2020 presidential race
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‘I’m All About Just Getting Stuff Done’: Kamala Harris Gets Political and Personal on Jemele Hill Is Unbothered
“Some might think that breaking barriers means you start out on one side of the barrier and then you just turn up on the other side of the barrier…No, there’s breaking involved. And when you break things, it’s painful. You get hurt, you may get cut and you may bleed. It will be worth it,…
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If Elected, Kamala Harris Intends to Close the National Rape Kit Backlog in Her 1st Term
We’re just short of a year away from officially naming a Democratic nominee to face off against Donald Trump in 2020, but the candidates have been wasting no time presenting their platforms; many of them wisely lobbying for support at last weekend’s Essence Festival in New Orleans. As the only black woman in the running—and…
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The Root's 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 3: Kamala Harris Throws Black Voters Under the Bus(ing?)
This week’s Root 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings is full of surprises. We have a new No. 1 after several candidates forgot that black people still matter, and a special guest power-ranking judge. This week, me (Dr. Jason Johnson, Politics Editor at The Root) and Marcus Ferrell, former African American Outreach Director for Bernie Sanders…
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Biden Misses the Bus, Booker Starts to Cuss, and Harris Adjusts: The Root’s 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, Week 2
Welcome back to The Root’s 2020 Presidential Black Power Rankings, where our select committee of activists, consultants, politicians, and analysts decide where the candidates stand on the issues that matter to black people. This week’s rankings are curated by Dr. Jason Johnson, Politics Editor of The Root (yours truly) and our returning judge Marcus Ferrell,…
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Biden Defends Record on Race Before a Black Audience at Rainbow-PUSH Convention
A day after getting spanked on the issue of race during the second night of the Democrats’ presidential primary debate, former Vice President Joe Biden defended his civil rights record Friday before an African-American organization, at the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow-PUSH Coalition convention. Friday’s appearance was Biden’s first after he took a beating on the…
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White People Are Boring
Soggy toilet paper sheet repurposed as a mesh romper for bougie chipmunks David Brooks emerged from his seltzer waterbed today to warn us that the Democrats will definitely lose the Presidential election if we don’t remember to be as damp as he is. He is maybe not wrong—perhaps a can of La Croix might have…
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A Wild Night on MSNBC: Why the Latest Presidential Debate Has Donald Trump Shook—and 4 More Observations
Thursday’s debate was Donald Trump’s biggest nightmare: A loud, creative, diverse and television-ready slugfest that lasted for two hours, went off the rails a few times and left the audience wanting more. While policy matters, Trump knows that his biggest weapon against any Democratic challenger is making enough of a circus that issues, facts, and…
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Kamala Harris Goes for Joe Biden’s Jugular on Issue of Race During 2nd Night of Democratic Debates
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) came for Vice President Joe Biden’s neck Thursday night over his lack of support for federally ordered busing to help desegregate the nation’s schools as 10 more Democrats took the stage to make their case for why they should be the next president. Harris and Biden’s exchange took place during…
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Let’s Play Democratic Debate B-I-N-G-O Tonight! (No, We’re Serious)
Nobody won Wednesday night’s first 2020 Democratic presidential debate, but a couple of people lost. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) looked confused for half the night and somehow managed to make Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) look like a foreign policy expert. Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA), despite having more executive experience than anybody on the stage (except…