CHICAGO — Kamala Harris wrapped her month-old marketing campaign within the stars and stripes — and delivered a pointy repudiation of Donald Trump.
The vice chairman — who jumped to the highest of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race — used her acceptance speech on Thursday night time to introduce her story of being raised by an immigrant, single-mom in a middle-class residence in Oakland, California, earlier than rising to the top of the federal government as distinctly American. Harris offered her personal unlikely journey and imaginative and prescient of America in sharp distinction to her opponent’s promise to “make America nice once more.”
It’s a play for swing voters in battleground states, as Harris works to broaden her enchantment to independents and moderates who could also be alienated by Trump — however not but bought on her personal nascent marketing campaign. On Thursday, she pledged “to be a president for all Individuals,” with a candidacy she argued was a shared undertaking to push the nation previous the Trump period.
“Our nation, with this election, has a valuable, fleeting alternative to maneuver previous the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the previous — an opportunity to chart a brand new means ahead,” Harris stated. “Not as members of anybody social gathering or faction, however as Individuals.”
Harris forged herself as a change agent in an election that had as soon as been outlined by two deeply unpopular, aged and polarizing presidents. It’s a fragile tightrope stroll: presenting herself as a contemporary face, whereas nonetheless embracing a lot of the administration’s agenda. Nonetheless, Democrats imagine they now have a chance to shake off a few of Biden’s baggage, particularly with regards to inflation and the economic system.
In formally accepting her social gathering’s nomination earlier than a jubilant crowd, Harris capped a dramatic ascent following Biden’s withdrawal. Her candidacy triggered a gush of fundraising, raking in additional than $300 million, and injected vitality into a celebration that noticed itself trudging towards Election Day. Private and non-private polling has tightened, whereas Democratic leaders at the moment are speaking about flipping the Home and doubtlessly preserving their imperiled Senate majority.
A conference that would’ve as soon as doubled as a wake is now a jubilant social gathering on the cusp of historical past, nominating the primary Black lady and South Asian American particular person.
However after the conference fanfare ends Thursday night time, Harris and her marketing campaign know they’re operating headlong right into a buzzsaw of non-public and coverage assaults by Trump and his crew. She lags behind Trump on the query of who is best to deal with the economic system, in line with public polling. Voters are nonetheless feeling the pinch of upper costs, and Republicans want to cling issues on the border round her.
And despite the fact that voters are giving her a contemporary look, some don’t like what they see. A New York Times/Siena College poll released last week discovered that 43 p.c of registered voters within the Solar Belt battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina thought Harris was “too liberal,” whereas simply 33 p.c stated Trump was “too conservative.”
In a press release, Republican Nationwide Committee Chair Michael Whatley previewed a few of its assaults on Harris: “What Individuals won’t hear from Kamala is any try to unify our nation, restore our border, rebuild our economic system or make sure that America is powerful sufficient to guard our pursuits at residence and overseas — the problems that each American household is anxious about.”
Thus far, it was Harris’ highest-profile check, as she appears to be like to validate the hype and good vibes round her candidacy. However she nonetheless has not sat for a one-on-one interview since turning into her social gathering’s nominee, nor has she participated in a proper press convention. She’s additionally scheduled to debate Trump on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia.
However over the 4 days of the conference, the Harris marketing campaign raced to outline the vice chairman on her personal phrases, that includes testimonials from her relations, pals and colleagues. It’s the normal work of a political conference, however Democrats stated it takes on new significance for Harris, who solely began her marketing campaign for president 4 weeks in the past.
“This conference issues greater than others” as a result of many citizens don’t know a lot about Harris or her background, Harris marketing campaign pollster Molly Murphy stated.
Standing in opposition to a courtroom-style backdrop, she leaned into her regulation enforcement resume, saying that she first turned a prosecutor partly to guard individuals like her childhood greatest buddy, a sufferer of sexual abuse. As legal professional common in California, she stated, she took on drug traffickers, cartels and the large banks, profitable billions for householders who had been dealing with foreclosures.
She rattled off Trump’s authorized historical past like she was earlier than a decide and jury, saying that along with egging on Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted cops, “he was discovered responsible of fraud by a jury of on a regular basis Individuals” and “discovered chargeable for committing sexual abuse.” She laced into him for “denigrating America.” She additionally described him as “unserious,” a departure from the vaunted language of “saving democracy” that Biden most well-liked when he led the Democratic ticket.
Harris stated that all through her profession, she “solely had one consumer: the individuals.” Trump, she argued, has represented “the one consumer he has ever had: himself.”
“Candidates have completely different kinds,” stated Dan Kanninen, Harris’ battleground states director, at a Bloomberg occasion earlier on Thursday. “Whether or not it’s in regards to the type, the way you do it — on the finish of the day, it’s about exposing the actual fact that there’s a hazard right here.”
She additionally credentialed herself as a possible commander-in-chief, as a number of veterans validated in speeches earlier than she took the stage that she was ready to serve. Harris vowed to “guarantee America at all times has the strongest, most deadly combating power on the planet.”
Democrats imagine that one in all Harris’ largest liabilities is inflation, and the primary coverage she unveiled in her marketing campaign has been a plan to assault value gouging. On Thursday, Harris tried to chip away at her deficit on the economic system by making the case that voters can belief her to tackle excessive costs as a result of she is extra like them than Trump.
“The center class is the place I come from,” she stated, whereas Trump “fights for himself and his billionaire pals.” The previous president “will give them one other spherical of tax breaks that may add as much as $5 trillion to the nationwide debt, and all of the whereas he intends to enact what, in impact, is a nationwide gross sales tax — name it, a Trump tax.”
Though others on stage briefly emphasised the history-making elements of her candidacy, Harris didn’t. Her gender and race, each of which outline her as a historic political determine, went unmentioned. Whereas many Democratic delegates wore white Thursday night time, an homage to the suffragists who fought for a girl’s proper to vote, Harris wore a darkish blue swimsuit.
Harris drew large applause for her pledges to revive abortion rights and to signal the bipartisan immigration invoice that failed in Congress earlier this 12 months, however she was mild on particular coverage particulars. To this point, she’s largely prevented filling out her coverage platform, relying as a substitute on thematic messages round defending and rising “freedoms” throughout a number of Democratic priorities.
And when she accomplished her almost 40-minute speech, crimson, white and blue balloons rained down from the United Heart rafters, as supporters waved flags and indicators emblazoned with “USA” — one other reminder of the night time’s theme, which different audio system additionally highlighted.
“I need to let my fellow Republicans in on a secret: The Democrats are as patriotic as us,” stated former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Unwell.), the anti-Trump former member of Congress who was one in all solely two Republicans on the Home committee that investigated the Jan. 6 assault.
Myah Ward contributed to this report.
