Democratic Convention | ‘Hope is back’ with Kamala Harris, proclaims Michelle Obama

(Chicago) “Yes, she can!” Michelle and Barack Obama rocked the Democratic convention on Tuesday by hailing the “hope” found with Kamala Harris.

“Hope is back,” said the former First Lady, still immensely popular, like her husband, in the party.

“My Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment,” said Michelle Obama, whose eloquence and calm authority repeatedly elicited roars from the excited room.

“We are ready for President Kamala Harris,” assured the first black president of the United States after her, criticizing Donald Trump, this “78-year-old billionaire who never stops whining” and who “is afraid of losing.”

“Yes, she can!” Barack Obama said, echoing his old slogan, of course. The room then began chanting the phrase.

Gigantic fair

In a very festive atmosphere, the Democrats had previously consecrated Kamala Harris as their candidate.

The American vice president, thumbing her nose at her opponent Donald Trump, filled the hall on Tuesday in Milwaukee (Wisconsin), in the venue where the Republican party invested the former president.

Kamala Harris promised a “future of freedom, opportunity, optimism and faith.”

The Democratic Party, after one of the most eventful months in American political history, wanted to symbolically mark the entry of the vice-president into the race for the White House.

His investiture had already been formalized during an online vote.

One by one, against a backdrop of deafening music and cheers, representatives from each American state gave him their support.

Each delegation had chosen a song celebrating its home state. Many representatives wore colorful accessories or waved signs, giving the whole event the feel of a gigantic fair, energized by a host.

“Happy warrior”

For many, the hope Kamala Harris has generated is reminiscent of the momentum that preceded Barack Obama’s election in 2008.

“It’s really similar, there was so much enthusiasm when Obama was running, and that enthusiasm is back, it’s wonderful,” said Carolyn Culpepper, an African-American delegate from Alabama.

The 44^e President of the United States (2009-2017) spoke last, in this city of Chicago which is the stronghold of the couple.

Kamala Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, had painted a more personal portrait of the vice president before handing over to the Obamas.

“America, in this election, you have to decide who you trust with the future of your families. I trusted Kamala with the future of our family. It was the best decision I ever made,” he said.

He called his wife a “joyful warrior,” recounting touching anecdotes about their history.

Many a clumsy suitor will recognize themselves in his account of a confusing message left on Kamala Harris’s answering machine after their first date.

The smiling lawyer, very involved in the campaign, and the vice-president have a blended family, with two children he had from a previous union.

Defector

Former White House spokeswoman for Donald Trump, Stephanie Grisham, came to warn against the Republican candidate, who according to her has “no empathy, no ethics, no respect for the truth.”

The 78-year-old billionaire, campaigning in several key states this week, said in Howell, Michigan, that “crime is out of control in the United States,” blaming Kamala Harris.

Violent crime in the United States has been declining since 2020, when it spiked amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her Democratic rival, who has less than three months to convince Americans, attacked the right to abortion, which has been called into question since a decision in 2022 by the Supreme Court, which has become very conservative following the appointments made by Donald Trump.

“We’re going to make sure he faces consequences, and that’s going to happen at the ballot box in November,” the 59-year-old candidate said in Milwaukee.

Since her spectacular entry into the campaign after President Joe Biden’s shock withdrawal, Kamala Harris has completely remobilized the Democratic Party.

Most polls now give her a slight lead over her rival, but the election still looks set to be very close.