Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), a Black and South Asian woman, didn’t shy away from noting how her vice presidential candidacy is historic as she accepted her nomination as Joe Biden’s running mate during the third night of the Democratic National Convention. And she nodded to some came before her.
Harris kicked off her speech by remembering women — especially Black women — who paved the way for expanding voting rights.
“Without fanfare or recognition, they organized and testified and rallied and marched and fought not just for their vote, but for a seat at the table,” Harris said. “These women and the generations that followed worked to make democracy and opportunity real in the lives of all of us who followed.”
Harris said that the fight for women’s voting rights “paved the way for the trailblazing leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton” before going on to pay tribute to her late mother — an Indian woman who came to the U.S. at age 19 to “pursue her dream of curing cancer” and met Harris’ father while they were marching together for justice in the 1960s civil rights movement.
In acknowledging that her parents split when she was just 5 years old, Harris said that her mother raised her and her sister, Maya, to be “proud” Black and Indian women who put “family first.” Harris vowed that she is committed to the values that her mother taught her, which, she said, “Biden shares.”
She and Biden stand for “a vision of our nation as a beloved community — where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love,” Harris said.
Harris noted that nowadays the “country feels distant” due to President Trump’s “failure of leadership” as the nation grieves from the COVID-19 pandemic. Her pointed jabs at Trump included saying that there’s “no vaccine for racism” as she acknowledged the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless other Black people at the hands of police brutality.
“We’ve got to do the work to fulfill that promise of equal justice under law,” Harris said. “Because here’s the thing: none of us are free until all of us are free.”
Harris argued that the country is at an “inflection point” where “incompetence makes us feel afraid.” But, she said, “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,” Harris said. “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.”
Harris also spoke to her relationship with Biden’s late son Beau, recalling their time serving as attorneys general.
The California senator went on to slam Trump again for turning “our tragedies into political weapons” while saying that Biden will “be a president who turns our challenges into purpose.”
“We may stumble. We may fall short, but I pledge to you that we will act boldly and deal with our challenges honestly,” Harris said. “We will speak truths, and we will act with the same faith in you that we ask you to place in us. We believe that our country, all of us will stand together for a better future. And we already are.”
Harris concluded her acceptance speech by describing the Democratic fight she would help lead as an “awesome responsibility,” and an “awesome privilege.”
“So let’s fight with conviction. Let’s fight with hope. Let’s fight with confidence in ourselves and a commitment to each other,” Harris said. “To the America we know is possible. The America we love.”
Indeed…someone is really trying very very hard to take away our freedom to vote!
I know why they did it this way - traditional, wanted her to look presidential. But I wish they would have dropped the podium. I like the humanizing of her. People don’t know who she is (we do in SF, I’ve known Kamala since she was an assistant DA in Alameda; not personally, but have interacted with her since then) and this warmer less attack dog approach is smart as it will (a) help to defuse the Trump line that she is “AOC seeking to control Senile Joe”, and (b) sets up some of the positive understanding of who she is that will allow her to attack more later.
That said, we can thank Obama (both) and others for taking on the attack dog roll. We may be able to let both her and Joe stay as positive as possible given how horrible Trump is, and spend more time talking about how they have a positive plan to fix things.
I think the visual was important. I also think she has the ability to project herself away from and beyond a podium, the same as she does when seated behind a desk in Senate hearing rooms. Her words were so compellingly personal and warm that I fell for her more than before. Not everyone tells their own story well. She can, and does.
I have a larger write-up on a different thread, but Harris’ speech stood out to me as very well crafted and presented. Her body language and tone exuded optimism. She told her American story which was intended to diffuse the impact of far right attacks on her identity and framing of her as an ‘angry black woman’. Her story inspired many minority women across the country. It also validated the values of blue America and modern suburban America (again, a counter point to Trump’s views on the suburbs). Just look at her family: black, Indian, Jewish and White, all upwardly mobile in 1 generation. She also did what VP’s are supposed to do: build up the nominee and contrast with the opponent. This presentation played well in Middle America.
What was most remarkable to me is that none of her optimism detracted at all from her rather sober portrait of where we are today at this inflection point. There was no sugarcoating about where we are as a country and the challenge we face over the next 70+ days. She also indicted Trump without mentioning his name more than once. She has had a good roll out, has added a lot of excitement and support among minority voters, particularly Black, Latino and Asian voters, and has high favorables. She didn’t give Trump/GOP a real target to hit, and those guys really don’t know what they’re doing next week except to drone on about racial grievance for 2+ hours a night.
And Trump insists on being on stage every night. That will ensure media coverage.