It was meant to be over the top, and it was.
Vice President Kamala
Harris accepted the presidential nomination Thursday night at the Democratic
National Convention in Chicago amid a kaleidoscope and cacophony of balloons,
waving signs, music and a roof-raising roar from the party faithful.
A recurring theme throughout the convention has been the words that Harris always used in the courtroom when serving as a prosecutor, “Kamala Harris, for the people,” and she echoed those words when accepting the nomination: “On behalf of the people, I accept your nomination for President of the United States.”
speech she said, “Happy anniversary Dougie,” to her husband, Douglas Emhoff, because the date fell exactly on their tenth wedding anniversary. Harris then covered her upbringing and early career to help explain her political philosophy and ambition.
“My mother told us to never
complain about injustice, but do something about it,” Harris said. “She also
taught us to never do anything half-assed.”
Harris pledged to create an
“opportunity economy” where all Americans have an opportunity to succeed, and
reiterated her pro-abortion rights stance, commitment to a middle class tax cut and
support of LGBTQ rights. She also made frequent digs at Republican nominee
Donald Trump and repeated a convention mantra, “We’re not going back.”
In response to the protests that
have been a daily convention presence, Harris said now is the time to get a
hostage return and ceasefire agreement worked out in Gaza. But she affirmed
Israel’s right to exist, called the Hamas attack of last October a terrorist
act, and said the Palestinian people deserve the right to safety and security but
didn’t mention a separate Palestinian state.
Harris admitted that “the path that led me here in recent weeks was unexpected,” but cautioned the Republican Party that during her lifetime she has been “underestimated at practically every turn but we never gave up.”
The four-hour lead-in
to Harris’ acceptance speech featured remarks from every day people who had
endured gun violence, discrimination and human trafficking. But it also
featured remarks from actresses Kerry Washington and Eva Longoria and music by
pop artist Pink and country stars The Chicks.
Videos were played each night
during the convention of former Trump voters who were switching to support
Harris this year. Former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican,
spoke from the podium on Thursday about why he now supports Harris.
“Donald Trump has suffocated the
soul of the Republican Party,” Kinzinger said. “You Democrats are just as
patriotic as us.”
