Harris embraces patriotism, savages Trump in acceptance speech

CHICAGO — Kamala Harris wrapped her month-old campaign in the stars and stripes — and delivered a sharp repudiation of Donald Trump.

The vice president — who jumped to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden withdrew from the race — used her acceptance speech on Thursday night to introduce her story of being raised by an immigrant, single-mom in a middle-class home in Oakland, California, before rising to the pinnacle of the government as distinctly American. Harris presented her own unlikely journey and vision of America in sharp contrast to her opponent’s promise to “make America great again.”

It’s a play for swing voters in battleground states, as Harris works to broaden her appeal to independents and moderates who may be alienated by Trump — but not yet sold on her own nascent campaign. On Thursday, she pledged “to be a president for all Americans,” with a candidacy she argued was a shared project to push the country past the Trump era.

“Our nation, with this election, has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past — a chance to chart a new way forward,” Harris said. “Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans.”

Harris cast herself as a change agent in an election that had once been defined by two deeply unpopular, elderly and polarizing presidents. It’s a delicate tightrope walk: presenting herself as a fresh face, while still embracing most of the administration’s agenda. Nonetheless, Democrats believe they now have an opportunity to shake off some of Biden’s baggage, especially when it comes to inflation and the economy.

In formally accepting her party’s nomination before a jubilant crowd, Harris capped a dramatic ascent following Biden’s withdrawal. Her candidacy triggered a gush of fundraising, raking in more than $300 million , and injected energy into a party that saw itself trudging toward Election Day. Public and private polling has tightened, while Democratic leaders are now talking about flipping the House and potentially preserving their imperiled Senate majority.

A convention that could’ve once doubled as a wake is now a jubilant party on the cusp of history, nominating the first Black woman and South Asian American person.

But after the convention fanfare ends Thursday night, Harris and her campaign know they are running headlong into a buzzsaw of personal and policy attacks by Trump and his team. She lags behind Trump on the question of who is better to handle the economy, according to public polling. Voters are still feeling the pinch of higher prices, and Republicans are looking to hang problems at the border around her.

And even though voters are giving her a fresh look, some don’t like what they see. A New York Times/Siena College poll released last week found that 43 percent of registered voters in the Sun Belt battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina thought Harris was “too liberal,” while just 33 percent said Trump was “too conservative.”

In a statement, Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley previewed some of its attacks on Harris: “What Americans will not hear from Kamala is any attempt to unify our country, restore our border, rebuild our economy or ensure that America is strong enough to protect our interests at home and abroad — the issues that every American family is concerned about.”

To date, it was Harris’ highest-profile test, as she looks to validate the hype and good vibes around her candidacy. But she still has not sat for a one-on-one interview since becoming her party’s nominee, nor has she participated in a formal press conference. She’s also scheduled to debate Trump on Sept. 10 in Philadelphia.

But over the four days of the convention, the Harris campaign raced to define the vice president on her own terms, featuring testimonials from her family members, friends and colleagues. It’s the traditional work of a political convention, but Democrats said it takes on new importance for Harris, who only started her campaign for president four weeks ago.

“This convention matters more than others” because many voters don’t know much about Harris or her background, Harris campaign pollster Molly Murphy said.

Standing against a courtroom-style backdrop, she leaned into her law enforcement resume, saying that she first became a prosecutor in part to protect people like her childhood best friend, a victim of sexual abuse. As attorney general in California, she said, she took on drug traffickers, cartels and the big banks, winning billions for homeowners who were facing foreclosure.

She rattled off Trump’s legal history like she was before a judge and jury, saying that in addition to egging on Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted police officers, “he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans” and “found liable for committing sexual abuse.” She laced into him for “denigrating America.” She also described him as “unserious,” a departure from the vaunted language of “saving democracy” that Biden preferred when he led the Democratic ticket.

Harris said that throughout her career, she “only had one client: the people.” Trump, she argued, has represented “the only client he has ever had: himself.”

“Candidates have different styles,” said Dan Kanninen, Harris’ battleground states director, at a Bloomberg event earlier on Thursday. “Whether it’s about the style, how you do it — at the end of the day, it’s about exposing the fact that there is a danger here.”

She also credentialed herself as a potential commander-in-chief, as several veterans validated in speeches before she took the stage that she was prepared to serve. Harris vowed to “ensure America always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.”

Democrats believe that one of Harris’ biggest liabilities is inflation, and the first policy she unveiled in her campaign has been a plan to attack price gouging. On Thursday, Harris tried to chip away at her deficit on the economy by making the case that voters can trust her to take on high prices because she is more like them than Trump.

“The middle class is where I come from,” she said, whereas Trump “fights for himself and his billionaire friends.” The former president “will give them another round of tax breaks that will add up to $5 trillion to the national debt, and all the while he intends to enact what, in effect, is a national sales tax — call it, a Trump tax.”

Although others on stage briefly emphasized the history-making aspects of her candidacy, Harris did not. Her gender and race, both of which define her as a historic political figure, went unmentioned. While many Democratic delegates wore white Thursday night, an homage to the suffragists who fought for a woman’s right to vote, Harris wore a dark blue suit.

Harris drew big applause for her pledges to restore abortion rights and to sign the bipartisan immigration bill that failed in Congress earlier this year, but she was light on specific policy details. So far, she’s largely avoided filling out her policy platform, relying instead on thematic messages around protecting and increasing “freedoms” across several Democratic priorities.

And when she completed her nearly 40-minute speech, red, white and blue balloons rained down from the United Center rafters, as supporters waved flags and signs emblazoned with “USA” — another reminder of the night’s theme, which other speakers also highlighted.

“I want to let my fellow Republicans in on a secret: The Democrats are as patriotic as us,” said former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), the anti-Trump former member of Congress who was one of only two Republicans on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack.

Myah Ward contributed to this report.