THE Kamala Harris he did not belong to the category of regular “visitors” one might meet at the open events of the diaspora. Perhaps the only exception was her award at the conference of the World Coordinating Committee of the Cyprus Struggle (PSEKA) in the summer of 2019. The speech she delivered then did not make us any wiser about her positions because she simply reproduced the clichés about ancient Greece and democracy that unites the two countries.
The truth is that the American vice president has not given any writing samples for our region and from what it seems, she should not have clear positions on the issues that concern us. The reason is that during her term in Congress she had not served on committees that could have given her the relevant experience. However, the Philip Gordonher current national security adviser, is an old acquaintance of the Greek-American lobby, having served as undersecretary of state for European affairs in his first four years Barack Obama.
However, being familiar with the issues in advance does not prejudge how things will turn out. For example, when the president Joe Biden was preparing to sit in the chair of the Oval Office, agents of our diaspora were saying that there has never been another president who knows our issues so well. Today, almost four years later, the same people do not hesitate to confide in private their disappointment about what was not done, especially in what has to do with Cyprus.
However, as in the case of Biden, it is important that expatriate actors have excellent access to Kamala Harris and her environment. The entrepreneur’s family plays a catalytic role in this Andrew Tsakopoulos whose daughter, Eleni Kounalaki, is the lieutenant governor of California and maintains a personal friendship with Harris. Last April, in fact, Kounalaki had arranged a delegation of expatriates led by the Archbishop of America Hopeful to visit the vice president in her office, shortly before the annual reception at the White House for the anniversary of Greek independence.
Kamala Harris, who lives in California, knows firsthand the strong presence of Greek-American businessmen, such as George Markos and the family Spanu. Also, many of these businessmen are major donors to the Democratic Party. And of course, the social and cultural imprint of Greek-Americans is found everywhere in the State, while the support given to the Greek presence by the active Metropolis of California should not be underestimated.
Finally, some may recall that the effort to invite the Prime Minister to address the joint session of Congress was initiated in California. And of course, in this particular state on the west coast there is the largest community of Armenians who are politically hyper-active and always target Turkey.
As for us, if Kamala Harris is elected we will have to wait and see who she chooses to staff the State Department and National Security Council (NSC) with to get a first idea of her politics. But it sure is a positive thing that we have people who can pick up the phone to pass the appropriate messages when and where needed.
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