CHICAGO — During the month-long lifespan of Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, she has shown a remarkable buoyancy. Never mind that her opponent, former president Donald Trump, has slammed her with near-daily attacks. Never mind that the press, growing increasingly wary of her refusal to speak with them, has become impatient. She kept bobbing up the polls, turning the insurmountable deficit that plagued President Joe Biden into a glass ceiling above Trump.
This convention was supposed to be the test. As the Democratic Party parachuted into Chicago last weekend, there was a cautious worry — shared by party operatives, observers and delegates themselves — that this convention would be her undoing. Pro-Palestine protesters pledged historic marches across the city. Dozens of “uncommitted” delegates whispered of trouble on the convention floor. In more than one private conversation, the 1968 convention in Chicago, where Vietnam protests devolved into tragic chaos, was brought up. There was an eerie suspicion that Democrats had met the enemy, and it was them.
But conventions rarely work that way. More commonly, they are a show, a “sanitized, made-for-TV infomercial,” as the Washington Post called them recently. For a floundering campaign, they offer a boost. For a newlywed ticket still on its honeymoon, as is the Harris-Walz union, they keep it floating. And by the time Harris took the stage Thursday night to accept the party’s nomination, there was only one test left: deliver a speech that riles the base and charts a vision for the two-and-a-half months until Election Day.
Harris, by delegates’ measure, succeeded. “It left me feeling determined to get out there and put in the work,” said Finn Harkness, a delegate from the Omaha-area swing district. “I felt it,” added Michelle Porter Norton of Illinois. “It was impressive, it was sincere, and it was from the heart.”
The speech, it seemed, served as Harris’ reintroduction to the American people. She walked through her personal story: her two immigrant parents, both with impressive careers, meeting and falling in love; her father teaching her to not be afraid, and her mother, to not “complain” about injustice but “to do something”; her path to law stemmed from a desire to protect others; her career as a prosecutor, as California attorney general, as senator.
With her resume unveiled, she took on the role of prosecutor. The stage was set as if she was in a courtroom, the screen behind her showing wood paneling and a pair of American flags. Dressed in a dark blazer, she took up her case against Trump.
“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,” she said. “But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”
She chided Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. She slammed him for his actions on January 6. She painted a bleak picture of a second Trump term: his “explicit intent” to release those imprisoned for their own actions on January 6, and his desires to seek retribution against his political enemies.
She claimed Trump plans to cut entitlements, which he has denied. She said Trump would curtail abortion rights — something he’s also denied — while Harris would “trust women” and protect reproductive freedom.
But suddenly, as Harris’ topic turned to the Middle East, the crowd — which had been cheering, applauding and chanting on cue — turned silent. “Let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself,” she said. The crowd applauded. As the audience quieted, she continued, labeling Hamas a “terrorist organization” and accusing them of “unspeakable” acts. Scattered chants of “free Palestine!” began to ring out from the audience, but they were quickly drowned out by applause. Then, as Harris continued, discussing the “heartbreaking” suffering in Gaza and promising to work to help Palestinians “realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” applause filled the arena — far louder than the cheers after she spoke of defending Israel.
To her supporters, it will be held up as an example of her deftness in speaking about a polarizing political subject. But it was the most detail she gave on any specific policy topic all night. She touched on many of her positions — on abortion, she promised to “restore reproductive freedom,” should Congress act; on immigration, to sign the bipartisan border bill that sunk in the Senate in February; on the economy, “a middle class tax cut.” But details were sparse, and much of it was framed as a rebuttal to Trump’s positions.
A convention acceptance speech is not typically the place where policies are unveiled, defenders would say. Very well. But a candidate, at this point, would usually have staked out her detailed positions on key issues. If the expectation is that an incumbent presidency will continue the policies of its first term, that would, assumably, be made clear. Instead, Harris mentioned Biden only thrice during her speech — once in her opening monologue, to briefly express thanks; and twice when discussing Israel-Palestine, to talk about the work she is doing alongside Biden.
“She has been in the Oval Office with the president on all of these major issues,” Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, said during a Jewish Democratic Council of America event earlier Thursday. There is “no daylight” between Harris and Biden, the White House insists. Whether that extends to Harris’ plan for her potential term, there are crickets.
Delegates don’t seem to mind. Asked what their favorites of Harris’ policy plans are, they point to what she says on reproductive rights or her economic plan, unveiled in part last Friday. Harkness credited the Biden-Harris administration’s work to cap insulin costs and cancel student debt as important for his family. Steve Ellison, from Florida, emphasized Harris’ commitment to NATO.
“Trump and his minions are painting an America of doom and gloom,” said Glenn Wright, a Democratic candidate in Utah’s 3rd Congressional District. “Harris, as I saw it, was glass-half-full.”
Not just Harris, it seems. “I think we’re going to win this,” Diane Lewis, chair of the Utah Democratic Party said, as delegates filed out of the arena, kicking through a sea of red and blue balloons. “Honestly, I just feel it.”
