Kamala Harris will help Biden 'grow the Democratic coalition': Princeton Prof

Joe Biden made history by tapping Kamala Harris as his VP candidate. Omar Wasow Princeton University Assistant Professor of Politics weighs in on the benefits of the decision.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: We want to get some more perspective on this historic pick-- again, not only the first black woman on a major party ticket, but also the first woman of Indian descent. Omar Wasow is with us now. He is Princeton university assistant professor of politics. He's joining us from Los Angeles.

Omar, I know you've done research on sort of voting patterns mostly tied to protests. But I wonder if you think this pick will do anything for Biden in terms of getting people out to vote-- for example, based on Barack Obama's candidacy.

OMAR WASOW: Well, what we know a core part, a fundamental part of politics and winning elections is building coalitions. Nate Silver did an analysis in January in the early part of the primary looking at which of the primary candidates seemed to have the most potential to build-- you know, kind of assemble the many different elements of the very heterogeneous Democratic coalition.

And his analysis suggested that Harris really was somebody who was broadly acceptable to Asian and Hispanic voters, to African-Americans, to millennials. You know, she's, as you know, more of a moderate-- so not quite as appealing as someone maybe like Senator Warren to the more progressive wing of the party, but broadly, a consensus figure, and in that way, is somebody who can help Biden hold together and maybe even grow the Democratic coalition.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Omar, watching critics of this choice point out that she didn't get enough support to win the primary-- is that really an issue at this point? Or are the critics just looking for anything?

OMAR WASOW: I mean, I think there's a long tradition in American politics of the winner of the primary going and picking somebody who was a strong rival. And I think that's what we're seeing here. And what you're looking for in the vice president is not the person who got the second-most votes, but rather somebody who can help you, again, kind of hold together a winning coalition.

And I think in that regard, whether it's, as you noted in that earlier segment, as a child of immigrants, as a Californian who has strong appeal to Latinos-- there's just-- she has a really-- she's able to appeal to a pretty broad set of the Democratic base-- and in that way, is, I think, a very strong pick for him.

RICK NEWMAN: Hey, Omar, Rick Newman here. So a lot of Democrats think that Kamala Harris will help boost black turnout, which could be very important for Biden. But my question is whether it could alienate white voters who might otherwise vote for Biden and lead them to vote for Trump.

OMAR WASOW: So I think this is one of the interesting things about her pick and about her political history is that she's somebody who's somewhat counter stereotypic in that she's been a prosecutor, right? She's been an attorney general. And that means that some of the Trump rhetoric kind of drawing on this sort of historic 1960s law and order kind of campaign rhetoric works much less well against somebody who's been a prosecutor, who's been on the state side of the, you know, enforcing order.

And so in that way, she both has appeal to African-Americans-- as you note in particular, you know, a historic moment for black women-- but it's also somebody who can kind of talk tough and, I think, navigate what is a very difficult kind of moment right now, which is how do we talk about the need to reform police and at the same time speak to maybe some of the voters you're describing who have concerns about order.

And I think she, perhaps more than most people in the Democratic party, has been thinking about, what's the response to tough on crime? She wrote a book years ago called "Smart on Crime." And whether that particularly lands, I'm not sure, but at least she's been thinking about how to hold together both sides of that debate in a way that I think few other candidates have on the Democratic side.

JULIA LA ROCHE: Hi, professor. Omar, it's Julia La Roche. Of course, if we go back to the Democratic primaries and the debates, a lot of folks remember when senator Kamala Harris called out vice president Joe Biden on his track record, specifically around busing, if you all recall. So when they appear together, do you think that will be sort of a barrier or something they'll have to address? I would imagine it's going to come up. How do you think they'll address that moving forward in their relationship, exactly?

OMAR WASOW: My guess is it-- you know, it made for a great viral moment in the debate, but I doubt it has a kind of long run effect in kind of larger discourse. It's the sort of thing where, you know, again, we have this long history of people in the presidential-- the nominee picking a fierce rival-- whether it's Reagan picking Bush or, in this case, you know, Biden picking Harris.

And so, you know, I think what we may see are-- she'll get asked about it, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's kind of a stock answer. But my expectation is that that will-- other issues will take the day. I mean, in the context of a pandemic, you know, a massive recession-- that debate over busing I think is likely to feel-- likely to get stale fast.

JULIE HYMAN: Omar Wasow is Princeton University assistant professor of politics. Thank you very much for your perspective. We appreciate it.

OMAR WASOW: Thank you so much for having me.