*By Brian Henry*
Now that Kamala Harris, a freshman senator and recent entrant to national politics, has joined the already-crowded 2020 race for president, political watchers are eager for clues about her ability to maneuver a high-stakes election. But Senator Harris has minimal experience on the national stage ー so her track record in California as an Attorney General will be essential evidence to Democratic voters.
"Her list of legislative accomplishments is rather thin," said Joe Garofoli, senior political writer at the San Francisco Chronicle.
"When you look at her AG career, she was sort of a mix of being bold and yet cautious and innovative," Garofoli told Cheddar.
One of her biggest victories came during the mortgage crisis. Harris pulled California out of the nationwide mortgage settlement talks.
"That was a gutsy move for a first term attorney general, California ended up with $20 billion dollars," Garofoli said.
As Attorney General, Garofoli said Harris also took a unique approach to criminal justice reform.
"She's offered implicit bias training at the Department of Justice and she focused on things like truancy issues. Most criminals are dropouts and she said, 'let's examine the root cause of this.'"
That victory aside, Harris has been criticized for neglecting to use the power of her office to investigate police shootings in California, and leaving it up to the locals instead.
Should she clinch the nomination, Harris will likely face questions over her record as San Francisco's District Attorney.
Harris, who opposed capitol punishment, chose not to pursue the death penalty after a police officer was shot in the line of duty by a gang member.
"There was a lot of blow back from law enforcement," Garfoli said. "You know President Trump is going to go after this one day one."
Even still, Harris' background gives her a distinct advantage over her progressive opponents.
"She's half-Indian American and her father was born and raised in Jamaica. She's the child of immigrants. She's a different face for voters, not just for Democratic voters but for all American voters."
Cheddar News checks in to see what to look out for Next Week on the Street as former president Donald Trump makes an appearance in federal court after being indicted. Investors will also keep an eye on the Federal Reserve meeting to see what comes out of that while earnings continue to pour in.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday that the U.S. is investing more than $100 million in the Caribbean region to crack down on weapons trafficking, help alleviate Haiti’s humanitarian crisis and support climate change initiatives.
It is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced Thursday that the U.S. is investing more than $100 million in the Caribbean region to crack down on weapons trafficking, help alleviate Haiti’s humanitarian crisis and support climate change initiatives.
At Cleveland's Urban Kutz Barbershop, customers can flip through magazines as they wait, or help themselves to drug screening tests left out in a box on a table with a somber message: “Your drugs could contain fentanyl. Please take free test strips.”
President Joe Biden on Thursday condemned a wave of “cruel” and “callous” state legislation curbing the rights, visibility and health care access of LGBTQ+ people, while causing the community to feel under attack for being who they are.
Pat Robertson, a religious broadcaster who turned a tiny Virginia station into the global Christian Broadcasting Network, tried a run for president and helped make religion central to Republican Party politics in America through his Christian Coalition, has died. He was 93.
The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a surprising 5-4 ruling in favor of Black voters in a congressional redistricting case, ordering the creation of a second district with a large Black population.
Mike Pence opened his presidential bid with an unusually forceful critique of former President Donald Trump over Jan. 6, his temperament and abortion on Wednesday as he became the first vice president in modern history to challenge his former running mate.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wasted no time going after Donald Trump while launching his presidential campaign on Tuesday, calling the former president and current Republican primary front-runner a “lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog" and arguing that he's the only one who can stop him.
