Vice President Kamala Harris was set to deliver the most important speech of her life Thursday as she formally accepted the Democratic nomination for president, capping a rapid and seemingly improbable turn of political events that has thrust her into the spotlight.
His acceptance speech comes just 56 days after President Joe Biden, 81, gave a faltering, stumbling performance in a debate against former Republican President Donald Trump, 78, that forced the president into a defensive posture amid warnings from party leaders that his reelection chances and those of Democrats at the bottom of the ticket were in jeopardy.
Just 32 days ago, Biden announced his surprise decision to drop out of the race and endorse Harris as his successor for the nomination. Democrats rushed to welcome her as a new candidate, along with her choice for running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Now, the former San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and U.S. senator who joined Biden on the Democratic ticket four years ago finds herself in a historic position as the first Black and South Asian American woman to become the nominee of a major political party — offering voters a new, younger choice in a race that was destined to become a contest between the two oldest men ever to run for president.
As Democratic Party delegates awaited his acceptance speech on the convention’s closing night, they and party activists also discussed how to turn a rousing week of speeches, parties and pep rallies in Chicago into a successful sales pitch to American voters for victory in November.
Vickie Vogel, 76, of Austin, Texas — a capital city nicknamed the “blueberry in the apple pie” because it is a Democratic enclave in a traditionally Republican state — says she knows the drill: knock on doors and hold hotlines like she always has.
“It’s very hot in Texas right now, so we’re going to have to deal with that,” Vogel said of her voter outreach plans when she returns home.
“We have so many rural areas. It’s hard to go door to door in rural areas. I’ve done it. Spread out on a half-acre, you walk a long way and you don’t see a lot of people,” she said. “But you have to have that personal contact. You do what needs to be done.”
Speaking to the New Hampshire delegation Thursday morning in a packed ballroom, Gov. J.B. Pritzker acknowledged the feelings of jubilation inside the United Center but sounded a note of caution.
“It’s not going to be easy. It’s a lot of fun at the United Center, and we’re feeling the momentum of it all, but it’s going to take a lot of work. Seventy-five days. Seventy-five days, not too much,” he said.
Speaking later to the Nevada delegation, Pritzker compared the November 5 general election sprint to the European snap elections.
“When we come back, I know we’re all going to work, but when we have free time in the evenings, on the weekends, we have to pick up the phone and make calls. We have to knock on doors. We have to make sure people go out and vote,” he said. “We have to make sure they know this is the most important election of our lifetime.”
Chicago State Representative La Shawn Ford compared the convention to “a charging station for your vehicle.”
“You have delegates here from all over the country and they are motivated to get to work,” Ford said.
“Our work doesn’t stop after the convention. Our work continues until Kamala and Walz are elected,” he said. “I think it’s just a matter of telling the truth and explaining to people what’s at stake. When they find out the truth and get the Democrats’ message out there, not only will Democrats vote for the Kamala and Walz ticket, but independents and Republicans will vote for the Kamala Harris-Walz ticket as well.”
Former Illinois Sen. Jacqueline Collins of Chicago said she thought the message to outgoing delegates was clear.
“Even though, despite all the euphoria and the enthusiasm, many stakeholders have defined the work that lies ahead. They say it’s an uphill battle. And that means we have to act. We have to act. And let’s do what’s necessary. Let’s knock on doors. When we’re standing in line at the supermarket, let’s talk to our neighbours, let’s pick up the phone,” Collins said.
“I think we got the message: There’s still work to be done. And it’s going to be an uphill battle. She’s the underdog. We can’t let distractions get in the way,” she said. “We know there’s going to be attacks, too. We have to be prepared for them. We have to quell any rumors that we might have. And young adults who are on social media have a role to play, too.”
Collins said Democrats learned a lesson from Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016 — something former President Bill Clinton mentioned in his speech Wednesday night.
“He said there was enthusiasm, too. And the polls were very good for her. But the work hasn’t been done on the ground, right? So I think that’s what needs to be done. Again, I think everybody’s going to build on that theme and challenge us to step up,” she said.
“Don’t be convinced by polls or enthusiasm. You have to work. And success comes from the troops on the ground,” she said.
Chicago state Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado said sitting with her colleagues from the Illinois delegation at the United Center was a “very contagious thing.”
“I’m amazed by all the people I’ve seen on stage, but also the people I’ve been lucky enough to meet here through this process,” she said. “And it gives you an extra boost when you go back into the neighborhoods and knock on doors or talk to people.”
Delgado acknowledged: “I’m going to walk out of here sleep-deprived but refreshed to go out there and deliver the message – not only from Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, but from every Democrat running for office in the state of Illinois.”
U.S. Rep. Sean Casten of Downers Grove said he didn’t need to replicate the convention’s enthusiasm for the new nominee among his constituents. He added that it already exists outside the United Center.
“There is incredible enthusiasm and people who wanted to come here and people who leave here full of energy,” Casten said.
“I’ve been getting more and more requests from my constituents who are saying, ‘I’m feeling this FOMO right now. Is there a way I can sign up for some of these parties? Can I go and be a part of it?’” he said, using slang for fear of missing out. “And there’s this wonderful dynamic right now where the more Harris feels, I don’t want to say inevitable, but probable and transformative and history-making and joyous, the more people are saying, ‘I want to be able to tell my kids that I was there and I played a role and I participated.’”
Veteran U.S. Rep. Danny Davis of Chicago said that with Illinois’ traditionally blue history in presidential elections, he is shifting his focus to swing state Wisconsin as he has in the past.
“I’m trying to convince my people to come to Milwaukee,” Davis said. “We leave Saturday morning, get there around 10 or 11 o’clock, knock on doors until 4 or 5 o’clock, then get back on the bus. We have at least two busloads of people ready to go.”
State Sen. Adriane Johnson of Buffalo Grove said she ultimately believes the convention’s message to sell about the Harris-Walz ticket is simple.
“Well, you know what? I feel like throughout this convention, we’ve been rekindling hope,” she said. “And so just letting people know that we have unceasing hope at this point, it’s a lot of joy.”
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