Not only is Harris giving the political speech of her life — one that could potentially shape the future of the election and the country — but she also has a star-studded roster from this week’s Democratic National Convention to follow.
Harris’s address will lean heavily on her background, opposition to the conservative Project 2025 agenda and her patriotism, a campaign official told The Hill.
Harris, who has been a prosecutor and a senator after working at a fast food restaurant while in college at Howard University, will try to show voters that she wants to be a president for all Americans, the campaign official added, to contrast with former President Trump.
Throughout the week, a line-up that has included former first lady Michelle Obama, former President Obama, Oprah Winfrey and other Harris-supporting luminaries, has revved up Democrats with speeches singing Harris’s praises and arguing against a second Trump term.
Vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, took the stage on the convention’s penultimate evening with an emotional and rousing “pep talk” to rally Democrats in a speaking slot that Harris, herself, was preparing for just weeks ago.
Harris, 59, was thrust to the top of the ticket after President Biden ended his reelection campaign last month following an abysmal debate performance against GOP rival Trump that raised questions about his age and mental acuity.
Harris’s term as vice president has faced near-constant criticism from Republican foes, who continue to hammer her on border security and the economy.
Even some Democrats initially wondered whether the party should consider an open competition at its convention to pick Biden’s replacement. Those questions were largely pushed to the side after Biden and other top Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), endorsed Harris’s candidacy.
Despite those initial reservations, Harris’s candidacy has energized the party and renewed interest in the race — both factors on full display this week as Democrats gathered in Chicago.
“I was not prepared for how rapidly the broader public would embrace her and turnout in these massive ways,” Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, who served as Harris’s communications director until last year, told The Hill.
“From the Black Women for Harris groups to the rallies. The pent-up excitement that was unleashed was more than I thought would exist so quickly.”
