Democratic Convention | Kamala Harris Hours Ahead of Most Important Speech of Her Life

(Chicago) It will be the most important speech of her political life: Kamala Harris, by solemnly accepting the Democratic nomination on Thursday in Chicago, will want to show America the face of a future president.

The 59-year-old vice president has already electrified her camp, which is dreaming of victory on November 5 against Republican Donald Trump. She will address the entire country on Thursday, according to a senior member of her campaign team, who requested anonymity.

“There is no second chance to make a good first impression,” notes political scientist Larry Sabato. “Voters have seen Kamala’s style. Now they need Kamala’s program.”

His speech will come at the end of a euphoric convention that has attracted more than 20 million viewers each night when the keynote speakers take the stage.

Kamala Harris will take advantage of this audience to introduce herself to a country that does not necessarily know her very well, after almost four years in the thankless position of vice president.

“When Kamala comes on stage, the room is going to go wild,” imagines Amanda Taylor, a Missouri delegate we met Wednesday night. “I’m ready!”

Beyonce?

Like many in Chicago, she hopes her candidate’s speech will be accompanied by a huge musical surprise: “You know what I’m really waiting for? Kamala of course, but I hear Beyoncé might come!” she says with a laugh.

The huge star, who has touched on all musical genres, has already given the campaign its anthem, with his song “Freedom”.

Delegates and journalists are therefore speculating about its appearance as the highlight of a very musical convention.

When they don’t imagine the arrival of Taylor Swift, a global pop phenomenon, to warm up the room before Kamala Harris’ speech.

According to her team, the Democratic candidate, born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, will talk about her childhood in a middle-class family and her commitments as a former California prosecutor.

She will oppose her Republican rival, focused on the “decline” of the country, with a resolutely optimistic vision of the American destiny, according to her campaign team.

Polls show Kamala Harris with a slight lead over Donald Trump in national voting intentions.

“Tight” ballot

This is in no way a guarantee of victory, 74 days before an election that will certainly be decided, as in 2016 and 2020, in a handful of key states.

So much can happen between now and then. In four mind-boggling weeks, America has seen its current president, Joe Biden, abandon his candidacy, and its former president, Donald Trump, fall victim to an assassination attempt.

On Friday, things could move again. According to American media, independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will throw in the towel and support the Republican billionaire.

“No matter how much incredible energy we’ve been able to generate over the last few weeks, this is going to be a close election in a deeply divided country,” former President Barack Obama warned Tuesday.

For many Democratic delegates, the momentum is sweeping away uncertainties. “I have no doubt, none, that she’s going to win,” said Edwina Martin, 60, who came from New York.

Immigration

In this battle, Kamala Harris wants to challenge the Republican Party’s defense of a central value of its rhetoric: freedom.

“When Republicans talk about freedom, they’re talking about the freedom for the government to invade your doctor’s office,” his running mate, Tim Walz, attacked Wednesday, referring to abortion rights, which have been eliminated or severely restricted by many conservative states.

“But when we Democrats talk about freedom, we’re talking about the freedom to have a better life,” the Minnesota governor said.

Donald Trump, on Fox News Thursday morning, repeated that his rival wanted to push America into “communism.”

While traveling in Arizona, a state bordering Mexico, he accused her of wanting to “open the borders” to illegal immigration – one of her recurring angles of attack.