Amid cries of “We are not going back,” Kamala Devi Harris accepted the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday evening, promising a “new way forward” to leave the Donald Trump era behind and overcome the country’s bitter political divisions.
In a 37-minute speech to the Democratic Party Convention, the 59-year-old vice president promised a compassionate domestic policy coupled with a powerful national security strategy, contrasting the approach of his Republican rival Trump.
She called Trump a “frivolous person” who posed a grave danger to the country’s fundamental system of governance, warning that he would pursue only his own interests and those of the wealthiest Americans while dismantling large parts of the country’s social safety net, betraying our global allies and pandering to “dictators and tyrants,” especially Vladimir Putin.
Concluding an astonishing eight-week period in American politics, Harris paid a brief tribute to President Joe Biden, the man she replaced at the top of the ticket. She then recounted her life as the daughter of immigrants, weaving the values she learned as a child into a narrative about her career as a law enforcement officer and elected official, and said those values would shape her presidency.
“Every day I stood proudly in the courtroom before a judge and said five words: ‘Kamala Harris, for the people,'” she said. “And to be clear, in my entire career I have had only one client: the people.”
A moment later, she confronted him with “the only client (Trump) has ever had: himself.”
In her most direct appeal for the support of independent and moderate Republican voters, represented by a series of convention speakers over the past four days, Harris looked directly into the camera.
“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to put the bitterness, cynicism and divisive struggles of the past behind us,” the vice president said.
“A chance to forge a new path forward. Not as members of a party or faction. But as Americans.”
“I know there are people watching tonight with different political views,” she added. “And I want you to know: I promise to be a president for all Americans.”
From a political perspective, Harris’ speech focused on the issues that are likely to be decisive in the remaining 11 weeks until the election on November 5. Trump is trying to tie her closely to Biden on three issues that voters are unhappy with, while she herself is trying to fight on more favorable ground, which she underlined in her vote recommendation.
Here are five key takeaways.
National SecurityKnowing she must overcome doubts about her qualifications to be commander in chief, Harris devoted a long portion of her speech to national security issues, taking a stance not very different from Biden’s strong military, internationalist stance. For example, she said she would continue to stand with Ukraine against Russian aggression, but used even stronger rhetoric.
In doing so, she sought to draw a sharp contrast to Trump’s “America First” isolationism and his declared admiration for strong nationalist leaders around the world:
“As Commander in Chief, I will ensure that America always has the strongest, most lethal military in the world. I will honor our sacred obligation to care for our soldiers and their families.
“I will ensure that we strengthen our global leadership and do not abandon it,” she said. “Trump, on the other hand, threatened to leave NATO. He encouraged Putin to attack our allies. He said Russia could – quote – ‘do whatever it wants.'”
“As President, I will never slacken in defending America’s security and ideals. Because in the ongoing struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand – and where the United States of America belongs.”
The economy. According to surveys, two-thirds of Americans believe their country is on the wrong path. High prices and inflation continue to worry them.
The same polls also show that voters trust Trump more on economic issues, so Harris sought to address this political weakness by emphasizing her concerns about the middle class—Trump, she said, “isn’t really fighting for the middle class”—while laying out the outlines of what she called an “economy of opportunity.”
However, she described it only in broad strokes, which again made it difficult to discern any significant differences from Biden’s views, although it was notable that she promised to “end America’s housing crisis,” tackling an issue that is increasingly of concern to voters.
“An opportunity economy in which everyone has a chance to compete and succeed.”
“As president, I will bring together workers and employees, small business owners and entrepreneurs, and American companies. To create jobs. To grow our economy. And to lower the costs of everyday needs. Like health care. Housing. And food.”
Immigration. Politically, and even more economically, Harris is vulnerable because voters are concerned about the large number of political and economic refugees who have illegally crossed the southern border during Biden’s term in office.
While Trump and his allies have been bombarding her for weeks with paid ads portraying her as the administration’s “border czar” and attacking her for her failures, Harris tried political ju-jitsu last night by accusing the Republican of torpedoing a tough, bipartisan immigration bill in order to keep the issue on the agenda during the campaign.
“Last year, Joe and I brought together Democrats and conservative Republicans to write the strongest border bill in decades,” she said. “The Border Patrol supported it.”
“But Donald Trump believes a border agreement would hurt his campaign. So he has ordered his allies in Congress to kill the agreement,” Harris added. “Now, I refuse to play politics with our security. Here’s my promise to you: As president, I will reintroduce the bipartisan border security bill he killed and make it law.”
Abortion rights. A woman’s constitutional right to choose an abortion, enshrined in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, was overturned two years ago in the Dobbs decision by a conservative Supreme Court that included three justices appointed by Trump.
Trump soon took responsibility for the decision, boasting about it to appeal to his evangelical base, but more recently he has sought to distance himself from Dobbs, saying it was now a states’ rights issue over which he no longer had any influence.
The issue of abortion, however, is perhaps Trump’s greatest political weakness. In her acceptance speech, Harris took advantage of this by invoking the language of “Project 2025,” a 900-page plan for a second Trump term created by the right-leaning Heritage Foundation.
“As part of his agenda, he and his allies would restrict access to contraception, ban medication abortion, and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress.
“And here’s the thing: He plans to set up a national anti-abortion coordinator and require states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions.
“Simply put, they are. Out. of. their. mind,” she said slowly, drawing loud applause from the delegates. “And you have to ask yourself: why exactly don’t they trust women? Well, we. Trust. Women.”
We are not going back. Harris sharply attacked Trump for his indictment in connection with the January 6 seditious order, but also for his two defeats in civil courts in New York, which involved white collar fraud and sexual assault.
She condemned the “chaos and mischief during his time in office,” but said even more serious was his staunch refusal to accept his defeat in 2020 and his portrayal of him as a threat to the most fundamental structure of American government over the past four years.
In addition, she pointed to the recent Supreme Court decision creating a new standard of immunity for a president’s actions while in office, as well as “Project 2025,” arguing that the president could be held absolutely immune from liability for any of his actions during his second term, no matter how reckless, unscrupulous or unpopular they were.
“Imagine Donald Trump without guardrails. How he would use the immense powers of the President of the United States. Not to improve your life. Not to strengthen our national security.
“We know what a second Trump term would look like,” she said. “But America, we will not go back.”
75 days left until the election.
Click here to read the full transcript of Kamala Harris’ speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination.
A few hours before Harris’ speech, Supervisor Laura Capps checked in with Newsmakers from Chicago, where she was at the convention with her political friends from Washington and around the country, dating back to her days as a speechwriter and communications assistant to the late Senator Ted Kennedy and President Bill Clinton.
“There’s so much incredible energy here,” Capps said, quickly adding, “But there’s definitely the lesson that we can’t just have fun – we only have 76 days, we have to work hard. The meta-message here is to stay motivated for the next 76 days.”
In our conversation, Laura also talked about her love of conventions as a political junkie, her reaction to Oprah Winfrey’s surprise speech on Wednesday night, her professional take on her old boss’s overtime speech, the new tone convention speakers are taking with Trump supporters, and what she expects for the next 11 weeks. Plus: breakfast with the California delegation.
Watch the conversation with Laura Capps from by clicking this link. The The podcast version is here.
