Test your Kamala-Q -- column of Aug. 13, 2020

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made history Tuesday when he picked Sen. Kamala Harris of California as his running mate. If the Biden-Harris ticket wins, Harris will become the nation’s first Black, female and Asian American vice president.

With the presidential candidates the oldest in history – Biden is 77 and President Donald Trump, 74 – running mates are more important than ever. So, how well do you know the people who could be a heartbeat away from the top job next January?

Today, before the Democratic convention opens Monday, test your trivia of Harris. Next week, before the Republican convention opens Aug. 24, take our quiz about Republican Vice President Mike Pence.

1) What’s the correct way to pronounce Kamala Harris’s first name?
A) Kuh-MAH-luh
B) CAMEL-uh
C) COMMA-luh
D) I’m not sure

2) Kamala is the Sanskrit word for what?
A) Leader
B) Lotus flower
C) Sunshine
D) Fearless

3) Harris is the daughter of immigrants from which countries?
A. India and Africa
B. India and Ecuador
C. India and Trinidad
D. India and Jamaica

4) What were her parents’ occupations?
A. Mother a breast cancer researcher, father an economics professor
B. Mother a housewife, father a translator at the United Nations
C. Mother a politician, father a corporate exec
D. Mother and father both nuclear engineers

5) In another first for someone on a major party’s presidential ticket, Harris is a graduate of which historically black college or university?
A. Morehouse College
B. Howard University
C. Spelman College
D. Hampton University

6) True or false: Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama and Kamala Harris all failed the bar exam.

7) How old was Harris when Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate?
A. 4
B. 6
C. 8
D. 10

8) Which title did Harris say means the most to her?
A. The gentlelady from California
B. Momala
C. Madame Vice President
D. None of these

9) What is the name of Harris’s husband?
A. Douglas Emhoff
B. David Englehoff
C. Donald Epstein
D. Daniel Ellsberg


10) Which of these did President Trump NOT say or tweet about Harris?
A. She’s “risky”
B. She’s “nasty”
C. She’s the “meanest” and “most horrible” senator
D. She’s “pretty cute”

BONUS: How tall is Harris?


ANSWERS
1. C. Harris put out a campaign ad when she ran for the Senate in 2016 with kids explaining how to pronounce it. https://bit.ly/2Fi54ya
2. B
3. D
4. A. Her parents divorced when Harris was a child.
5. B. Class of 1986
6. True. They all went on to pass bar exams later.
7. C. She was born Oct. 20, 1964. Biden was first elected to the Senate in November 1972.
8. B. It’s the name her two stepchildren came up with.
9. A. They were married in 2014.
10. D
Bonus: She’s 5-feet-2

--Compiled by Marsha Mercer

©2020 Marsha Mercer. All rights reserved.
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