Harris to say election is a ‘fleeting opportunity’ to move past bitterness of Trump
When she closes out the Democratic convention this evening with a speech that is to be the most closely watched of her political career, Kamala Harris will tell Americans that voting for her will turn a fresh page in the country’s politics, and keep an “unserious man” out of the White House.
“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a New Way Forward. Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans,” Harris will say, according to excerpts of the speech released by her campaign.
Considering that they capitalized “New Way Forward”, one wonders if this is not the debut of a new campaign slogan.
Harris will continue:
I know there are people of various political views watching tonight. And I want you to know: I promise to be a President for all Americans.
…
I will be a President who unites us around our highest aspirations. A President who leads — and listens. Who is realistic. Practical. And has common sense. And always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life’s work.
The vice-president will say this about Donald Trump, and the conservative-dominated supreme court:
We know what a second Trump term would look like. It’s all laid out in “Project 2025.” … In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious … Consider the power he will have— especially after the United States supreme court just ruled he would be immune from criminal prosecution.
Key events
Eva Longoria: ‘The energy is all across the country’
Actor and activist Eva Longoria just took the stage and said she’s long known the vice president:
I have known Kamala Harris for more than a decade, and she comes from a family a lot like mine, and I’m sure a lot like yours. We were both raised knowing that no one was going to hand us anything, especially as women, and we were going to have to touch every rung of the ladder to get ahead. We were going to have to work really hard … She worked at McDonald’s, I worked at Wendy’s, and look at us now …
The energy tonight isn’t just here in Chicago, it’s all across the country. People are gathered at watch parties everywhere to celebrate Kamala Harris.”
Whitmer does the familiar compare and contrast of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
“Kamala Harris knows who she’s fighting for, too. She took care of her mom, who also battled cancer. As president, she’ll fight to lower the cost of health care and elder care for every family. She’s lived a life like ours. She knows us,” Whitmer said.
Then on to Trump:
Donald Trump doesn’t know you at all. You think he understands that when your car breaks down, you can’t get to work. No, no. His first word was probably chauffeur.
You think he’s ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out? Hell, you think he’s ever been to a grocery store? That’s what the chauffeur is for.
But Kamala Harris. She gets us. She sees us. She is us.
Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer takes Democratic convention stage
Rising Democratic star Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, is now on stage.
“In Lansing, they call me governor, but in Detroit, they call me Big Gretch,” she said, then pivoted to the obligatory Trump diss:
Donald Trump called me that woman from Michigan, as an insult. Being a woman from Michigan is a badge of honor.
Up now is congressman Ruben Gallego, who is running for Senate in Arizona, a must-win seat if Democrats hope to keep their majority in the chamber.
He’s talking about how Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have supported military veterans like himself.
“Vice-president Harris has stood up for our families, always,” he said. Of Walz, Gallego said that “his passion for veterans has earned him respect on both sides of the aisle”.
Then a group of veterans joined him on stage, who Gallego said, “put country over politics. We are proud to wear the uniform.”
Leon Panetta, former secretary of defense, said Harris can take on tyrants
Leon Panetta, former US secretary of defense, said Kamala Harris would be a “tough, cool-headed commander-in-chief to defend our democracy from tyrants and terrorists”:
She knows a tyrant when she sees one, and our allies know a leader when they see one. On the Senate intelligence committee and as vice president, she worked with more than 150 world leaders. She’s looked our allies in the eye and said, ‘America has your back’. Trump would abandon our allies and isolate America. We tried that in the 1930s … It was foolish and dangerous then, and it’s foolish and dangerous now.
He continued, “Trump tells tyrants like Putin, they can do whatever the hell they want. Kamala Harris tells tyrants the hell you can, not on my watch.”
Mark Kelly: Trump ‘sucked up to dictators’
Arizona senator Mark Kelly just came back on stage alone to talk about foreign policy and security – topics we have not heard a ton about over the past three nights of the convention.
More specifically, he talked about how Donald Trump couldn’t be trusted to handle those issues.
“Donald Trump skipped his intelligence briefings. He was too busy sucking up to dictators and dreaming of becoming one himself,” Kelly said.
He then gave his view of the stakes of this election – which, he noted, will be close:
The alliances we’ve spent decades building are too critical. That’s whats at stake now. And the choice, the choice isn’t even close. But in Arizona and nationwide, this election will be.
We’ll win the same way we launch rockets into space and land fighter jets on aircraft carriers – as one team on one mission.
Pink performs with her daughter
Pink has just performed with her daughter, Willow, at the DNC:
Speaking of Joe Biden …
The White House says he and Jill Biden called Kamala Harris to “wish her luck” ahead of her marquee speech this evening.
Giffords tells convention: ‘Kamala can beat the gun lobby’
Gabby Giffords recounted her recovery from the assassination attempt, which left six people dead, and praised both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
“I learned to walk again, one step at a time. I learned to talk again, one word at a time. So many people helped me as I worked hard to recover, including a decent man for Delaware who always checked in he still does,” Giffords said, as Mark Kelly looked on.
“Thank you. Joe Biden, thank you for everything. Joe is a great president. My friend, Kamala will be a great president. She is tough. She has grit. Kamala can beat the gun lobby. She can fight gun trafficking.”
Gabby Giffords addresses Democratic national convention
Gabby Giffords, the former congresswoman who survived a mass shooting that left her with injuries to her brain, is now onstage.
The crowd chanted “Gabby! Gabby!” when she came out.
She’s with her husband, Arizona senator Mark Kelly, and appears to be reading off a tablet on the podium.
In addition to survivors of horrific mass shootings, we also heard from survivors of lesser-known killings.
Edgar Vilchez of Chicago recounted how a classmate of his was killed in school, saying, “Instead of worrying about taking a test, I started worrying about living to take another test.”
While the shooting left him traumatized, Vilchez added that, “I learned something new, too: that we can write a new story, if we choose to.”
The discussion began with Abbey Clements, a survivor of the 2012 massacre at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.
She recounted hearing the sounds of the shooting, which left dead 20 children and six adult staff members, then said: “They should still be here.”
We’re now getting into one of the more somber parts of the evening: a discussion of gun violence.
Georgia congresswoman Lucy McBath, whose son was shot dead, is to lead the discussion, which will feature people from communities where mass shootings have happened.
