Kamala Harris introduces herself to the wider electorate on the fourth day of the DNC election
Kamala Harris’ political speech touched on her “greatest accomplishments” in her presidential nomination acceptance speech on the fourth day of the DNC on August 22, 2024.
The Democratic Party Convention ended on Thursday with Vice President Kamala accepting her party’s presidential nomination.
It was historic in many ways and interesting in many ways. Harris is the first black woman and the first Indian-American to win the nomination of a major U.S. political party. What’s interesting, of course, is that she ran for vice president just over a month ago, riding in President Joe Biden’s sidecar. The convention was supposed to be about Biden until he dropped out of the race after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
The Democrats, however, pulled themselves together and turned the dismal march toward defeat in November into an upbeat dance party at a convention. (Which, of course, doesn’t matter unless they actually vote.) On television, where the majority of people saw it, it certainly seemed like fun.
Kamala Harris, Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama did it
For television viewers, the focus of the convention is on the speeches. And while there were many good speeches, after four days of watching, one thing stood out: The three most impactful speeches at the DNC were given by black women: Harris, Michelle Obama and, yes, Oprah Winfrey.
There’s still a bit of a good old boy feel to the conventions, and that’s what they were for decades. Good old white boys. And there were a lot of them at the convention – Biden, for example, former President Bill Clinton, along with a number of politicians and, of course, Tim Walz, the vice presidential nominee.
Of course, people of color are not excluded in either party. The Democrats nominated and elected a black man for president. And they did it twice. Television personality Amber Rose made headlines when she spoke at the Republican convention in July. Madeline Brame, a victims’ rights activist whose son, a veteran of the Afghanistan war, was murdered, also spoke. Nikki Haley, who ran against Trump for the Republican nomination, also spoke, among many others. Many people of color also spoke at the convention – including Michelle Obama’s husband Barack.
That felt different. It felt like a sea change. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. But it was definitely a powerful moment. Three powerful moments, to be exact.
Michelle Obama turns Trump’s argument about “jobs for blacks” against him
Michelle Obama’s speech on Tuesday night was a real stunner. She didn’t come to play. She turned some of Trump’s racist phrases against him. “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s trying to get right now might be one of those ‘black jobs’?” was one of the best lines of the entire convention.
More importantly, she stressed that there should be no complacency. Of course, everyone is happy at a convention. Republicans practically danced in the streets when they thought they were running against Biden. In a call-and-response piece, the DNC crowd repeated, “Do something” (instructions from her late mother, she said, which Harris would repeat in her speech).
It was incredible television. Obama is a fascinating speaker. She practically asked viewers to walk away from the television. I certainly didn’t.
Oprah urged Democrats to “vote for joy”
Oprah Winfrey was a surprise for Wednesday’s program. Anyone who has ever been in a room with her – I have – knows that she exudes real electricity. (I say this as someone who was not a big fan of her TV show.) She has presence and it showed.
Winfrey urged the crowd to “vote joy,” which was something of an unofficial theme of the convention.
“Let us choose common sense over nonsense,” she said, “for that is the best thing about America. And let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday. But more than anything, let us choose freedom. Why? Because that is the best thing about America.”
Of course, all of this would have mattered a lot less if Harris had botched her speech. But she didn’t. She was under considerable pressure – as experts reminded her ahead of the speech, this was not a speech she planned to give a month ago, and she would be practically presenting it to the nation. There would be as much emphasis on how she delivered the speech as on what she said. Could she sound presidential?
(Has Trump ever sounded presidential? But the media holds him to a different, lower standard.)
By all accounts, she has. “With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to put the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past behind us,” Harris said. “A chance to forge a new path forward. Not as members of a party or faction. But as Americans.”
The two sentences that summed up the essence of her speech were these: “In many ways, Donald Trump is an untrustworthy man. But the consequences of bringing Donald Trump back to the White House are extremely serious.”
Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey weren’t the main attractions on the nights they spoke. (Harris was there on her night, of course.) But I have a feeling these three will be remembered. And that means something. “We’re not going back” is a big theme of Harris’s. This felt like proof.
Fox News, CNN, MSNBC agree: Harris’ speech to the DNC was “powerful”
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