Barack and Michelle Obama diss Donald Trump and promote Kamala Harris
Barack and Michelle Obama delivered powerful speeches and enraged the crowd at the convention by insulting Donald Trump and praising Kamala Harris.
A native of Dublin, Padma Sastry began her career at Bell Labs and worked as a consultant to major health insurers. She is an adjunct professor at Ohio State University and Franklin University.
Kamala Harris. Usha Vance. Nikki Haley.
Throughout time, world history shows queens and monarchs ruling over kingdoms and nations.
Geraldine Ferraro claimed her rightful place in American politics by running as the first female vice president in 1984 and losing to Reagan.
In 2008, after a long break, the country saw Hillary Clinton become the first female candidate for the highest position on the political stage in the fight for the presidency.
While she succumbed to Barack Obama for the Democratic presidential nomination, she rose again in 2016 and ran vigorously against Donald Trump, but lost. When Joe Biden won the election after Trump’s difficult term ended in 2020, the next historic moment came with Kamala Harris as vice president.
Will Kamala be the country’s first female president?
The daughter of Jamaican father Donald Harris, a professor, and Indian mother Shyamala Gopalan, also a professor and of South Indian descent, Kamala Harris is at the peak of her career and is about to make another mark in American history this year.
She shares an interest in civil rights with her long-time Jewish husband, Douglas Emhoff, also a Berkeley graduate. Their ideologies, which range from advocacy for abortion rights, gun control, freedom of choice, and advocacy for clean water and air, could make her a top choice for liberal voters for the presidential nomination.
With her candidacy for the Democrats, she is the first woman of color, a woman of Indian descent and a second-generation immigrant.
Kamala steps into the spotlight and faces none other than Trump with his history and reputation, and will make an impression on a diaspora electorate in a historic election.
A look at the 2020 US voter census shows a massive turnout of two-thirds of the country’s entire eligible voting population, including 81.6 million women, 20.6 million Black voters and 7 million Asian Americans, turning the tables. Will the election this year steer voters according to their loyalty to the candidates’ gender, race and ancestry?
Will she win the long-awaited position as the first female President of the USA?
On Trump’s side on the Republican ballot is JD Vance, who deserves a worthy mention because his recent memoir describes the hardships of his childhood in the cities of Central America’s hinterland.
What will Usha Vance do?
In contrast, Usha Vance, his wife of 10 years, is a first-generation Indian immigrant from southern India, raised in an upper-class family by her parents, both academics who emigrated to the US in the 1970s. Since JD’s nomination, she has been making headlines in the media as a force to be reckoned with in the emerging diverse political arena.
She is known for her unwavering support of her husband, as evidenced by her own shift from a staunch Democrat to a Republican stance. Will she – like Michelle Obama – be a driving force behind his role in the campaign?
Will she make a significant contribution to ensuring that the country belongs to the Republicans again?
How will Nikki Haley’s story continue?
Nikki Haley, a prominent politician for many years, was considered the Republican candidate until she dropped out of the presidential race.
A first-generation American and the daughter of Sikh parents, both academics by profession, she demonstrated great ambition as a teenager when she ran her mother’s boutique business and, despite her moderate ideological views, continued her steady climb up the political ladder with the support of Trump.
The fact that she has no legal training has not slowed her meteoric rise in politics since 2010 from state representative to governor of South Carolina.
Haley is the fifth woman and first woman of color to be appointed US Ambassador to the United Nations. Is she ready to take on an important post after the election – regardless of the outcome?
Three women. Of Indian descent. With extraordinary drive. Educated at elite universities, born to immigrant parents, exposed to a wide range of different liberal and conservative views, together with supportive spouses, regardless of their own individual faith and profession.
Their ambition, perseverance and courage remind us of famous political leaders of the past.
Has the time finally come for women to break through the proverbial glass ceiling? Will each of these women be able to meet the diverse aspirations and hopes of the American people?
Regardless of the outcome, this election will likely produce the first female president or second lady, both of Indian descent.
As an immigrant of Indian origin, I am waiting.
I, along with millions of other Americans, await November 2024, which promises nothing less than an epic moment in history.
A native of Dublin, Padma Sastry began her career at Bell Labs and worked as a consultant to major health insurers. She is an adjunct professor at Ohio State University and Franklin University.
