Launched: Kamala Harris blasts Donald Trump as dangerous as a historic campaign begins

CHICAGO − At the tumultuous climax of the Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris formally launched an unexpected and too-close-to-call campaign against Donald Trump − and against history as she sought to become the first woman in American history to win the presidency.

Though the reception in the hall was rapturous, the rhetoric was often serious, even somber − a warning of perils ahead.

"We know what a second Trump term would look like," Harris said. "In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious."

She depicted her opponent as a liar, a cheat and a threat to democracy who would ban abortion nationwide, cut taxes for billionaires and cozy up to dictators. "They know Trump won't hold autocrats accountable," she said, "because he wants to be an autocrat."

She called the November election "a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a new way forward, not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans."

Harris talked about her Indian mother and Jamaican father, but she didn't reflect on the breakthrough in race and gender that her election would represent.

Even so, the fact that she is the first woman of color nominated for president, and if elected would be the first woman to win the White House, ignited the energy that ricocheted around Chicago's United Center. Most of the convention delegates, the women and many of the men, had dressed in white, the color of the suffragists.

The roar that rose again and again was akin to the excitement at the Democratic conventions when Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 became the first woman nominated for vice president. When Barack Obama in 2008 became the first Black person nominated for president. When Hillary Clinton in 2016 became the first woman nominated for president.

Though Obama would go on to win the White House, twice, memories of Clinton's surprise defeat by Trump tempered the high expectations Thursday with a cold dose of realism about the challenges ahead for the next 75 days.

But in the weeks since she became the party's presumptive nominee, polls have tightened to ties in battleground states, and Harris has edged a few percentage points ahead of Trump in national surveys.

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Out of sight and overtaken: Biden who?

Thirty-three days ago, Harris was the running mate on a ticket that was trailing.

Then everything changed .

Harris opened her acceptance speech by thanking first her husband, Doug Emhoff, and then President Joe Biden for "your lifetime of leadership and your trust in me."

An hour earlier, the president had posted on the social media platform X a photo that showed him and first lady Jill Biden standing in front of a large-screen TV tuned to the convention. "Jill and I just spoke to @KamalaHarris − we can’t wait to watch her accept this historic nomination," it read.

His reluctant decision to step back from his reelection race had made Harris' rise possible and united a dispirited Democratic Party that had feared a November rout up and down the ballot.

The torch has now been passed from the 81-year-old Biden to the 59-year-old Harris, and the Democrats' message of incumbency has been revised. Harris has more flexibility than he did to associate herself with the administration's achievements and distance herself from more troublesome parts of its record.

In her speech, she promised to create an "opportunity economy" and to solve the nation's housing shortage, though she didn't offer specifics about how she would do that. She vowed to revive a bipartisan bill to address illegal immigration along the southern border that had been undermined by Trump's opposition.

But she didn't outline a strikingly liberal or particularly detailed agenda. Instead, in words designed to appeal to independents and even Republicans who may be unsettled by Trump, she said she would be a president who "listens, who is realistic, practical, and has common sense."

It is a sign of Democratic pragmatism, and the party's determination to win, that there were few complaints that some progressive causes went unmentioned.

Convention organizers had rebuffed demands by a handful of delegates to allow a Palestinian-American speak from the main stage on the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. Civilians there have been devastated by Israeli attacks against Hamas, the terrorist organization that launched a deadly attack on Israelis last October.

Harris devoted one of her longer passages to the conflict.

"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. "At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating." She called the scale of suffering "heartbreaking."

Let me tell you how to pronounce 'Kamala'

The convention address carried the highest stakes and almost certainly commanded the biggest audience of Harris' life. Only the televised debates this fall, when the moderators will write the questions and Trump will share the stage, are likely to do more to shape the election ahead.

With the convention under the campaign's control, the four-day script was dominated by an effort to introduce Harris − not so much to the devoted Democrats in the hall but to the millions of voters watching at least parts of it on TV and social media.

They featured testimonials by her husband, her sister, her stepchildren, her nieces and nephew, her friends, her co-workers. They talked about her single mother's hard work over a decade to afford to buy a house − a clear if unspoken contrast to Trump's inherited wealth.

"We know a strong middle class has always been critical to America’s success, and building that middle class will be a defining goal of my presidency," she said. "This is personal for me. The middle class is where I come from."

There were also performances by stars, including Pink (though rumors that Beyonce was going to show didn't pan out) and humor − sometimes pointed humor.

Before Harris' speech, actress Kerry Washington led a nationally televised lesson on how to pronounce Harris' first name − an issue because Trump routinely, and presumably intentionally, pronounces it wrong.

"Confusion is understandable," Washington said. "Disrespect is not."

She brought out Kamala Harris' grandnieces, Amara and Leela Ajagu, to demonstrate the proper locution. (For the record, Kamala is pronounced like the word "comma" plus "la.")

The nation will be hearing a lot of that name over the next 75 days.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Launched: Kamala Harris blasts Donald Trump as dangerous as a historic campaign begins