Kamala Harris VP pick: How she could help – or hurt – Joe Biden

Sometimes the obvious pick is obvious for a reason.

Kamala Harris was the front-runner to be Joe Biden’s running mate pretty much since the moment the presumptive Democratic nominee announced in March that he would pick a woman to be on his ticket.

She was a safe pick and a practical one. She’s also now in the position to be the heir apparent for the Democratic Party – whether it’s in four years because Biden loses in November or doesn’t run for re-election or eight years if Biden serves two full terms.

That could be why it seemed that there were so many attempts to knock Harris down a peg, or advance alternative candidates over the past month.

This was, in effect, the first fight of the next presidential nomination contest, and Harris – whose ambitions are clear – now has a step on the competition.

But determining future Democratic nominees is a battle for another day. The pressing concern for the party at the moment is how Harris might help Biden win the White House. Here are some strengths she brings to the ticket and, perhaps, some concerns Democrats may have.

To put it bluntly, today’s Democratic Party doesn’t look like Joe Biden. It’s young and it’s ethnically diverse. It was increasingly obvious that the presumptive nominee needed to find someone younger and, well, less white to have a ticket that reflects the people who will vote for it.

Harris, whose father was Jamaican and mother came from India, fills this particular need. She becomes both the first black woman and the first Asian to run on a major party presidential ticket. And although at 55 years old she’s not exactly young, when compared to 77-year-old Joe Biden, she’s downright spry.

(Copied from BBC. Please click here for more)