Kamala Harris

A Look at Vice Presidential Candidate Kamala Harris' Credentials

Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who previously served as that state's attorney general, has been named as Joe Biden's running mate in the presidential election

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Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is making history as the third woman ever to be chosen as a vice presidential candidate on a major party's ticket. She's also biracial, and the first Black woman selected to run.

Former Vice President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he had selected Harris as his running mate.

"Women have to prove over and over that they have what it takes, especially at a high level, so Sen. Harris will likely have had her qualifications questioned, and we've already seen that in the primary and even in the run up to this," said Amanda Hunter of Cambridge's Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which does partisan research on women in politics.

Hunter says Harris has a proven track record as the attorney general of the second largest justice department in the country.

"All you have to do is watch a video of her show up meticulously prepared to question a witness on a Senate committee floor to know that she is a strong leader and she's prepared," she said.

Other top women who were also in the running tweeted their support for Harris, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who says the addition of Harris will make our government a "powerful force."

Former National Security Adviser Susan Rice says she's confident Biden-Harris will be a "winning ticket."

"Sen. Harris is what we call, already, a 360-degree candidate," Hunter said. "She's showing us who she is when she's doing Instagram videos about cooking and joking around with her husband and sister."

Because of that, Hunter says Harris connects with voters on an emotional level.

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