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Kamala Harris has understood the task.
Harris’ speech on Thursday accepting her Democratic Party’s nomination was both biography and promise. It was a measured mix of ambition and confidence, and a roadmap for the next 10 weeks, which are sure to be a grueling battle leading up to Election Day. While her direct challenge to former President Donald Trump is expected to be brutal and petty, it is clear that the sitting vice president is ready and has a clear view of the steep road ahead. And judging by her pointed speech, in which she portrayed herself as a responsible alternative and a serious advocate for the toughest job in the world, she clearly plans to rely on her skills as an accomplished prosecutor.
“As Vice President, I have confronted threats to our security, negotiated with foreign leaders, strengthened our alliances and engaged with our brave troops overseas,” Harris said to enthusiastic audiences in a Chicago arena. “As Commander in Chief, I will ensure that America will always have the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world. And I will honor our sacred obligation to care for our troops and their families.”
Harris’ remarks were the biggest self-promoted moment she is likely to enjoy before Election Day. The fast-paced telling of her personal story flowed seamlessly into her address to Americans about their future. From her middle-class childhood to her career as a prosecutor, Harris used her time on stage to promote a candidacy that, until five weeks ago, seemed like a fanciful alternate history.
After President Joe Biden decided to step aside in favor of Harris’ potentially stronger candidate, Democrats coalesced with unprecedented speed. Buoyed by unexpected enthusiasm and deep pockets, a Harris presidency looks more plausible by the day as Trump struggles to stay in the spotlight. The expected sugar rush of Harris’ rise has yet to wear off, making Republicans increasingly nervous. All the while, Harris has tirelessly taken on the fight against Trump and his allies.
“He’s not really fighting for the middle class. Instead, he’s fighting for himself and his billionaire friends,” Harris said, adding that dictators also cheered his return to power. “Trump will not hold autocrats accountable because he wants to be an autocrat himself.”
It was the culmination of a four-day nationwide reintroduction of Harris that was wrapped in unwaveringly positive anecdotes and memories. With considerably more energy than Republicans had last month, Democrats seemed more united than at any time in recent memory. In part, this was due to the fall of roewhich has helped boost Democrats’ support in election after election over the past two years. But that’s also partly because the prospect of Democrats losing the White House is so abhorrent. Disagreements over party priorities seem to be pushed aside in the search for a unified Trump bloc.
“Simply put, they’re crazy,” Harris said of Trump and his allies. “You have to ask: Why exactly don’t they trust women?”
Harris and the Democrats spent a lot of time in Chicago this week portraying Trump and his ilk as people who aren’t up to the American people’s aspirations. Harris’s plans for her administration, which focus on reproductive health, environmental justice and economic opportunity, offer little to stoke the Republican fear machine about a radical taking the reins. If Republicans were counting on Harris to provide them with cannon fodder to brand them as San Francisco liberals, they have calculated very poorly.
“In many ways, Donald Trump is an untrustworthy man. But the consequences of bringing Donald Trump back to the White House are extremely serious,” Harris said. “None of us has to fail for all of us to succeed. There is strength in unity.”
In contrast, Trump was portrayed as a divider and an enemy of democracy itself.
“Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes,” Harris said of the failed insurrection of January 6, 2021. “When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol, where they attacked police officers. When politicians from his own party begged him to call the mob back and send help, he did the opposite. He stoked the fire.”
Taken alone, Harris’ speech is unlikely to have a decisive impact on the election campaign. In fact, it was a lot more confident than many other statements from the same podium this week. But the manuscript has fleshed out the Democrats’ theory about the allegations against a second Trump term – and they happen to have a former California prosecutor who can support that theory.
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