Democrats have their work cut out for them to reunite their party behind one candidate, with the endorsement of President Joe Biden and most Democratic leaders pointing to Vice President Kamala Harris as the likely nominee. But will it be enough?
NJ Spotlight News spoke with Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky about whether it is enough.
“I truly, truly hope she is the right candidate,” Roginsky said. “Kamala Harris is a woman. She’s a woman of color and, of course, that brings with it the same concerns that I certainly have about her being treated the way that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were treated because of their historic candidacies.
“Having said that, nothing would make me happier than to have an accomplished woman, a prosecutor, a vice president, somebody who was a sitting senator, somebody with an incredibly powerful track record. Finally, breaking the glass ceiling for women and women of color, especially that we’ve all been waiting for for a very long time,” said Roginsky.
Harris still has to make it through the nomination process. And while delegates in New Jersey will be meeting Monday night to discuss their options, the Harris team has to consider a vice presidential nominee pick. U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Gov. Phil Murphy have appeared on some early lists.
“…I think if she’s going to be the Democratic nominee, she needs somebody from a purple state and or somebody who can speak to voters in those purple states in a way that I think somebody like a Cory Booker . . . may have a more difficult time reaching,” she said. “But look, you’ve got young people like Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear in Kentucky, Roy Cooper, who’s not necessarily a young guy, but won handily in a place like North Carolina, which is a purple state.”
“Somebody like Mark Kelly, an astronaut, a military veteran, married to a very high-profile survivor of a shooting in Gabby Giffords from Arizona,” said Roginsky.
