CNN
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Kamala Harris helped America see joy, and now she must show America a president.
Her speech at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday night will be her toughest test yet in a dizzying month that has catapulted her to the cusp of a historic presidency that could reshape American politics.
The Vice President will offer the country a fresh start and a chance to change – away from the persistent depression created by years of Donald Trump’s gloomy rhetoric and public exhaustion after a once-in-a-century pandemic and the devastatingly high prices that resulted.
More broadly, she proposes restoring American life to its elusive lightness and optimism, reclaiming from conservatives the notion of “freedom,” which encompasses everything from reproductive rights to new economic relief for the working and middle classes to access to health care and safety from mass shootings.
“This election, each of us faces a question. And that question is: What kind of country do we want to live in?” Harris said Tuesday night at a well-attended rally in Milwaukee while the party convention was taking place in Chicago. “Do we want to live in a country of chaos, fear and hatred? Or in a country of freedom, compassion and the rule of law?”
Her party is calling on Harris to move to the next level of the political stratosphere after President Joe Biden’s chances of re-election were ended due to his advanced age.
No modern presidential candidate of any of the major parties has accomplished such a difficult task in such a short period of time.
It is the last obstacle to Trump’s return to power after he defied four impeachments and a conviction and trounced his rivals in the primaries as he seeks the most spectacular presidential comeback in over a century.
But Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, told the country on Wednesday night that she could “close the chapter on Donald Trump” in the blunt, Midwestern style that the campaign hopes will appeal to white men in the heartland who may be growing tired of the MAGA credo.
“Kamala Harris is tough. Kamala Harris is experienced. And Kamala Harris is ready,” Walz yelled.
In another message to independent and undecided Americans, talk show icon and actress Oprah Winfrey led a parade of entertainers and stars, reinforcing a message that resonated throughout the convention.
“Let’s choose common sense over nonsense, because that’s the best thing about America,” Winfrey said. “Let’s choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday. We will not go back. We will not be pushed back, pushed back, pushed back, pushed back. We will not go back.”
Most presidential candidates spend years refining their policy views and rhetoric during the campaign, but Harris was forced to build her campaign on the fly.
— She must establish herself in the eyes of voters as a credible potential commander in chief. She must fill many gaps. Although she loyally supports Biden’s approach to national security, her handling of China, Russia, the war in Ukraine and Iran is largely a mystery.
— Harris’ best chance to beat Trump is to present herself as the agent of change that voters have been telling pollsters for many months as their preferred candidate. That’s difficult because she is a key member of an unpopular administration. In her most conspicuous attempt to differentiate herself from Biden, however, Harris has sought to move the party in a sharply populist direction by promising to rein in price gouging by supermarket giants. She will likely highlight that on Thursday to signal to voters that she meets them where they are. Former President Bill Clinton summed up that strategy in his speech at the party’s convention on Wednesday. “Every four years … people come to the candidates … and say … ‘These are our problems, solve them. These are our opportunities, exploit them. These are our fears, alleviate them. These are our dreams, help them come true.'”
— Harris’ mixed performance as vice president raised doubts about her ability to handle the top job. Her strong debut as a new presidential candidate has allayed some of those Democratic fears. But whether she will survive the tough test ahead is still in question. Trump is trying to portray her as an extreme liberal who stands outside the mainstream of American politics. Everything Harris says Thursday will be an attempt to neutralize attacks on her record on immigration, her character and her ability to lead in a troubled world. She faces an even greater test in her debate against Trump on Sept. 10.
— The first month of Harris’ campaign was spent in a surreal bubble as the Democratic Party suddenly came back to life. But observers will be looking to her speech for evidence that she can turn the joy she has generated so far into a viable campaign machine to win millions of votes.
– Harris also needs to disqualify Trump in the eyes of enough voters to build her own majority. She has been less explicit than Biden in calling this election a battle for “the soul of the nation,” as key party leaders have moved from warning of Trump’s existential threat to mocking and disparaging him. But Harris warns that a second Trump term could change the country beyond recognition. “It’s not 2016, it’s not 2020. And in particular, the stakes are higher for many reasons, because we know what he’s doing when he’s in office.”
Ultimately, Harris must make Americans comfortable with the idea of becoming president.
In this extremely intimate portrait of the potential next Commander in Chief, Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff attempted to endear her to Americans through details of her romance.
“She will lead with joy and toughness, with that laugh and that look, with compassion and conviction. She will lead from the conviction that no matter where we come from or what we look like, we are strongest when we fight for what we believe in, not just what we fear,” Emhoff said Tuesday night. “Kamala Harris was exactly the right person for me at an important moment in my life, and at this moment in our nation’s history, she is exactly the right president.”
Despite serving as vice president for four years, Harris is unknown to many Americans. A recent CBS News poll found that only 64 percent of Americans know what she stands for, compared to 86 percent who said the same about Trump.
This is an opportunity for the vice president to present a new voice to the country. But it also explains why she needs to define herself before Trump does it for her.
She will never have a better chance.
Although she was deeply loyal to Biden, her tenure as vice president was not exactly a success – one reason why there was little pressure on the president to step down at the beginning of this cycle.
But now a candidate who has never received a single vote for the presidency (her 2020 primary campaign was canceled long before the Iowa caucuses) is expected to conjure up a victory in a do-or-die election.
When politicians receive their party’s nomination, they must prepare to take on the even greater burden of the presidency. In Harris’ case, it’s not a complete leap into the unknown, as she ran for vice president in 2020 and has been just a stone’s throw away from the top job ever since.
The vice president’s fortunes as her boss tried to keep her as a nominee and then bowed to his party’s desperation that pushed him to resign have tarnished her reputation. It suggests the possibility that a crisis has produced the next Democratic Party giant.
But she is not alone. Former Democratic presidents, first ladies and members of Harris’ inner circle and family have rallied behind her this week, a stunning shift in direction in a party that was in turmoil after Biden’s disastrous debate with Trump.
Biden poignantly handed over his legacy and his party’s hopes to Harris before fading into lame duck status following his address to the convention on Monday night.
But now only Harris can convince voters that she can get the 47th President.
Harris would be the first black woman and Indian-American president. All week, Democratic Party elders have highlighted her heritage, her middle-class upbringing and her journey from flipping burgers at McDonald’s to becoming California’s attorney general who put violent criminals behind bars. They have argued that her rise from humble beginnings to vice president epitomizes a life of service that makes her well-suited to lead the nation.
This diverse biography could be the key to restoring a Democratic coalition based on women, minorities and suburban voters that could lead Harris to the Oval Office.
When the Democrats arrived in Chicago, they were euphoric after Harris and Walz had thrilled huge crowds at rallies in swing states, while Trump was struggling to make up ground – and suddenly, at 78, faced the unwelcome reality of being the old candidate in the race.
But with each passing day, the reality of this year’s election, which is still close, has come to the fore, fueled by warnings from the Democrats who know best what it takes to win power – former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama – that this election is far from over and that the joy of the past few weeks is just a starting point.
