Current:Home > ScamsDemocratic convention ends Thursday with the party’s new standard bearer, Kamala Harris-LoTradeCoin
Democratic convention ends Thursday with the party’s new standard bearer, Kamala Harris
View Date:2024-12-24 07:31:24
CHICAGO (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris closes out the Democratic National Convention Thursday night when she accepts her party’s historic presidential nomination and seizes one of her few remaining opportunities to appeal to an audience of millions.
Harris will lay out her vision for the country and prosecute her case against Republican Donald Trump, capping a whirlwind month that began when President Joe Biden ended his reelection bid and endorsed her to replace him atop the Democratic ticket.
Harris has three objectives for her speech, according to a campaign official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive speech preparations. She’ll share her background rising from a middle-class family to protect others as a prosecutor, contrast her “optimistic” vision with Trump’s “dark” agenda and evoke a sense of patriotism, the official said.
Harris spoke briefly to the convention on Monday, when she thanked Biden and celebrated his record as president, and again on Tuesday, when the beginning of her rally in Milwaukee was streamed into the convention hall after Democrats reaffirmed their nomination of her with a state-by-state roll call.
Among others who will speak before Harris on Thursday are Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, civil rights leader Al Sharpton and Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. The singer Pink also will perform.
Harris will be the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to accept a major party’s presidential nomination. She’ll speak a day after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, her choice for running mate, thanked the packed Chicago arena for “ bringing the joy ” to the election.
“We’re all here tonight for one beautiful, simple, reason: We love this country,” Walz said as thousands of delegates hoisted vertical placards reading “Coach Walz” in red, white and blue.
Many Americans had never heard of Walz until Harris made him her running mate, and the speech was an opportunity to introduce himself. He leaned into his experiences as a football coach, his time in the National Guard and his recounting of his family’s fertility struggles — all parts of his biography that Republicans have questioned in the days since Harris picked him.
While it’s unclear if the speech will attract new voters, he further charmed Democratic supporters with his background and helped to balance Harris’ coastal roots as a cultural representative of Midwestern states whose voters she needs this fall.
Gus Walz, the governor’s 17-year-old son, openly wept throughout the speech, wiping his eyes with tissues while watching from the front row of the convention hall directly in front of the governor.
Through tears he mouthed, “That’s my dad.”
___
Cooper reported from Chicago.
veryGood! (31)
Related
- RHOP's Candiace Dillard Bassett Gives Birth, Shares First Photos of Baby Boy
- Democrat Min to face Republican Baugh in California’s competitive 47th Congressional District
- Luis Suárez's brilliant header goal saves Lionel Messi, Inter Miami vs. Nashville SC
- Biden visiting battleground states and expanding staff as his campaign tries to seize the offensive
- Special counsel Smith asks court to pause appeal seeking to revive Trump’s classified documents case
- Aldi plans to open 800 new stores around the U.S.
- WATCH: Free-agent QB Baker Mayfield takes batting practice with Yankees
- Chiefs fans who endured freezing temperatures during NFL playoffs may require amputations
- CRYPTIFII Introduce
- State of the Union highlights and key moments from Biden's 2024 address
Ranking
- November 2024 full moon this week is a super moon and the beaver moon
- New Jersey men charged in Hudson River boating accident that killed 2 passengers
- TEA Business college’s token revolution!
- TEA Business college’s token revolution!
- Wisconsin’s high court to hear oral arguments on whether an 1849 abortion ban remains valid
- A new Uvalde report defends local police. Here are the findings that outraged some families in Texas
- Bunnie XO, Jelly Roll's wife, reflects on anniversary of leaving OnlyFans: 'I was so scared'
- Drugs, housing and education among the major bills of Oregon’s whirlwind 35-day legislative session
Recommendation
-
Report: Jaguars' Trevor Lawrence could miss rest of season with shoulder injury
-
Lionel Messi scores goal in Inter Miami's Concacaf Champions Cup match vs. Nashville SC
-
Civil rights activist Naomi Barber King, a sister-in-law to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., dies
-
Walmart to expand same-day delivery options to include early morning hours
-
Bev Priestman fired as Canada women’s soccer coach after review of Olympic drone scandal
-
Mississippi legislators are moving toward a showdown on how to pay for public schools
-
Sister Wives' Janelle Brown Speaks Out After Son's Garrison Death
-
TEA Business college’s token revolution!