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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Three North Texas grassroots Democrats said Wednesday, Jan. 20, they’re happy they can finally call Joe Biden, President and Kamala Harris, Vice President.
CBS 11 spoke with Haley Taylor Schlitz and Lew Blackburn, two former delegates to the Democratic National Convention and party activist Jody Bland in a group Zoom meeting before the swearing-in ceremony.
They said this is not only a celebration of a new era at the White House, but the fact that Kamala Harris is the nation’s first female, Black-American, and Asian-American Vice President.
Schlitz said, “This is a very exciting day. It’s historic. All of the Divine nine m sigma Gamma Rho. Kamala Harris is obviously Alpha Kappa Alpha. We’re all celebrating her. We’re very happy that she’s in this position.”
Bland said, “This is going to represent a whole demographic of our country that is often not well represented in politics. As Haley said, it’s very exciting to see that face of politics change.”
Blackburn, a former Dallas ISD Trustee said, “I think it’s about time that we are on the road to healing the road to making America feel more at ease with each other, as my Botha work blue, and red. But I think we all need to come together.”
He said he would have liked to have seen now former President Donald Trump attend the Inauguration to continue the tradition and some sense of diplomacy.
Schlitz said she didn’t care.
Bland said the Biden-Harris administration needs to focus on addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 400,000 Americans have died related to the virus.
Bland and Blackburn said reviving the American economy is also crucial and that the way to do that is by immunizing as many people as possible, as quickly as possible against the virus.
Blackburn said, “Working on the economy. We have got to get people back to work, get to a sense of normalcy, and then we’ll come about getting the vaccines into more arms today are getting more small businesses and other businesses back to work.”
Bland said, “So once we are able to push through this COVID crisis together and get the economy back in the right direction, I’m really excited. And I’m really hopeful that the Biden administration will focus on further progressive issues such as debt free college thing, focusing on issues and protections for workers and consumers.”
Schlitz said she also believes that the new President and Vice President will help boost the United States’ image in the world. “I think that’s one of the biggest things I’m hoping to see is America restoring its reputation of being the land of the free and being welcoming.”
The new administration assumes power as House Democrats maintain their narrowest majority: ten seats.
The Senate has 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans, leaving Vice President Harris to cast the tie-breaking vote when necessary.
The Democrats CBS 11 spoke with said they want the country to come together to solve the nation’s problems.
Bland, who favors a progressive agenda, said they must acknowledge the reality in Washington. “Like it or not, Kyrsten Sinema, Joe Manchin, Mitt Romney, moderate members of the United States Senate are going to carry a lot of power for the next two years. If we want to pass progressive legislation, we need to find a way, as Lew says, to work with those people.”
Schlitz said, “I do think that majority that we have, or that 50-50 split with Vice President Kamala Harris being the tiebreaker will be a very exciting to watch, because I think it’ll be an improvement from what we’ve seen.”
Blackburn said, “I’m hopeful that we don’t get to the point or stay at the point where it’s all about Republicans versus Democrats. Hope we can get to the point where Democrats have reached out to work with the Republicans so that we can work for the good of the country.”
WATCH FULL INTERVIEW HERE
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