Biden hosts biggest Diwali gathering, pitches Kamala’s character to desi voters
Biden’s pitch came on the day of a Carnegie Endowment survey that suggested that 61% of the Indian-American community was behind Harris
Washington: Combine the American president at the White House with an Indian-American astronaut speaking from the International Space station, add hundreds of guests in the historic East Room of the presidential home, and light it up with diyas inside and Rangoli outside — and Diwali couldn’t be any brighter for desi community in the power corridors of Washington DC.
On Monday night, Joe Biden — who had ended his vice presidency in 2016 by hosting the first Diwali gathering at the VP’s residence — held his final Diwali celebrations at the White House, the largest in its history, as he begins wrapping up his four year term as president.
And Indian-Americans of all hues — politicians and senior administration officials, corporate leaders and social activists, Democratic donors and philanthropists, cultural figures and performers — celebrated alongside as they milled around the East Room.
But with elections merely a week away, and Biden’s vice-president Kamala Harris, the first Indian-origin candidate in presidential fray as a major party nominee, politics could not be far behind. While private conversations revolved around the state of the race, with a clear dip in Democratic morale evident, Biden made a pitch for the candidate he had endorsed to succeed him.
“I selected Kamala to be my running mate for many reasons. She is smart. She is tough. She is trusted. District attorney, attorney general in California, United States Senator, Vice-President of the United States: There is more experience she has than the other guy she is running against. But most importantly, and I mean this sincerely, she has character,” Biden said, with a clear barb thrown at Donald Trump.
Biden’s pitch came on the day of a Carnegie Endowment survey that suggested that 61% of the Indian-American community was behind Harris, a clear majority but a dip nonetheless from the 68% desis who are estimated to have supported Biden in 2020. In line with a broader shift in the rest of American society, Indian-American men below the age of 40 have moved in larger numbers towards Trump, even as women and the elderly remain solidly behind Harris.
Biden then said Harris and he had bonded over the role their respective mothers played in their lives. Harris’s mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was a scientist who had come from India to the US in 1958. “Different generations. Different places. Different lives. But they shared a belief about America. Only in America is anything possible,” Biden said.
Biden then recognised the US surgeon-general, Vivek Murthy, who had spoken before the president, recognised three Congressmen who were present — Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi and Shri Thanedar — and called Khanna’s children to the stage. And Biden hailed the journey that Indian-Americans had traversed through, a journey of hardwork, education, entrepreneurship, faith, family. Giving an example of how far that journey could take people, Biden pointed to Sunita Williams, the Indian-American astronaut, who had sent her Diwali greetings from space to the gathering.
Biden spoke of America’s uniqueness as a country founded an on idea of equal rights, claimed that he had fulfilled his promise of creating a diverse administration that “looked like America”, and termed this moment as an inflection point that would determine the future for decades. Biden’s top Indian-American administration officials also briefed a set of prominent Indian-American community leaders about the administration’s achievements earlier in the day. In the final week of the campaign, Diwali offered Democrats a chance to reconnect with a natural constituency of supporters that is showing signs of needing more political attention.
