Hope has returned to the United States with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. Word of the one who with the concept of ‘hope’ became the first black president of the United States and of the one who became the most charismatic American First Lady, still a source of inspiration for millions of people today: Barack and Michelle Obama. The Democratic golden couple returned to their hometown, Chicago, and set the convention alight pitting Harris’s America – optimistic, diverse, plural, open, compassionate – against Donald Trump’s dark, divided, hate-filled America. “Yes she can,” said Barack, dedicating his iconic slogan to Harriswhich was immediately adopted by the crowd. “We are ready for President Kamala Harris. She is someone who has spent her life fighting for people who need a voice,” Obama stressed to applause. “We don’t need another four years of chaos,” he then said, attacking Trump. “We’ve seen that movie and the sequel is usually worse,” he insisted.
First Michelle Obama said, “Now is not the time to sit around and complain, do something.” Then it was Barack Obama’s turn to stop the boos of disapproval toward Donald Trump, saying, “Don’t boo, vote.” The second day of the Democratic convention, underway in Chicago, Illinois, ends with the urgency of beating Trump expressed by the former presidential couple most loved by the Democrats.
The ovation with which, speaking in two separate moments, they were greeted by the audience of five thousand delegates, joined by many others, confirmed their charisma. Both warned against the tycoon’s return to the White House. Both confirmed their full confidence in Kamala Harris who, Obama said, made him “hopeful” again. Both Barack and Michelle also underlined how the situation has changed with Kamala’s candidacy. Michelle spoke of “fresh air”. The former president said: “I don’t know about you but I feel charged”.
The climate at the convention was electric, marked in the evening by the confirmation of the delegates of Harris’ nomination made with a very musical ceremony. Everyone is convinced that if Joe Biden had remained, even though much loved by the base, there would not have been the same enthusiasm. And so what the vice candidate, Minnesota governor Tim Walz, said in a rally in Wisconsin held at the same time as the convention is valid.
The Republicans “thought they had won, that the story was already over but you can’t imagine how much things can change in just four weeks”. On July 21, Biden announced his withdrawal and the “passing of the torch” to his vice. It all seems much further away but to not make the comeback in vain, the Obamas recalled, one thing is needed: do something. And vote. The urgency with which they reiterated it in their speeches shows that despite the enthusiasm and energy that is pervading the convention, and the favorable polls, the game is still in the balance.
Twenty years ago in Boston, 42-year-old Senator Obama took to the stage for the first time at a Democratic convention. An unusual speaker for such a major event, “a skinny kid with a funny name” he called himself at the time, but that night he bewitched the Democrats by going well beyond the task of introducing candidate John Kerry. Today, speaking of Harris he said he was “full of hope for kids with funny names”, like him and Kamala. And former First Lady Michelle spoke of ‘hope’ in her speech acclaimed by convention delegates as much if not more than her husband’s. “Something magical is happening not only in this stadium but outside of here. Hope is returning”, she said, calling Harris “my girl”. “She is more than ready to be president. She is one of the most qualified and experienced people who have run for president and she is the one with the most dignity”, she stressed.
Michelle also did not spare attacks on the tycoon. “Who’s to tell her that the job she wants now is a job for blacks,” recalling the former president’s racist remarks. And regarding his insinuations that Kamala Harris and other Democrats “are not real Americans,” including her husband, she clarified: “No one has a monopoly on what it means to be American, no one.” Before the Obamas, the second gentleman Doug Emhoff took to the stage in Chicago. “Kamala is a joyful warrior. She is doing for her country what she has always done for the people she loves. Her passion will benefit all of us when she is our president,” said the man who could become the first first gentleman in American history.
Meanwhile, Kamala and Walz were in Milwaukee, for a rally at the forum where the Republicans held their convention a month ago.. “Yesterday, without a moment’s hesitation, Donald Trump said no to those who asked him if he had any regrets about repealing Roe v. Wade. No regrets. We will make sure he pays the price in November,” warned the Democratic candidate who then, in connection with the Democratic convention, thanked for the nomination with the celebratory ‘call roll’ to the sound of music by the delegates.
For the campaign these are days of great success if we consider not only the good progress of the event (with over 20 million viewers (which followed it on day one) but also the collection of nearly half a billion dollars since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race for the White House.