The Indian Panorama

Tag: Senator Kamala Harris

  • November 3 US poll is election of a lifetime, says eminent Indian American Chatterjee

    November 3 US poll is election of a lifetime, says eminent Indian American Chatterjee

    WASHINGTON (TIP): The November 3 presidential poll is an “election of a lifetime” for it being held amid a pandemic and seeing the “highest participation” of India-Americans, according to eminent community leader Swadesh Chatterjee.

    A strong Democrat whose relationship with the party’s presidential candidate Joe Biden goes back to past several decades, Chatterjee (72) said even as the US has all ingredients required to handle the pandemic of this magnitude, it could not be managed properly because of the “misinformation and wrong decisions” made by the leadership of the country.

    “You know, to me this campaign is one of a lifetime. This election is an election of my lifetime. I totally agree with the people that this (election) you will keep in the history book one of the campaigns, which people have not seen before,” North Carolina-based Chatterjee told PTI in an interview.

    “I hope this election will determine the future of not only this country but the future of the world as well,” said Chatterjee, whose first recollection of being involved in a presidential campaign goes back to the Regan era.

    Thereafter he has been involved in several presidential campaigns, in particular, that of Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and now Joe Biden.

    Chatterjee said Senator Kamal Harris being the vice-presidential candidate for the Democratic party was a dream come true for the Indian-American community.

    “Indian-American participation is the highest this time… Quite a number of Indian-Americans already involved in the campaign, on both sides, though Biden-Harris team has got more Indian-Americans on its staff than anybody else,” said Chatterjee, who for more than three decades has been an eyewitness to US political system.

    He expressed the hope that a large number of Indian-Americans would go out and vote this time to “make a change not for just for us but for the world as a whole”. There would be more participation of Indian-Americans this election, he added.

    Chatterjee, who played a key role in India-US relationship right from the Atal Bihari Vajpayee era, said the bilateral relationship between the two largest democracies is at a point that there will be some challenges in future, but it is not going to go down no matter who comes in the White House after November 3.

    “Because the relationship is much, much deeper. Secondly, the relationship between the US and India does not depend on individual relationship like (Donald) Trump versus (Narendra) Modi, because that is not the essence of the relationship,” he said.

    Trade and taxation, he noted, was one of the few issues that pose challenges to the bilateral relationship. Chatterjee exuded confidence that his friend Biden would be the “best President for India, and the US under his administration will have a deeper relationship with the country”.

    (Source: PTI)

  • Another lackluster, albeit civil debate between Vice Presidential Candidates

    Another lackluster, albeit civil debate between Vice Presidential Candidates

    Prof. Indrajit S. Saluja

    WASHINGTON (TIP): The debate between two skilled debaters- vice presidential candidates Mike Pence and Kamala Harris presented a pleasing picture of a civil discourse despite of Pence drawing extra time to make his statements and often interrupting Kamal Harris who politely pointed out to Pence that she was speaking. There was no lack of civility, but surely a lack of honest and truthful claims and counterclaims. Their debate on October 7 was far easier to watch than last week’s chaotic presidential debate.

    Both Pence and Harris engaged in mild overstatement and rhetorical flourishes at times. That’s normal in politics. Harris, for example, exaggerated the job losses that President Trump’s trade war with China has caused. But Pence was far more dishonest. At several points, he seemed to want to run on a record that didn’t exist.

    CNN provided a “partial list” of false and misleading statements made by Pence during the debate.

    “On day one, Joe Biden is going to raise your taxes,” Pence said. This is false: Biden has proposed tax increases only on households making more than $400,000 a year.

    Pence said he and Trump had a plan to “protect pre-existing conditions for every American.” The administration has repeatedly attempted to take health insurance away from Americans, and the number of uninsured people has risen during Trump’s presidency.

    Pence claimed that Trump had “suspended all travel from China.” He did not. Although Trump claimed to have done so, hundreds of thousands of people traveled from China to the U.S. after the coronavirus appeared.

    Pence said the Trump administration would “continue to listen to the science” on climate change. The administration has defied or ignored the views of scientists on climate change.

    Pence said Biden would “ban fracking.” Biden would not.

    Pence said Trump revered members of the military. In 2015, Trump publicly mocked John McCain because he had been a prisoner during the Vietnam War. More recently, Trump has described Americans soldiers killed in war as “losers” and “suckers,” The Atlantic has reported.

    Pence said voting by mail created “a massive opportunity for voter fraud.” This contradicts all of the available evidence and history about mail voting.

    Pence said he and Trump have “always” told the American people the truth.

    The most disappointing aspect of Pence’s performance is that he has deep disagreements with Harris and Biden that don’t depend on distortions. It’s entirely possible to make a fact-based case against higher taxes on the rich; or widely available abortions; or high levels of immigration; or new restrictions on police.

    But that is not what Pence did.

    A strong moment for each candidate: Harris’s opening remarks, taking the administration to task for the terrible toll of the coronavirus on the U.S.; Pence’s celebrating the Trump administration’s turn to a more hawkish approach to China, which has since become a bipartisan consensus.

    Speaking time: Despite the vice president’s repeated interruptions, the two debaters spoke for nearly identical amounts of time over all: almost 36 minutes and 30 seconds.

    Questions unanswered: Harris refused to answer Pence’s direct question about whether Democrats would expand the number of justices on the Supreme Court. Pence didn’t answer when the moderator asked him why America’s pandemic death toll is disproportionate to its population and what he would do if Trump refused to accept the election results.

    Post-debate instant polls: 59 percent thought Harris won, 38 percent thought Pence won, CNN’s poll found.

    On the lighter died, there was an uninvited guest: A fly that landed on Pence’s head for more than two minutes became a star on social media.

    (With inputs from CNN)