Harris arrives in Chicago for euphoric convention

(Chicago) Kamala Harris arrived in Chicago on Sunday, on the eve of the Democratic Party convention, to which she gave renewed hope of a victory against Republican Donald Trump in November.

The vice president, who entered the race after Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy in July, is sure to be part of the jubilation at this grand mass, which she will conclude on Thursday with a speech.

During the day, the 59-year-old candidate traveled by bus through Pennsylvania, a key state for the November presidential election.

“I don’t see us as favourites at all,” she told reporters. “We have to earn every vote and that means being on the road, meeting people.”

In front of a group of volunteers, Kamala Harris judged, in an implicit allusion to the aggressive rhetoric of her rival Donald Trump, that “the so-called leaders who only think of crushing others are cowards.”

The vice president brought pastries to a fire station before heading to meet a high school football team.

Chips and soda

She also stopped at a convenience store to buy chips, confiding that her favorite soda was root beer, a typical American sweet fizzy drink.

Pennsylvania is one of the states most coveted by the Democrat as well as by her Republican rival – who lost it by just a hair to Joe Biden in 2020.

Donald Trump was there on Saturday, and he will return on Monday to this state where he was the target of an assassination attempt in July.

“She’s crazy,” the 78-year-old billionaire said of his rival.

Deprived of his best enemy since the withdrawal of Joe Biden, Donald Trump is increasing his personal attacks against this opponent who is almost 20 years younger.

The Republican team has planned campaign events in key states each day of the Democratic convention, which runs Monday through Thursday in Chicago.

Trump Tour

Donald Trump will address the economy Monday in Pennsylvania, then crime and national security the following two days, in Michigan and North Carolina. The following day, he will travel to Arizona, on the border with Mexico, to talk about immigration.

At least 50,000 people – delegates, volunteers, supporters – are expected in Chicago, America’s third largest city.

All this with a very heavy security presence, mobilizing no less than 2,500 local police officers, while the attempted assassination of Donald Trump remains fresh in everyone’s minds.

Palestinian support groups have planned large demonstrations in an effort to bring the Gaza war to the forefront of the debate.

Several hundred of them already marched on Sunday in a rather good-natured atmosphere, to protest against “the genocide in Gaza”, one of the organizers, David Finkel, explained to AFP.

The 76-year-old activist took part in a particularly stormy Democratic convention in 1968, also held in Chicago, against a backdrop of mobilization against the Vietnam War.

Obama and Biden

It remains to be seen whether these protests will resonate with fiercely optimistic Democrats.

“The enthusiasm has increased dramatically,” said Laurie Beth Hager, a Democratic delegate representing North Dakota, predicting that the convention would be “a great show of joy.”

On Sunday, a new Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll showed the vice president slightly ahead in national voting intentions.

On the shores of Lake Michigan, the party’s heavyweights will come to support Kamala Harris, starting with former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, who are at home in Chicago.

As for Joe Biden, he will deliver on Monday what will be both the first major speech of the convention and a sort of farewell message, after half a century in politics.

According to CNN, he will be joined on stage by Kamala Harris, to offer the first strong image of the great Democratic mass.

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