US Vice President Kamala Harris made her debut at the important Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago on Monday, where she is set to be formally declared as the presidential nominee to face Republican rival Donald Trump.
In her opening address, America’s first female, Black and South Asian vice president expressed her “gratitude” to President Joe Biden and praised his “historic leadership.” “I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible president, Joe Biden,” she said to cheers on the first day of the DNC. “Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation.”
On July 21, Biden withdrew from the reelection race to support Harris. Within days, Kamala Harris launched a strong Democratic campaign to challenge Trump. In the space of a few weeks, Harris has turned the presidential race upside down, breathing new life into the Democratic Party and wiping out Trump’s lead in some polls.
Vice President Harris: In November, we will come together and declare as one voice we are moving forward with optimism, hope, and guided by love of country pic.twitter.com/inLuiUKQUM— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) August 20, 2024
Together, we will fight for the promise of America’s future. Tune in now to watch the first night of the Democratic National Convention. https://t.co/FFbmGUzAOS— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 19, 2024
On Monday, thousands of delegates gave the vice president a rapturous reception ahead of what is expected to be a bittersweet farewell address by the 81-year-old Biden following his decision to quit the 2024 White House race. Stepping into the spotlight on Monday, Harris declared, “This is going to be a great week,” setting an upbeat tone for the event’s opening day.
However, the founder of the main outside spending group backing Harris’ presidential bid says their own opinion polling is less “rosy” than public polls suggest and warned that Democrats face much closer races in key states.
Chauncey McLean, president of Future Forward, a super political action committee, or super PAC, that has raised hundreds of millions of dollars to back Harris in the Nov. 5 election, spoke on Monday during an event hosted by the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. “Our numbers are much less rosy than what you’re seeing in the public,” said McLean, who rarely talks publicly.
Harris enters the Democratic National Convention in Chicago riding a wave of public polls that show she has already reshaped a race that strongly favoured Republican leader Trump in the final weeks of Biden’s candidacy. Harris is leading in a compilation of national polls by FiveThirtyEight 46.6% to 43.8% for Trump and has pulled ahead in several public battleground state polls.
(With agency inputs)
Comments
0 comment