Kamala Harris looks and sounds like a president — so much so that you almost forget that if she wins she will be the first woman to hold the office. From her impeccably tailored suits to the authority in her voice to her confidence and ease in the spotlight, this is a person who is clearly ready to take on the most powerful job in the world.
Harris' acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention Thursday night was pitch perfect, filled with warm biographical details in the beginning before becoming deeper and more serious as she talked about the issues facing the country, the threat from Donald Trump and America's place in the world. She is a mature, confident, leader who sounds optimistic, patriotic and strong.
The convention was, for the most part, a big, fun love fest with the party celebrating in relief that it has a good chance to beat Donald Trump with the new Harris-Walz ticket and enjoying the more positive, hopeful feelings it offers after years of dealing with the darkness of Trump, pandemics and economic stress. There was lots of humor and lighthearted banter as well as some sentimental, respectful send-offs to the old guard as the new generation took over. It was, to quote the overused word this week, joyful.
With some serious turns about women's experiences with the new abortion laws and gun violence, it was mostly upbeat, as best exemplified by Gov. Tim Walz's stirring pep talk and the open love of his family when he accepted his nomination on Wednesday night. It was heartwarming and sweet. Many of the other speakers, notably the Obamas and the vast number of rising stars in the party, were entertaining and inspiring. And the convention program itself, although it ran long, was extremely well-produced with innovative multimedia strategies designed to go viral online and plenty of made-for-TV moments. The ratings outstripped last month's drab Republican National Convention substantially over the first three nights.
But it was up to the vice president to present herself as the president and pull together all the strands of the big conversation of the past three days under the Democrats' expansive Big Tent. She did that. The big party stopped for a while and everyone listened raptly. It was the reason they were there. She held the room, which looked on at her with a mixture of awe and respect.
There's been a lot of talk about Harris bringing the fractious Democratic Party together, but for all her charisma and talent, I don't think that's quite right. This didn't happen because she became the nominee. I've been astonished at how unified (with the obvious exception of the war in Gaza) the Democrats have been for quite some time. I believe the reason the party is so united, surprisingly enough, is because of Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the two old geezers everyone is determined to finally put out to pasture.
The threat of Donald Trump cannot be overstated. As long as he and his authoritarian MAGA movement hang over the American political scene it is incumbent on the Democrats to present a united front to oppose him. There is no margin for error. The fact is that from the moment he was inaugurated in 2017, Democrats have been pragmatically working together in ways thought impossible just a few years ago. And to the extent that they have attracted independents and disaffected Republicans, some of whom were featured prominently at the convention this week, Trump gets credit for that, too. He may have divided the country, but he brought the Democrats together and inspired a popular front that's held fast for the last four years.
Joe Biden really deserves a lot of credit as well.
The president came from the mainstream of the party but was surprisingly open to the progressive wing in ways that Obama was not. He never tried to "Sister Souljah" them (in '90s parlance) by beating them up in order to remain credible to the moderates in the party. (Yes, it helped that there are fewer of those centrist types these days, although the few remaining caused plenty of trouble.) And because of Trump, the progressive wing was ready to grab their seat at the table and take their wins when they got them. And there were a lot of them, showing that progressives can leverage their power within the coalition in a cooperative way. The party is more populist than it's been in decades and pretty much defines itself across the board as unapologetically pro-union, anti-monopoly and pro-family.
Biden built enough loyalty on the left that when pundits and some Democrats began publicly calling for his withdrawal from the race, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez openly supported him — as did Bernie Sanders. In the end, once he accepted the inevitable, Sanders' hard work to bring the previously warring factions together paid off. The party was able to come together very quickly behind his endorsement of Harris and embrace the new ticket with little angst or resentment.
Trump reshaped his party too, of course. It is now more of a cult devoted to his whims and needs, made that way through mafia-style strong-arming and threats. His purges of "RINOs" and apostates and the elevation of flunkies and sycophants made the Republican Party into a dysfunctional party of weirdos and cranks. When Trump finally does exit the stage, the transition to the next chapter will not be quite as smooth. In fact, it's going to be an epic mess.
Whether this new harmonious Democratic coalition will last is unknown but nothing could be more important in this moment than to present a united front to stop Trump. If Harris wins, we'll have to see if she can navigate the inevitable jockeying for power as well as Biden did. She did have the advantage of seeing him operate, so hopefully that will guide her judgment.
The Democrats have collected over $100 million in small donations through Act Blue during the convention week. They brought in almost $36 million yesterday. During the hour after Harris' speech alone, they collected $7 million. These are very big numbers and they continue to suggest that the enthusiasm is on their side. If the polling trends continue, the election could be a little less daunting than we thought. As long as nobody takes that for granted, the Democrats might just pull it off.
