Kamala conquered the convention.
Team Biden unleashed its Democratic Dream Team Wednesday night, punctuating a historic nomination of vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris with rousing speeches from Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and former President Barack Obama.
Harris, a California senator, embraced her party’s groundbreaking selection by humbly backing the man, Joe Biden, who put her on the ticket, and castigating the man, President Trump, he’s trying to replace.
During Day Three of the all-virtual version of the Democratic National Convention, with the theme “A More Perfect Union,” Harris delivered the most important speech of her political career, one that introduced her, her family, her history and her sorority — Alpha Kappa Alpha — to voters who may not have been paying attention during her failed Democratic primary run.
The stakes are higher than usual for Harris, 55, because Biden, 77, may serve only a single term in the White House if he wins the election November 3.
Sen Kamala Harris, D-Calif Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP
“In this election we have a chance to change the course of history,” Harris said. “We’re all in this fight. You, me, and Joe, together. What an awesome responsibility. What an awesome privilege.”
“We’re at an inflection point,” Harris said. “The constant chaos leaves adrift. The incompetence makes us feel afraid. The callousness makes us feel alone. It’s a lot. And here’s the thing: We can do better and deserve so much more. We must elect a president who will bring something different, something better, and do the important work. A president who will bring all of us together—Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indigenous—to achieve the future we collectively want. We must elect Joe Biden.”
“Public service is a noble cause and the fight for justice is a shared responsibility,” Harris said. “That led me to become a lawyer, a district attorney, attorney general and a United States senator. And at every step of the way, I’ve been guided by the words I spoke from the first time I stood in a courtroom. Kamala Harris for the people.”
Harris’ bid to become the nation’s first Black woman vice president got a big boost from Obama, who blazed a similar trail when he was elected the nation’s first Black president in 2008.
“Tonight, I am asking you to believe in Joe and Kamala’s ability to lead this country out of dark times and build it back better,” Obama said. “But here’s the thing: No single American can fix this country alone. Democracy was never meant to be transactional – you give me your vote; I make everything better. So I am also asking you to believe in your own ability – to embrace your own responsibility as citizens – to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure.”
Obama chided Trump for never growing into the job, and said the consequences of that failure were 170,000 Americans who died from coronavirus. The economy is wrecked and the nation’s reputation is damaged abroad, he said.
“I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care,” Obama said.
“But he never did. He’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.”
Trump also took shots from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said the president had a “disrespect for facts.” and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said Trump was not up for the job.
” I wish Donald Trump knew how to be a president,” said Clinton, who lost to Trump in 2016. “Because America needs a president right now.”
Clinton trumpeted the enduring legacy of her failed campaign to become the first woman in the White House, which helped galvanize the movement against Trump from his controversial and turbulent first days in office.
Meanwhile, Trump scoffed from the sidelines, reminding his social media following that Harris criticized Biden on the campaign trail.
“BUT DIDN’T SHE CALL HIM A RACIST???” Trump tweeted in capital letters. “DIDN’T SHE SAY HE WAS INCOMPETENT???”
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren railed against the economic inequality that Democrats say has worsened under Trump and amid the coronavirus pandemic.
One of the topics of focus Day 3 was fighting gun violence. Parkland High School graduate Emma Gonzalez, one of the young activists who grabbed America’s attention with their eloquence after the massacre there, spoke along with ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was shot and wounded by a crazed constituent.
Performances for the night included entertainment powerhouses, Jennifer Hudson and Billie Eilish.
Starting Monday, the Republican National Convention will start their process of nominating President Trump for a second term in office.
And like Democrats, the Republicans will hold their convention under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic.
Trump plans to give his own nomination acceptance speech from the Rose Garden. That’s a break from tradition, and some say a violation of ethical rules barring the White House from being used as a prop for partisan political purposes.
After she formally accepted the nomination, and waved to a crowd that wasn’t there, Harris was joined on stage by Biden, Harris’ husband, Douglas Emhoff, and Biden’s wife, Jill, for a socially-distant post-speech celebration.
“Kamala Harris will be an incredible Vice President,” Biden tweeted a short time later. “Now let’s get to work. We don’t have a minute to waste”
