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Kamala Harris, pictured at a Democratic Party picnic in Iowa in 2019, shares Joe Biden’s view of “standing up for the backbone of this country--the truly essential people,” say Natalie Bachari and Will Bakker of Democrats Abroad Luxembourg.Photo: Michael F. Hiatt / Shutterstock 

News that Democratic Party presidential candidate Joe Biden has chosen California senator Kamala Harris as his running mate for this November’s election has sparked a wave of optimism among party members and supporters. And not just in the United States, where The Washington Post editorial board writes that Biden’s choice is “a plus for the nation”, but here in Luxembourg, too.

Democrats Abroad Luxembourg told Delano that Harris “shares Joe Biden’s view of standing up for the backbone of this country--the truly essential people.” Chair Natalie Bachiri and treasurer Will Bakker cite Harris’s record on changing the law on gay marriage, fighting big oil to protect the environment and facing down the gun lobby as arguments that will make Harris “an amazing vice president”.

What’s more, her stance on justice will deflect the blows when president Donald Trump continues to attack the Democrats as a party that is soft on crime. Indeed, as attorney general of California Harris ran one of the largest legal operations in the world. She also she beat the big banks and cracked down on mortgage fraud, say Bachiri and Bakker.

“She’s the right person to take on Donald Trump and Mike Pence on the campaign trail,” the Democrats Abroad reckon, and they point to Harris’s ability to “ask the hard questions and get answers”, for example when she was cross examining Jeff Sessions or Brett Kavanaugh in Senate hearings.

“As vice president, she’ll be in the situation room and the cabinet room, asking the hard questions about what’s broken in our government and our country, and helping Joe Biden get the answers,” they conclude.