Democratic presidential candidate and US Vice President Kamala Harris waves after speaking on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, US, August 22, 2024. | Photo credit: Reuters
US Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her party’s presidential nomination on Thursday (August 22, 2024) night, telling voters that they have a chance to chart a “new way forward” as Americans this November. Democratic National Convention,
As Ms Harris took the stage, she began her address amid thunderous applause and a prolonged standing ovation.
“In this election, our country has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move beyond the bitterness, pessimism and divisive battles of the past,” Ms Harris said as she accepted the nomination. “A chance to chart a new path. Not as members of a single party or faction, but as Americans.”
Ms Harris’s address in Chicago capped a tumultuous eight weeks in American politics and a stunning reversal in Democratic fortunes just 75 days before Election Day. Party leaders, who were publicly dismayed by President Joe Biden’s candidacy after a disastrous debate against Republican Donald Trump, were heartened by both the historic nature of Ms Harris’ candidacy and the raised expectations it has raised for this November.
“The path that I have taken to get here in recent weeks, to the United States, was undoubtedly unexpected. But I am no stranger to unexpected journeys,” she said.
Exactly one month later Mr Biden ends his re-election campaign and endorsed her for her place on the Democratic ticket, Ms. Harris was seeking to make the most of an opportunity to define herself and her political vision on her own terms before millions of voters.
Ms. Harris said she was raised primarily by her mother after her parents divorced, living in a small apartment in San Francisco’s East Bay, and also by friends and caregivers who were “loving family.” She also detailed a key part of her political origin story, when her best friend from high school, Wanda, told her she was being abused by her stepfather and came to live with Harris’s family.
“That’s one of the reasons I became a prosecutor,” Ms. Harris said. “To protect people like Wanda.”
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 US president. As she took the stage, she looked out at a crowd of female delegates and Democratic supporters dressed in white – the colour of women’s suffrage – the movement that culminated in American women being granted the right to vote in 1920.
There was a festive atmosphere throughout the evening at the United Center, which drew a large crowd of spectators Fellow candidate Tim Walz dancing and singing along to a mix of pop and classic rock. Ms Harris’s two young nieces were called on stage by the actress Kerry Washington to remind conference attendees how to pronounce her first name correctly. At the girls’ direction, “comma” was shouted from one side of the arena and “la” from the other.
Ms. Harris, the daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India, spoke a day after Mr. Walz thanked a packed Chicago arena for “bringing joy” to the election.