Kamala Harris struggles to define VP role as her victories go unnoticed

Her historic victory has brought great expectations along with some disappointments

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  Kamala Harris speaks during a 'Get Out The Vote' campaign event with Democratic Senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Garden City, Georgia, on January 3, 2021. Bloomberg

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  Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as her husband, Doug Emhoff, holds the Bible during the inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington. AP

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  Kamala Harris swears in Raphael Warnock, Alex Padilla and Jon Ossoff on the floor of the Senate the morning of January 6, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP

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  Kamala Harris looks on as US President Joe Biden signs the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act at the White House on June 17, 2021. AFP

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  Kamala Harris visits Guatemala's Minister of Foreign Affairs Pedro Brolo to announce $1.2 billion in commitments from businesses to support the economies and social infrastructure of Central American nations. AP

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  Kamala Harris is welcomed by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana in Singapore on August 23, 2021. AP

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  Kamala Harris meets Singapore's President Halimah Yacob at the Istana in Singapore. AP

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  Kamala Harris meets Vietnam's Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, on August 25, 2021. AP

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  Kamala Harris poses next to Papilionanda Kamala Harris during an orchid-naming ceremony at the Istana in Singapore, August 2021. AP

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  Kamala Harris stops to lay flowers at the John McCain memorial site on the three-year anniversary of his death, in Hanoi, Vietnam, August 25, 2021. AP

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  Kamala Harris holds up a jersey presented to her by Dave Roberts, team manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington on July 2, 2021, after the team won the World Series. EPA

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  Kamala Harris greets Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti during an event honouring the Los Angeles Dodgers and their 2020 World Series Championship in the East Room of the White House in Washington. AFP

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  Kamala Harris is introduced while visiting the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America International Training Centre during her 'America's Back Together' tour, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 3, 2021. EPA

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  Kamala Harris greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she arrives at the vice president's residence, the Naval Observatory, on July 15th, 2021. AP

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  Kamala Harris poses with members of the Detroit Youth Choir after delivering remarks at a vaccine mobilisation event at the TCF Centre on July 12, 2021. AFP

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  Crown Prince of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah arrives with his father, King Abdullah II, at the Kamala Harris's official residence in Washington on July 20, 2021, where King Abdullah met Ms Harris for a working breakfast. AP

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  Vice President Kamala Harris and Jordan's King Abdullah, followed by Crown Prince of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah, walk to the Naval Observatory in Washington. AP

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  Kamala Harris welcomes Angela Merkel for a working breakfast at One Observatory Circle in Washington. EPA

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  DACA recipient Hina Naveed meets Kamala Harris and other DACA recipients on July 22, 2021, in Washington. Getty Images / AFP

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  Kamala Harris arrives at the Capitol to discuss voting rights with the family of Lyndon B Johnson in Washington on August 2, 2021. Reuters

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  Guatemalan migrants deported from the US queue at the Returnee Reception Centre upon their arrival at the Air Force Base in Guatemala City on August 4, 2021. Getty Images / AFP

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  Kamala Harris looks on as DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone hugs DC Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee after President Joe Biden delivered remarks honouring law enforcement in the Rose Garden of the White House on August 5, 2021. Getty Images

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  Kamala Harris‬ and Joe Biden interact with family members of fallen police officers as Mr Biden signs into law an act to award four Congressional Gold Medals to the US Capitol Police, Washington Metro Police and those who protected the Capitol on January 6. Reuters

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  Kamala Harris speaks during a 'No on the Recall' campaign event with California Governor Gavin Newsom at IBEW-NECA Joint Apprenticeship Training Centre on September 8, 2021, in San Leandro, California. Getty Images / AFP

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  Kamala Harris meets British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on September 21, 2021. Getty Images / AFP

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  It has been said that you never really know a person until you walk a mile in their shoes. US Vice President Kamala Harris has received criticism from everything down to her footwear. Getty Images / AFP

When US Vice President Kamala Harris was sworn into office a year ago, women across the globe were watching, many of them wearing her trademark string of pearls, Converse high-tops and purple, a nod to the suffragette movement.

The first woman, the first black person and the first South Asian to ever take the oath, many saw themselves represented in Ms Harris, who is one heartbeat away from the highest office in the land.

The former senator assumed office alongside her boss, President Joe Biden, weeks after a mob of Donald Trump supporters staged an insurrection at the Capitol building. The country was in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic and millions were out of work.

“It’s tough for any vice president to shine — even in the best of times. And these aren’t the best of times,” Roy Neel, chief of staff for former vice president Al Gore, told The Associated Press.

“You not only serve at the pleasure of the president … but there’s a limit to how much you can do to take the lead role on the major issue of the day, whatever that is, and to go out and look like you’re killing it.”

Ms Harris's first year has not been an easy one. As Mr Biden’s second in command, she was given the task of pushing for voting rights, immigration reform and women's rights.

Kamala Harris shows off her Converse shoes in Miami Gardens, Florida. Getty Images via AFP

She has also become a go-to for Mr Biden's international diplomacy, particularly in Latin America.

But her lack of international presence makes her an easy target, with her tiebreaking role in the Senate often tethering her to Washington.

Despite enabling diplomatic rapprochement with President Emmanuel Macron following a submarine deal between the US, Australia and the UK that angered France, her international reputation was tarnished following a series of embarrassing incidents in Central America and on the US-Mexico border.

To all this, she was also told to tout elements of Mr Biden's centrepiece “Build Back Better” agenda, which includes ways to address climate change and the country's infrastructure issues.

While Mr Biden did secure a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill aimed at hastening the US recovery from the pandemic, the Build Back Better plan appears dead in the water amid infighting in the Democratic Party.

“She’s been given more responsibilities than most vice presidents,” a former White House staffer told The National. “She has plenty of time to accomplish great things, which people tend to forget.”

Compared to an American football game, Ms Harris has three quarters left. A lot can happen, but only if she stops getting tackled.

Yet, Mr Biden has confidence in Ms Harris, saying at a White House press conference on Wednesday that "she's going to be my running mate" in his 2024 presidential run if he chooses to try for re-election.

Voting rights

In the past 20 years, Georgia’s voter population grew by almost two million, 48 per cent of the growth attributed to the state’s black voting population, analysis from Pew Research Centre shows.

Former president Donald Trump lost the reliably red state in the 2020 presidential elections and in a recorded call, asked an election official to find enough votes to overturn the results.

And on January 5, 2021, all eyes were on the Peach State and a Senate run-off, when a special election brought Democrat underdogs Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock into Congress, turning the state blue and also causing the Senate to be split 50/50 — giving Ms Harris the tiebreaking vote.

Two months later, the state’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed legislation making it harder to vote by mail and gave his party sweeping controls over state elections.

A Trump loyalist, Mr Kemp said that it was evident that “significant reforms” were needed even though a historic statewide audit proved to the contrary.

In promoting voting rights, Ms Harris faces a growing white-nationalist movement, Mr Trump peddling false claims of voter fraud, Georgia as well as other states enacting voter laws that will make it harder for some people to vote, and a Senate stacked against her.

“Today, our freedom to vote is under assault,” Ms Harris said.

“In Georgia and across our nation, anti-voter laws are being passed that could make it more difficult for as many as 55 million Americans to vote — 55 million Americans. That is one out of six people in our country.”

Though it passed the House, the administration’s voting rights legislation appears to be destined to fail.

Gaffes shade victories

After taking office, Ms Harris’s victory celebration quickly came to a screeching halt, as illegal entries at the US-Mexico border, which began spiking before the Biden-Harris victory, skyrocketed post-inauguration.

The administration decided to take a tough stance.

While visiting President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala in June, Ms Harris gave a speech that incorporated many topics, including migration, anti-corruption initiatives and human trafficking. The sound byte heard around the world, however, was: “Do not come here”.

The gaffe overshadowed big wins on securing billions in investments from companies in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Then came the photo at the Mexico-Texas border of a mounted patrol officer appearing to whip a man along with images of about 14,000 Haitian migrants sleeping under bridges.

This, along with a record number of would-be migrants being turned away over the past year, has infuriated many in the administration’s own base.

The domino effect

A lot of the roles Mr Biden expects Ms Harris to fill are seemingly based on gender, race, ethnic and social background, such as women's issues.

A stacked Supreme Court shows little to no sign of protecting Roe v Wade as states enact abortion bans and otherwise restrictive laws pertaining to women's reproductive health.

A divided Senate refusing to debate voting rights and no movement on the filibuster leaves a lot of room for Republicans to take back the Senate in this year's midterm elections, leading to the possible erosion of everything Ms Harris and Mr Biden have tried to build.