CHICAGO — Vice President Kamala Harris entered a grueling, neck-and-neck race after her big speech Thursday accepting the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention, where she received a raucous send-off from party delegates ecstatic that she replaced a faltering President Biden at the top of the ticket.
Ms. Harris, who seeks to become the first female president, touted her working-class childhood and promised to unify the country and fight for ordinary people. Her speech, like her campaign so far, was light on details about how she would govern.
“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,” she said.
Democrats described the atmosphere at the United Center as nothing short of “joyful,” but Ms. Harris faces a more skeptical audience as she heads back onto the campaign trail. Top party officials this week warned that her path to the presidency is far from assured.
“This is a dead heat,” Harris campaign chair Jennifer O’Malley Dillon told an audience at a convention event.
Seven swing states stand between Ms. Harris and winning the White House.
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A Real Clear Politics polling average shows that her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, is leading slightly in five of those states, while Ms. Harris is ahead in two.
Ms. Harris must win a combination of several battleground states to secure the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.
The 59-year-old nominee delivered a speech aimed partly at appealing to the sliver of swing-state voters who remain undecided and who lean neither far left nor far right. She hoped to win them over with her inspirational life story and an optimistic vision.
According to excerpts released in advance of the speech, Ms. Harris said she was raised mostly by her Indian mother and lived at first in a small apartment in a working-class neighborhood in the San Francisco area’s East Bay.
Ms. Harris eventually rose to become San Francisco’s district attorney and then California attorney general.
Her inspiration for becoming a prosecutor came from a childhood friend who confessed she was being sexually abused by her stepfather, she said.
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“And I immediately told her she had to come and stay with us. And she did,” Ms. Harris said. “This is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor: to protect people like Wanda.”
She presented herself to voters as “a champion for working people” who would cut taxes and create opportunities for everyone to succeed. She contrasted her career as a prosecutor with Mr. Trump, who was convicted this year on felony charges in his hush-money case and faces three additional criminal trials, though he insists the prosecutions are politically motivated.
Ms. Harris dedicated a significant portion of her speech attacking Mr. Trump, calling him a convicted felon who brought chaos to the nation when he was president.
“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man, but the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious,” she said.
She blamed him for threats to abortion and reproductive health care that followed the Supreme Court decision to overturn the 1973 decision that made abortion a constitutional right.
She said Mr. Trump would force states to report on miscarriages and abortions.
“Simply put — they are out of their minds,” Ms. Harris said. “One must ask, why exactly is it that they don’t trust women? Well — we trust women.”
Ms. Harris pledged to sign a law legalizing abortion at the federal level.
She accused the former president of scuttling a border security bill for political reasons, although most Republicans rejected it as too weak to make a difference.
Ms. Harris, who was appointed by Mr. Biden to address the causes of illegal immigration, said she’d secure the border.
While Ms. Harris attacked Mr. Trump, she said electing her would unify the country.
“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past,” Ms. Harris said. “A chance to chart a new way forward, not as members of any one party or faction but as Americans.”
Ms. Harris drew angry shouts from some delegates when she pledged to support Israel militarily, an issue that has sparked marches and protests in Chicago during the convention.
“I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself, and I will always ensure that Israel has the ability to defend itself because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that … Hamas caused on Oct. 7,” she said.
Those shouts of disapproval turned to deafening cheers when Ms. Harris turned to speak in support of suffering Palestinians in Gaza.
“President Biden and I are working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination,” she said as the crowd drowned her out — the loudest applause she got during her 37-minute speech.
Still, convention Democrats were in a celebratory mood after months of watching Mr. Biden, 81, slide in the polls amid questions about his cognitive fitness. Delegates said they could suddenly taste victory in November now that Ms. Harris is at the top of the ticket.
“I am so happy now. It’s almost like weeping has endured through the night, but joy cometh in the morning and, in many ways, we see a new day dawning in America,” said Sen. Cory A. Booker of New Jersey. “Page being turned.”
Those closer to the Harris campaign were far more cautious.
Although Ms. Harris has cut into the polling lead Mr. Trump built over Mr. Biden, her rise has plateaued to a position that has left the race a toss-up.
“We are winning some battleground states, and we are losing some, and we have not done enough to make sure that we have set ourselves on the path to 270,” Ms. O’Malley Dillon said.
Some of the convention’s marquee speakers sought to bring the ecstatic convention goers back to Earth.
“For all the incredible energy we’ve been able to generate over the last few weeks, for all the rallies and the memes, this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country,” former President Barack Obama told the crowd on Tuesday. “Make no mistake: It will be a fight.”
Within hours of the convention gaveling to a close, Ms. Harris is expected to face a new hurdle in her White House quest. Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former Democrat, was expected to quit the race Friday and endorse Mr. Trump.
His decision to side with the former president, fueled partly by his anger over the Democratic Party’s efforts to block him from state ballots, could give Mr. Trump at least a small but potentially critical bump in the close race.
Polls taken after Mr. Biden left the race showed a dwindling number of voters planned to vote for Mr. Kennedy, but those left were inclined to side with Mr. Trump if Mr. Kennedy dropped out.
Mr. Trump campaigned in battleground states during the Democratic convention, offering Republican counterprogramming that dinged Ms. Harris for failing to provide a specific agenda and for flip-flopping on border security, mandatory gun buybacks, eliminating fracking and packing the Supreme Court.
The former president offered his own “live play-by-play” reaction to her address on his Truth Social media site.
Ms. Harris kicked off the evening with help from big guns in the entertainment industry.
Actor Morgan Freeman narrated a biographical video, and the Chicks performed “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Singer Pink! also performed. NBA star Seth Curry appeared on video Thursday to endorse Ms. Harris. DJ Metro spun hits for the crowd. The Chicago Bulls drumline also performed and Stevie Wonder gave a speech backing Ms. Harris before singing his hit, “Higher Ground.”
Oprah Winfrey delivered a surprise, prime-time address endorsing Ms. Harris on Wednesday. Actors Eva Longoria and Kerry Washington also appeared.
The campaign is hardly relying on star power to ensure a Harris win. It has opened 300 offices staffed by 1,600 workers across the battleground states alone and is spending significantly on paid media, particularly digital advertising.
“We are going to sprint through the tape and take absolutely nothing for granted,” Harris campaign spokesman Michael Tyler said.
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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