Sooner State News

Chris Wilson discussed Kamala Harris' impact on Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign during his appearance on the July 9 Breaking Battlegrounds podcast episode. Wilson, the founder of WPA Intelligence, outlined the various ways running mates can alter candidates' chances, from the primaries all the way through the end of their term.

"[Biden] made it very clear that he was looking for an African-American woman and he just wanted somebody to fill that role," Wilson, the founder of WPA Intelligence, said on the podcast.

Wilson was a guest with hosts Sam Stone and Chuck Warren. After discussing Oklahoma football, Warren asked Wilson about the importance of a running mate in the upcoming presidential election, specifically in light of Kamala Harris’ low approval rate. Wilson responded that a running mate can have a huge sway with a candidate’s polls and election results if chosen correctly.

“Remember, whenever Joe Biden was rolling, very damaged into South Carolina and he got the endorsement of a very important member of Congress by committing to that member of Congress that he would appoint a black woman as VP and or to the Supreme Court,” Wilson said on the podcast. “And things turned around for him there because that vote constituency matters in the Democrat primary in South Carolina. So he went from someone who was in danger, grave danger of coming in distant in the primaries, as he had in Iowa and New Hampshire, to moving back into the frontrunner status. So it mattered to him in the primary.” Wilson also commented on the lack of intervention from her staff, and how Harris has “developed a little bit too much confidence in her ability.”

Harris is a native of Oakland, Calif., according to her White House bio. She graduated from Howard University and the University of California, Hastings College of Law. She worked in an attorney’s office in San Francisco before being elected to District Attorney of San Francisco in 2003. She was elected to the California Attorney General’s office in 2010. She represented the state in the US Senate beginning in 2017 before becoming the running mate of Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Wilson worked as the global director of research for Weber Shandwick International before creating WPA Intelligence in 2004, a market survey research firm, according to the podcast. Wilson has previously been named the 2019 Technology Leader of the Year by Campaigns and Elections magazine, and the 2021 Pollster of the Year by the American Association of Political Consultants. Wilson is also an Oklahoma native and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma.