Californians celebrated the election results over the weekend with impromptu parades, fireworks and dancing. For Bay Area Democrats, the festivities took on greater resonance because of Kamala Harris—an Oakland native who ascended the ranks of California politics to become the first woman and first Black and South Asian U.S. vice president.
Silicon Valley leaders issued statements applauding the historic win and urging the public to start mending wounds after a bitter, drawn-out election.
“This is a moment for healing, across our divided nation, and in each of our ailing communities,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a prepared statement. “President-elect Biden will provide the leadership and character to bring our country together and move forward—but whether we are willing to come together depends on each of us as much as it depends on them. May we all rise to this moment. May we also celebrate the historic achievement of our Bay Area’s own Kamala Harris, to become the highest-ranking woman to serve our nation in its history.”
So proud to have Bay Area’s own @KamalaHarris breaking the ultimate glass ceiling. Thank you, Vice President-elect, for making us all proud! https://t.co/U9nJDm0coP
— Sam Liccardo (@sliccardo) November 8, 2020
Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (D-Palo Alto) said the protracted wait before major outlets called the election was “worth a few extra days’ wait to celebrate such progress.”
“It’s also a victory for our Democracy that so many Americans demonstrated their faith in our system of government by casting their ballots,” Eshoo said. “Their participation strengthens our country. We must take this opportunity of a new administration to close political divides and adhere to the motto of our nation E pluribus unum, out of many, one. We are a resilient people, and united there is no problem we can’t solve.”
Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) said he’s “thrilled” to see the majority of voters reject racism and xenophobia and embrace science and a “compassionate approach” to governing. “Today’s victory is just the first step toward healing our country and reminding ourselves that we are a nation of ideals,” he said, “and it is our responsibility to live up to those lofty ambitions. I have no doubt President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris will offer a consistent example of what real leadership looks like, and one that will make all of us proud.”
On Twitter, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) applauded the decision by the majority of voters as a rejection of Trump and “his failures during this pandemic, his racism and his disregard for people’s lives.”
America has rejected Donald Trump. We’ve had enough of his failures during this pandemic, his racism, and his disregard for people's lives.
With @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris in the White House, we will usher in a new era of moral leadership that treats everyone with dignity.
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) November 7, 2020
Dave Cortese, who garnered enough votes this past week to succeed state Sen. Jim Beall (D-San Jose), called the Democratic presidential win “a proud day for our nation.”
Congratulations to our next President and First Lady, Joe and Jill Biden, and to CA’s own Kamala Harris for being elected to be the first female Vice President! It is a proud day for our nation! pic.twitter.com/MAhHETwDiM
— Supervisor Cortese (@SupDaveCortese) November 7, 2020
In her victory speech, Harris acknowledged “all the women who have worked to secure and protect the right to vote,” saying she stands on their shoulders—especially those of her mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris.
“She maybe didn’t quite imagine this moment,” she said of her mom, an immigrant who came from India to California as a teenager. “But she believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible, and so I am thinking about her and about the generations of women, Black women, Asian, white, Latina, Native American women—who throughout our nation’s history have paved the way for this moment tonight—women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all.”
It is instructive to watch all these purported progressive advocates of women’s rights celebrate the ascension of a wealthy powerful elderly white male who is credibly accused of a heinous sexual assault on a female staffer. “Double standard” is a gentle way to put it. Hook the Herald nails the issue: https://hooktheherald.wordpress.com/2020/10/03/county-democrats-display-stunning-hypocrisy-when-it-comes-to-sexual-harassment-allegations/
> “County Democrats display stunning hypocrisy when it comes to sexual harassment allegations”
That would be a “CORRUPT wealthy powerful elderly white male who is credibly accused of a heinous sexual assault on a female staffer.”
Has ANY journalist on the progressive animal farm raised the question yet:
“Should President Biden pardon Hunter Biden”.
There is no election fraud. Jack Dorsey says so.
This is the disclaimer that Twitter shoves in your face if your private tweet questions whether or not it’s a good idea to allow Democrats to count votes in closed rooms with no one looking over their shoulders.
https://twitter.com/BubbleSanJose/status/1326216699482267648/photo/1
> Silicon Valley Leaders Celebrate Biden-Harris Victory
“Will you just shut up, man!”
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EmfJbgIVcAAnh_J?format=jpg&name=360×360
“Silicon Valley CENSORSHIP appears to have led to voter suppression”
https://saraacarter.com/silicon-valley-censorship-appears-to-have-led-to-voter-suppression/
This is hardly surprising. Tech is just like college campuses these days in this way as well as others, and other local parties tend to fall in line, having come of age like their South Bay with political respect to their neighbors in so much of the Bay Area and So-Cal, in particular.
Please don’t overlook that those pushing for mass federal funding for BART into San Jose, and at least improving Caltrain in the name of “high-speed rail,” wanting to convey more workers to and from growing job centers in the South Bay, can join their more unlearned and entitlement-minded fans of federal money for transit and high-speed rail and expect a Biden administration to send much more money, with fewer or no limits or restrictions, perhaps revise or end schedules and other pesky requirements for federal grants (especially) or loans. Then Comes Housing…
Mayor Sam Liccardo, quoted in the article, did not support Biden in the Democratic primary election. Rather, he had supported Harris but when she dropped out in early December 2019, after not winning a single primary or caucus and with wealthy donors bailing out on her (https://theweek.com/articles/ 882074/why-kamala-harris-failed), Liccardo endorsed the Republican Michael Bloomberg. Like, several other California mayors, Liccardo is a beneficiary of Bloomberg’s financial largesse and grooming network (https://sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-mayor-sam-liccardo-raises-eyebrows-with-mike-bloomberg-endorsement/delegate; https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/24/california-mayors-endorse-mike-bloomberg-us-election-2020-london-breed).
As for Representative Anna Eshoo, also quoted, I was not able to find information on who she supported in the primaries but she did speak highly of former Maryland congressman John Delaney at a town hall meeting in San Jose at which I was present. Delaney was perhaps the most conservative and uninspiring among the two dozen odd candidates (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Delaney_2020_ presidential_campaign). Assemblymember Evan Low, also quoted in the above piece, supported Andrew Yang in the primaries, one of the very few candidates who had anything useful to say or to propose (https://sanjosespotlight.com/assemblyman-evan-low-joins-andrew-yangs-presidential-campaign/). And Ro Khanna, like myself, supported Bernie Sanders, the candidate with a platform worthy of the name.
It is sadly ironic that these politicians are now celebrating the win of Biden and Harris. With a nearly half-century in public office, Biden has racked up an infamously despicable career (see my comments below this piece https://sanjosespotlight.com/silicon-valley-reacts-to-joe-biden-winning-presidency/) and now stands against any significant change. Meanwhile, the socio-economic system stumbles toward crisis in the face of an unprecedented pandemic and the rent for tens of millions of our compatriots is literally coming due.
As the Biden administration draws closer to the conservative Republicans it has touted and featured during the campaign, it will distance itself from progressive Democrats and voters in places like Minneapolis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia who gave them the slim margin of victory over Trump. That voter base will not turn out again in 2022–as they did not in 2010 after the first two disastrous years of the Obama-Biden administration, wiping out the Democrats’ Senate and House majorities. This can only mean one thing: a failed Biden presidency and ripe conditions for forces that will propel and enable leaders even more nefarious than Trump. As Obama warns, “Never underestimate the ability of Joe to f**k things up.” (https://thecanadian.news/2020/08/15/dont-underestimate-joes-ability-to-f-things-obama-shares-private-doubts-about-former-vice-president/). That’s coming from someone who both knows Joe very well and is eminently experienced in f**king things up.