I turned 60 on June 12, and coincidentally, Vice President Kamala Harris, and her husband, Doug Emhoff, hosted a Pride party at their home at the Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., that day.
Related: Kamala Harris: Our One-on-One With the Vice President
When I tell people I met her, thanks to my wonderful colleague Christopher Wiggins, or when friends see pictures of Harris on my social media, they immediately say, in a breath of excitement, “What’s she like?” And I thought I’d share with you what I tell them now that she's accepted the nomination to be our next president.
First, both she and her husband, Doug (pictured below), also turn 60 this year. Harris on October 20, and Emhoff a week earlier on October 13. I met him first, told him about being 60, and he said, “You beat me to it. I’ll be 60 in October.” He’s a very approachable guy, although I admit to dodging a couple of Secret Service agents to get to him.
After the vice president finished her speech to the small crowd assembled around the surprisingly small pool in their backyard, she made her way back to the house. When she approaches, you instantly feel the aura around her. It’s palpable and it’s real. Trust me.
She wished me a hearty “Happy Birthday” and softly patted my shoulder. And then she pointed her finger at me and said, “You’re a dragon.” At first, I thought she was telling me something negative, so I looked at her and said, “What does that mean?” in a voice that hinted at mild disapproval.
Harris explained that it was a Chinese Zodiac sign and that it meant I was intelligent, confident, charismatic, and that I was naturally lucky — couldn’t argue with the latter since I felt pretty lucky speaking with her. I got some photos with her (including the one above).
She said goodbye, told me to enjoy my birthday, and walked away, and as she did, I muttered to no one in particular, “She’s going to be president.” It was so evident, and it was at that moment that I had a strong premonition. She was going to be our next president. And when I wrap up telling people about how I spent my 60th birthday party, I let them know where I thought she was headed.
I’ve said many times how much I love President Joe Biden, and I wrote about him frequently and glowingly over the years, and I even met him years and years ago when I worked on the Hill. But there was a sense with Harris of ebullience, joy, confidence — well, let’s put it this way, all the attributes she gave to me about being a dragon apply more aptly to her.
Especially the part about luck. It is excruciatingly difficult to be a nominee for president of the United States: A lot of getting there requires hard work, talent, ego, being at the right place at the right time, and lots and lots of luck. Those all apply to how Harris has ascended to the top of the ticket. It has to be an unusual confluence of all those parts for a presidential nomination to occur. And they all happened to her.
If you look at our history, so often the personality, background, and temperament of the president match that of the country’s disposition, and unbeknownst to voters at the time, the country’s needs. Abraham Lincoln’s constitution was a metaphor for the outcome of the Civil War. Franklin Roosevelt’s fight and determination, made so suffering from polio, led us through the Great Depression and World War II.
After eight years of an aging Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy’s youth, good looks, and young family jolted Americans into the newness and possibilities of the 1960s. And while his term was brief, President Gerald Ford’s humility allowed the country to heal from the scars of Watergate.
Now comes Harris in 2024. Since 2016, America has been led by aging white men, one dangerous and destructive, the other experienced and kind. It took Joe Biden, a 78-year-old scrappy kid with a stutter from Scranton, Pa., to lift America up after four years of the selfish narcissist Donald Trump who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
While she challenged Trump in the primaries this year, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said that the party that gets rid of their 80-year-old at the top of the ticket will win in November. Biden unselfishly stepped aside, and he quickly endorsed Harris. I know the reason he did, and it’s because he knew very well what I saw — Harris had that elusive “it” factor and the ambiance of a winner.
And wow, did she show it tonight during her rousing speech to the nation.
"Fellow Americans, I love our country with all my heart. Everywhere I go — in everyone I meet — I see a nation ready to move forward. Ready for the next step, in the incredible journey that is America,” she said. Indeed, everyone she meets, like me, is ready to move forward with her.
"With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a New Way Forward. Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans,” she added. And like Lincoln, FDR, and JFK before her, she is the right person in our era to move us forward.
In one statement, she summed it all up about who she is and why it should be her at this inflection point. "I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations. A president who leads — and listens. Who is realistic. Practical. And has common sense. And always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work.”
There was no one else who could have stepped in and done what she did. When she enters rooms, rallies, and stadiums, the crowd also sees, on vivid display, what I saw on my 60th birthday. She electrifies the atmosphere around her. She oozes joy, excitement, possibilities, youth, exuberance, intelligence, and confidence — all the qualities that America is looking for right now, to soothe its prickly and glum mood.
Harris is the right leader for our times.
She’s famous for quoting her mom, who said something to the effect of “don’t let someone tell you who you are, but show them who you are.” And Kamala Harris really shows us who she is.
You don’t have to be with her for three days to understand her gravitas. It’s abundantly obvious in a minutes-long conversation. Anyone who sees her must walk away saying the same thing I did: “She’s going to be president someday.” There is no doubt in my mind and in many others' where Kamala Harris will be at noon on January 20, 2025.
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