

The promotion of a stereotype didn’t go over very well, including with her own father. Donald Harris said that his ancestors “…must be turning in their grave right now to see their family’s name, reputation and proud Jamaican identity being connected, in any way, jokingly or not with the fraudulent stereotype of a pot-smoking joy seeker and in the pursuit of identity politics.”

Hillary pandered, too

Hillary Clinton famously sought to ingratiate herself with Black voters by claiming, also on The Breakfast Club radio show, that she carried hot sauce in her purse at all times. Harris can now be seen putting hot sauce on her collard greens too, but the absurd mimicry isn’t hurting her any. The endorsements are already coming her way.

Harris would be a bad joke were it not for the fact that the right people are behind her. Not only did she needlessly include every person of Jamaican ancestry in her bad joke, but she claimed to have gotten high while listening to artists like Tupac and Snoop Dogg ‒ who weren’t even recording when she was a young student. But the misleaders and their patrons have made their choice and they won’t allow her own foolish words to take her out of the running.

Conversely, Bernie Sanders, the true frontrunner, is scrutinized over minor issues and must fend off bald-faced lies. He can expect a repeat of the treatment he received from the Democratic Party leadership and corporate media in 2016. While the hollow woman Harris can do no wrong, Sanders will get bad press ‒ no matter what he does.

In a bind

As always, Black people are caught in the racist bind which makes one of the major parties the de facto White party, and the other the Black party. The understandable desire to keep the White party Republicans out of office twists authentically progressive political leanings.

If Harris prevails in early primaries and caucuses and looks like a winner, she will become a Black voter favorite ‒ just as Barack Obama did in 2008 after his Iowa caucus victory. Legitimate questions about her record in public office will disappear and she will have a good chance of winning the party’s nomination.

Her silly lies are already being defended. The Breakfast Club hosts ran to her aid when the proof of her stupid fib became apparent. Host Charlemagne the God gave a  sad preview of the foolishness still to come: “I want everybody to know they’re doing the work of Fox News. The Black Twitter people you see that are going in on Kamala because of this, Y’all are doing the work of Fox News.”

Worse than ever

After the Democratic Party debacle that put Donald Trump in office, Black voters are worse off than ever. Their enemies get the stamp of approval and what looks like a political victory will in fact be another disaster.

Harris could be Obama 2.0 ‒ and we know how well that turned out. Happiness overrepresentation would be nothing but a tremendous defeat.

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Margaret Kimberley is a co-founder of BlackAgendaReport.com and writes a weekly column there. Contact her at Margaret.Kimberley@BlackAgendaReport.com.

This article originally appeared in the Florida Courier.