DETROIT — The second round of candidates hoping to become the Democratic nomination to run against President Donald Trump are preparing for a debate Wednesday night.
One of Wednesday’s participants will be California Sen. Kamala Harris, who received the endorsement of the Michigan Democratic Black Caucus.
Keith Williams, the chair of the caucus, said his priority is to promote the issues and concerns of African Americans and to elect Democrats who will work on those, and Harris’ proposals are most aligned with those.
“My concern with all these candidates is about capitalization, education, health care and safety for our communities. She’s going to address that,” Williams said. “She’s a sincere person, I love her spirit, I love her tenacity.
Aside from Harris’ policy, Williams believes she is qualified for the job.
“She’s a United States senator, she’s a former attorney general and she fits all the qualifications of being president. She’s better than what we got,” Williams said.
Tuesday’s debates didn’t appeal to Williams, who said the conversation was in “Washington-speak” and none of the candidates addressed how they were going to help inner city communities.
“How are they gonna uplift those African Americans who struggle with education? Who struggle with economics? They didn’t talk about that yesterday,” he said.
In addition to Harris, the candidates taking part Wednesday Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Kamala Harris of California, former Vice President Joe Biden, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and businessman Andrew Yang.
