A New Political Dynasty: How Maya and Kamala Harris Have Reinvented the Role of the Political Sibling
Maya L. Harris a different kind of political sibling.
There is a long and storied history of the screw-up brothers of presidents, from Roger Clinton (who was “accused of taking cash and a gold Rolex to lobby for pardons”) to Barack Obama's Trump-supporting half-brother Malik to the late Billy Carter, who once told Senate investigators, "I do not deny I brought most of my notoriety on myself, nor do I apologize for it."
Kamala's sister on the other hand, follows a far more distinguished tradition in the annals of presidential politics. Younger by two years, she is the trusted advisor, the ultimate consigliere who knows the candidate's most intimate strengths and flaws.
“There is a greater level of integrity in the way [the Harris sisters] conduct themselves," Kate Kendall, a friend of Maya’s, once told Talking Points Memo. "You think back to John Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy as an example of a very political, intensely ambitious and thoughtful individuals.”
As a matter of fact, it's a great year for political relatives. Joe Biden's sister Valerie Biden Owens eschews the spotlight, but she has been at the former vice president's side for most of his career, leading most every major campaign he's ever run. Maya, like Owens, isn't trying to get famous.
She is a Stanford-educated lawyer who, at 29, became dean of Lincoln Law School in Sacramento, one of the youngest law school deans ever. She worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign as a policy expert and John Podesta was a huge fan, telling TPM, “Maya would cut through the bullshit, brief her quickly, and give her something to think about.”
“I think most people who know Maya will tell you she’s one of the smartest people they know,” Kamala once told Politico.
The younger Harris prefers the anonymity of a private citizen, except when it can help others. In the spring, when Donald Trump encouraged people to take hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure for coronavirus (it’s not, studies show), she came forward with a highly personal piece about her own battle with Lupus and the medical value of taking hydroxychloroquine for a disease for which it’s actually prescribed.
While the piece is candid, it’s really a meditation about inequities in the healthcare system. It is in keeping with her life's work, working for the American Civil Liberties Union of northern California and the Ford Foundation. And, of course, the piece is rooted in the sisters' shared interest in women's healthcare. Consider that a centerpiece of Kamala Harris's platform is the Maternal CARE Act, which seeks to address the discrepancies in material fetal care.
Still, what's charming about the Harrises is the sisterly warmth they display on the stump. Somehow, it's hard to picture Bobby Kennedy sharing something as sincere as this tweet Maya posted when Biden formally tapped Kamala as his running mate. "So incredibly proud of you, sis!" she wrote.
That day when a little girl from Oaktown became the first black woman to be a major-party vice-presidential nominee...😭
So incredibly proud of you, sis!
❤️🤍💙 pic.twitter.com/sm4ctGCNPU— Maya Harris (@mayaharris_) August 11, 2020
Maya’s 34-year-old daughter, Meena, paid tribute to the sisters' bond in the children's book she recently authored about her mother and aunt, which Senator Elizabeth Warren called "a must read for little girls around the world.”
A Stanford Law graduate herself, and entrepreneur, Meena is also helping her aunt on social media as one of her staunchest defenders, tweeting about how she is ignoring the birthers and "staying positive".
The excitement Meena felt was the joy a lot of us felt about this epochal first, a Black woman of Indian descent on a presidential ticket. History being made by women never gets old.
The Trump administration has been marked by its own peculiar form of familial loyalty. A daughter and son-in-law have become trusted advisors despite their notable lack of qualifications. And those children who remained outside the administration, ostensibly to run the family business, have not stayed out of politics. They can be seen regularly slinging insults and mistruths on cable news and Twitter.
If the Biden-Harris ticket becomes the Biden-Harris administration you’re going to see a lot more of Maya and Meena, and I for one would love to see it. It's about time we had a political dynasty filled with smart, fierce, eminently qualified women.
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