Harris supporter from Peninsula mobilizes voters after Biden steps aside
Amid the churn of her printer and chime of her phone, it's been a chaotic couple of days for Kamala Harris supporter Harini Krishnan.
"I will say the last 48 hours has been a blur, but it has been a magical blur," she told CBS News Bay Area.
Lovingly known as Harini Auntie to young Harris supporters, Krishnan has been championing the current vice president since 2019, and as friend for longer.
She leads an organization that was known as South Asians for Biden just 48 hours ago, but has since rebranded to South Asians for Harris in the wake of President Joe Biden's decision to not seek re-election.
"This is 24 hours old," she says, scrolling through their new website. "I will say that it's good to have this momentum, because we have to act on it. There's a lot of work to be done. There's a lot of mobilizing, a lot of organizing, because after the initial excitement, it's about doing the work."
It's been non-stop for Krishnan, who credits her seemingly endless energy to the support of her husband.
Thousands of pieces of material are being reprinted with their new logo for Harris — she says she expects the massive project to be completed less than a week after Harris received the endorsement of Biden.
The work is a symbol of a much larger goal Krishnan has been working towards — electing not only a female, but Harris specifically, as president.
"What it means to see her as a South Asian woman president means that my daughters … can see themselves in her," she explained.
"Never in my ancestors' wildest dreams did I imagine that we would have this phenomenal South Asian, Indian American, Tamar woman, as [a candidate for] president of our great country, uniting us in such a powerful, poignant way," Krishnan added, her voice cracking with emotion.
In a virtual meeting of California Democratic delegates Monday, Krishnan spoke before a crowd of thousands, making her case for why Harris should receive their support.
"I was able to speak and talk to these delegates about my journey with VP Harris, and say, 'this is the candidate. This is our hometown girl. We should align behind her,'" she explained. "It was so special, and I will say, probably one of the most meaningful moments of my life. And I will tell my grandchildren that."
The California delegation and its more than 490 delegates unanimously voted to support Harris at the upcoming Democratic National Convention.
Momentum is buzzing around the so-called K-Hive, a group of longtime supporters close to Harris. It's also led in part by Krishnan, adding to her extending list of involvement in the Harris campaign.
"We are her core supporters, her core family, who are there to push back against all the misogynoir that you see," she explained. "Kamala being who she is, right, a Black, Asian, American, South Asian, Indian American, woman candidate, she faced a lot of the tropes, racist tropes, a lot of the misogynoir."
For 18 hours a day at her desk, Krishnan has worked to combat that messaging alongside her team, publishing counter-material and fact-checks in languages aimed at capturing the attention of Bangladeshi Americans, Sri Lankan Americans, and Indian Americans.
"I'm not paid by any campaign. I'm not paid by anybody. I do this in my own time. I do this because I believe in her," Krishnan explained.
All with the hope of electing the first woman, the first Black and Indian American, as president.
