Kamala Harris gave the most important speech of her life in Chicago on Thursday. For the vice president of the United States, who has been in Joe Biden’s shadow for the past four years, it was her big night. Accepting the Democratic presidential nomination gave her the opportunity to ride the wave of enthusiasm she has raised in just a month and present herself to Americans as the right person to lead the country. Harris called for unity and promised to be a president for all Americans in a euphoric closing of the Democratic convention that for the first time puts the White House within reach of a black woman and of Asian origin. At the same time, she warned of the risks that would be involved if her rival, Donald Trump, regained power.
Kamala Harris did not have an easy task. Speakers of the calibre of Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton and Oprah Winfrey have appeared on the stage of the United Center, the Chicago Bulls stadium where the convention is being held. But she also has the gift of the gab, she gave a very well-crafted speech and she has the wind at her back. With her contagious laugh, with the campaign slogans that she has popularised at the speed of light (“We will not back down”, “If we fight, we win”…) and with an audience that was devoted from start to finish, Harris was acclaimed at a closing party that was unimaginable just over a month ago, when the one who was called to close this convention was Biden.
Kamala Harris prioritized her call for American unity. “This election, our nation has a precious and fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a new path forward. Not as members of a party or faction, but as Americans,” she said.
“I know there are people of all political opinions watching tonight. And I want them to know: I promise to be a president for all Americans,” she continued. The vote of independents and undecided voters, to whom the television star Oprah Winfrey appealed the day before, will be decisive on November 5. Also the vote of women, to whom she appealed using abortion as her main argument: “Why don’t you trust women?” she snapped at the Republicans. “We do trust women,” she added.
The speech had little programmatic content. The right to abortion, a law to protect the right to vote and stricter gun regulation were among his proposals. He also promised to secure the border, accusing Trump of boycotting the law that would have strengthened it against illegal immigration. In foreign policy, he guaranteed determined support for Ukraine and NATO allies. Regarding the Gaza war, he urged the release of the hostages and an immediate ceasefire. But in almost all of the speech he remained in the realm of generalities and character, trying to mix firmness and optimism, toughness and joy.
Knowing what’s happening outside means understanding what’s going to happen inside, so don’t miss anything.
KEEP READING
The call for unity did not prevent him from attacking his rival in the election: “Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious,” he said, recalling his role in the assault on the Capitol. “Think of the power he will have, especially after the Supreme Court of the United States has just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution,” he said. The Democrats have presented the electoral duel throughout the convention as the battle between the prosecutor and the criminal.
Another thread of the Democrats’ argument has been to present Trump as a self-centered egoist who cares only about himself and the rich like him, versus a Harris who will work for the American people. “We know that a strong middle class has always been critical to America’s success, and building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency. This is personal to me. The middle class is where I come from,” the candidate said. Bill Clinton joked the day before in his speech that if she wins the election she will surpass him as the president who has worked the longest at a McDonald’s.
Harris herself drew on her personal background. “My mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, traveling from India to California with the unwavering dream of being the scientist who would cure breast cancer,” she said. At the University of California, Berkeley, she met her Jamaican father. She grew up in a “working-class neighborhood of firefighters, nurses and construction workers,” she said, and one of the reasons she decided to become a prosecutor was when she found out that her best friend’s stepfather was sexually abusing her.
“I am no stranger to improbable journeys,” she said, including her nomination: “The path that brought me here in the last few weeks was certainly unexpected,” she admitted.
Candidate without primaries
Kamala Harris is the first candidate to be nominated without winning a single primary vote since 1968. In contrast to the contentious 2020 Democratic primary, in which Joe Biden won the nomination in a close race, Harris has managed to be the candidate who has walked the red carpet reluctantly laid out for her by Biden himself, who swept the primaries unopposed before bowing to party pressure to withdraw after his disastrous Atlanta debate against Donald Trump.
Although the joy that has gripped her campaign is also reminiscent of Barack Obama’s 2008 journey, the process of her coronation could not have been more different. Obama won a dog-eat-dog primary against Hillary Clinton, the party establishment’s favourite. Kamala was nominated at a virtual conference after Biden withdrew and the delegates gave her their support. Now she has two and a half months of frenetic campaigning ahead of her. Her popularity has suddenly skyrocketed and she is leading in the polls, although that guarantees her nothing, as Hillary Clinton well knows.
On the same day Trump traveled to the border in Arizona to paint an apocalyptic picture of the United States, Harris opted for optimism: “I see an America where we hold fast to the belief that built our nation, that inspired the world, that here in this country, anything is possible, nothing is beyond our reach.”
“Breaking the glass ceiling can be terrifying. Breaking a glass ceiling cuts you and hurts you,” she wrote in her memoir. Our truth. Now she is trying to break that glass ceiling with laughter. Harris is the second woman to be nominated for the presidency by one of the two major parties and the first black woman of Asian origin to do so. But where Hillary Clinton failed in the battle against Donald Trump, she hopes to win.
Closing ranks
Unlike Donald Trump, Kamala Harris fits squarely into the recent history of the Democratic Party. The former president broke with most of the traditional leaders of the Republican Party. George W. Bush, the only living former president of the Grand Old Party, did not attend the convention in Milwaukee last month. Neither did any of the former Republican presidential or vice presidential candidates. Not even Mike Pence, who was his own vice president and has made it clear that he will not vote for him. Republican unity has been somewhat shaken by the purge of dissenters. Because the convention was held just after the attack, Nikki Haley agreed to give a speech of support, but was booed.
The closing of ranks around Harris is much more complete. Four Democratic presidents have named her as the heir to their legacy, starting with the current one, Joe Biden. Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have also given prominent speeches at the convention, while Jimmy Carter, the other living president, aged 99, has had his grandson Jason as an emissary of his support.
“Choosing Kamala Harris was the first decision I made when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I have made in my entire career,” Biden said in his speech. “She is tough, she has experience, and she has enormous integrity,” he praised her. “Her story represents the best American story,” the president added. “America is ready for a new chapter,” Obama said. “America is ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris. And Kamala Harris is ready for the job,” he added.
“Kamala Harris is the only candidate in this race with the vision, the experience, the temperament, the will, and yes, the sheer joy of doing it on good days and bad,” said Clinton, who also named her as her political heir: “A new generation is coming to pick up where we left off. That is the opportunity we are given now. To elect an extraordinary woman, clearly up to the task, who will unite us and move us forward,” she proclaimed. “My grandfather can’t wait to vote for Kamala Harris,” said Jimmy Carter’s grandson. “Kamala Harris carries on my grandfather’s legacy. She knows what is right and she fights for it,” he added.
On Thursday, shortly before her speech, some of Harris’ nieces came on stage to explain how to pronounce their aunt’s name, Kamala, a Sanskrit name meaning lotus flower, an important symbol in Indian culture.
“Words are incredibly powerful,” Harris wrote in her memoir. It remains to be seen whether her words on Thursday have the power to propel a daughter of immigrants whose name many Americans cannot pronounce to the White House.
Follow all the information on the US elections atour weekly newsletter.
