On the Ellipse in Washington, with the White House illuminated in the background and in front of a dedicated crowd, the Democratic candidate for the presidency of the United States, Kamala Harris, delivered her final argument yesterday to win over the American electorate. She presented two competing visions, that of her rival, Donald Trump, who she said is “obsessed with revenge and consumed by grievances,” and hers, “a president for all Americans.” In a half-hour speech, Harris asked to “turn the page” on Trumpism to avoid “chaos” and, in a divided and polarized country, she reiterated her message of unity during a rally in which the most innovative thing was actually the stage. .
Harris was looking for double symbolism with the chosen place. It is where a Donald Trump, defeated at the polls and unable to assimilate it, gave a speech to his followers before they launched an assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Furthermore, with its proximity to the White House, it showed the objective of his campaign: achieving the presidency, receiving the keys to the most famous presidential palace in the world from Joe Biden and becoming the first woman to occupy the Oval Office.
Washington is not the usual terrain for campaign rallies. In the District of Columbia, which has only three Electoral College votes, Democrats sweep more than 90% of the vote. This Tuesday, its citizens rallied to Harris. Since hours before, with the downtown streets blocked, thousands and thousands of followers were heading to the Ellipse to listen to the Democratic leader, even at the cost of hours of queues and waiting. The audience was much more diverse than at Trump’s rallies. Young and not so young; Whites, African Americans, Asians and Latinos, men and women mixed among the attendees, representing that multicultural coalition with which they aspire to win the elections.
The message was directed to the entire United States. He will take it through the decisive states in the coming days, starting with North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin this Wednesday, and Nevada and Arizona on Thursday. He appealed to patriotism, to put “country before party” and to reject the “schemes of would-be dictators.” “For too long, we have been consumed by too much division, chaos and mutual distrust, and it can be easy then to forget a simple truth: it doesn’t have to be this way,” he argued.
Harris spoke behind a lectern and bulletproof glass at the end of an illuminated blue walkway, with American flags behind and large signs that read “Freedom,” one of her campaign slogans. There were no other speakers. After the performance of the national anthem, he appeared almost punctually, wearing a black suit and white shirt. “Good night, United States!” he greeted, while the audience chanted his name. Tens of thousands of supporters attended the rally inside and outside the security perimeter. The Harris campaign estimated 75,000 attendees, although this seems somewhat exaggerated.
The Democratic candidate attacked her rival before presenting her own proposal. He immediately recalled his performance on January 6 and how, when he was in the White House and was alerted that the crowd intended to kill his own vice president, Trump responded “So what?”, according to the summary for which he was arrested. investigate.
“Donald Trump has told us his priorities for a second term. He has an enemies list of people he intends to prosecute. “He says that one of his highest priorities is to grant freedom to the violent extremists who attacked police forces on January 6,” he said without going off script.
“Donald Trump intends to use the United States military against American citizens who simply do not agree with him. People he calls ‘the enemy within’. “This is not a presidential candidate who is thinking about how to improve your life,” he added, calling the former president “a petty tyrant.”
“He is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed by grievance and uncontrollably seeking power. Donald Trump has been trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other for a decade. That’s how he is. “But America, I am here tonight to say: that is not who we are,” he continued.
Biden’s absence
“It’s time to stop pointing fingers and start going hand in hand,” he said, before repeating that it is “time for a new generation of leadership.” The president of the United States, Joe Biden, 81, who was handed the nomination on a plate, was not present at the rally. She said that she was proud to have served as vice president at his side, but that her presidency will be different because the challenges will be different, in that complicated balance she seeks between being a candidate of continuity and change. Now, the main challenge, he assured, is to fight against the high cost of living. That served to remind her of her middle-class origins and assured that she will worry about normal people and not about lowering taxes on billionaires, like her rival.
Harris presented herself once again as someone who has spent most of her career outside Washington and willing to fight back against lobbyists. “I will always tell you the truth, even if it is difficult to hear,” he proclaimed in another phrase with echoes of Jimmy Carter, president from 1977 to 1981.
“America, we know what Donald Trump has in mind. More chaos. More division. And policies that help those at the top and hurt everyone else. I offer a different path. And I ask for your vote,” said the vice president in a speech that was longer than usual in hers and that included some of her classic slogans: “We will not go back.”
“I am committed to finding common ground and common sense solutions to improve our lives. I’m not looking to score political points. I look for progress. I am committed to listening to the experts. To those who will be affected by the decisions I will make. And to the people who disagree with me. Unlike Donald Trump, I don’t think people who disagree with me are the enemy. He wants to put them in jail. “I will give them a place at my table,” he added. As in previous rallies, he contrasted Trump’s “list of enemies” with his “to-do list.”
Some of his phrases were literally the same as what he has been saying throughout the campaign, including the candidacy acceptance speech at the Democratic convention. “I am committed to being a president for all Americans, to always put the country above the party and above myself,” she said with an appeal for unity in a deeply divided country.
