It’s been a long road to Kamala Harris being named as the VP pick – here’s what Joe Biden needs to do next

The California senator was the obvious choice, but that doesn't mean she hasn't had to fight against opposition – including in her own party. Biden has to ensure she is protected

Related video: Kamala Harris endorses Joe Biden for president (Getty Images)

I have been waiting for Joe Biden to stop wasting time and embrace the inevitable for months.

Following the nationwide protests against racism and police brutality in response to the killing George Floyd, there didn’t appear to be any other better option for Joe Biden than Senator Kamala Harris as a running mate. When in the midst of a pandemic, economic depression, and potentially the largest social movement in US history, the public is distracted. It’s much easier to introduce someone who requires less of an introduction. Kamala Harris’ campaign imploding notwithstanding, it did begin with great potential, and as a result of that, sparked real fears among GOP circles.

Some of us saw her appeal and likelihood of her selection long before summer, though.

As one Democratic strategist with ties to the Biden circle told Reuters in June: “It’s going to be Harris. It was always going to be Harris. It was going to be Harris even when Joe Biden didn’t think it was going to be Harris. At some point, he was trying to convince himself black people like him so much that he could pick someone like Amy Klobuchar.”

Amy Klobuchar herself chimed in a week after this article was published, telling MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell that as a resident and representative of the state of Minnesota, where Floyd was killed: “After what I’ve seen in my state, what I’ve seen across the country, this is a historic moment and America must seize on this moment. I truly believe, as I actually told the vice president last night when I called him, that I think this is a moment to put a woman of color on that ticket.”

Of course, Biden had his right to consider other candidates, but while she won in the end, it does not absolve some of Biden’s friends and colleagues of their efforts to sabotage her campaign.

Although Chris Dodd did not bash Harris directly to Politico, it was no less infuriating to read a recount of his lamenting that Harris dared to debate Biden at a presidential debate. For the record, when you launch an entire campaign based on the premise that Donald Trump and the hate that helped send him to the White House was an aberration that your would be administration would seek to restore, it’s not a good idea to boast about the good old days you worked with segregationists in a more “civil” era.

It was insulting and Biden needed to be called out on it. Have you since heard him shout out a segregationist? Kamala Harris did him a favor, but Dodd reportedly described seeing an “ambush” and professed a disgust for Harris not having “remorse.”

Worse was the efforts to pit Harris against Congresswoman Karen Bass. Bass, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, was being touted as “the anti Kamala” in her VP consideration because she was viewed as more “loyal” given her lack of interest in running for president. Bass herself took to Twitter to diffuse the pitting of Black women against each other for VP.

“I would never want to be labeled the ‘anti-Kamala Harris,’” Bass tweeted. “We’re fortunate to have had her as attorney general and now as Senator. She would be an excellent VP and the same goes for anyone else on the list.

The news reports about Harris being criticized among some Biden supporters for being "too ambitious" for the job managed to enrage at a time when Biden needs to inspire.

"She would be running for president the day of the inauguration," Florida bundler John Morgan told CNBC. Harris herself seemed to address the remarks while speaking via live stream at the Black Girls Lead 2020 conference: "There will be a resistance to your ambition, there will be people who say to you, 'You are out of your lane.'"

We now see that Biden himself is not bothered by Harris’ ambition, declaring he is “proud” to have her on his ticket. I’m glad that is the case, but I have a bit of advice: tell the dumb, old, sexist men around you to shut up.

Days before Biden made his historic announcement that Harris, born to Black and South Asian parents, was his running mate, the Washington Post reported that the Biden campaign sent a warning that sexism will motivate the ugliest attacks against whichever woman Biden would pick. That will surely prove true given Biden’s opponent is a man happy to denigrate women, but the Biden campaign and Democrats writ large were to lead by example.

Politically, Harris always made the most sense and given what she’s accomplished in her career, her ambition should have always been perceived as an asset to any campaign. And yet, so many men within the Democratic Party went out of their way to assassinate her character for daring to be a woman standing up to a man at a debate.

Biden’s choice stands against such pettiness, but now is the time for the men around him to fall in line and support both him and her.

For the rest of us, now we wait to watch Harris unleash on Mike Pence (he deserves it)