Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris waves after a speech on Day 4 of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, USA, August 22, 2024. | Photo credit: Reuters
US Vice President Kamala Harris told voters they have an opportunity to chart a “new way forward” as Americans this November when she announced her party’s presidential nomination during the Democratic National Convention on Thursday evening (August 22, 2024). accepted.
Ms. Harris walked onto the stage to thunderous applause and a lengthy ovation as conference attendees chanted her name before she began her remarks.
“Our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity in this election to move beyond the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past,” Ms. Harris said as she accepted the nomination. “An opportunity to chart a new path forward. Not as members of a particular party or faction, but as Americans.”
Ms. Harris’ speech in Chicago caps an eight-week whirlwind in American politics and manifests the stunning reversal of Democratic fortunes just 75 days before Election Day. Party leaders, who publicly despaired of President Joe Biden’s candidacy after his disastrous debate against Republican Donald Trump, cheered both the historic nature of Ms. Harris’s candidacy and their high hopes for November.
“America, the path that has led me here in recent weeks has undoubtedly been unexpected. But I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys,” she said.
Just a month after Mr. Biden ended his re-election bid and endorsed her to replace him atop the Democratic ticket, Ms. Harris wanted to make the most of her opportunity to define herself and her political vision to voters on her own terms in front of an audience. of millions.
Ms. Harris said she was raised primarily by her mother after her parents divorced in a small apartment in San Francisco’s East Bay, and that she was also raised by friends and caregivers who were “family through love.” an important part of her political origins story, when Wanda, her best friend from high school, confided in her about being abused by her stepfather and came to live with Harris’ family.
“That is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor. To protect people like Wanda,†Ms Harris said.
Ms. Harris is the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to accept a major party’s presidential nomination, and if elected she would be the first female U.S. president. As she took the stage, she saw a sea of female delegates and Democratic supporters wearing white — the color of women’s suffrage — the movement that culminated when American women secured the right to vote in 1920.
There was a festive atmosphere in the United Center all evening, with a packed crowd, including running mate Tim Walz, dancing and singing along to a mix of pop and classic rock. Two of Ms. Harris’ young grandnieces were brought on stage by actress Kerry Washington to remind the convention how to correctly pronounce her first name. At the girls’ direction, one side of the arena shouted “comma” and the other side shouted “la.”
Ms. Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, spoke a day after Mr. Walz, her choice as running mate, thanked the packed arena in Chicago for “bringing joy” to the election.
