Harris in Pennsylvania on eve of tightly-secured convention

(Chicago) US Vice President Kamala Harris arrived Sunday in Pennsylvania, a key state for the November presidential election where she wants to show her commitment on the ground, just before heading to Chicago for a high-security nomination convention.

The 59-year-old Democrat, who after Joe Biden’s withdrawal has revived hopes of a victory against Donald Trump in her camp, has planned a coach tour of this “swing state” in the eastern United States.

The candidate and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, want to show their support for workers and the working classes, in a state that the current president only won by a hair’s breadth in 2020 against Donald Trump.

Kamala Harris wants to put forward an economic program focused on the middle class, unveiled this week.

The Republican candidate, well aware of the stakes, was also back in Pennsylvania on Saturday, the state where he was the target of an assassination attempt in July.

“She’s crazy,” the 78-year-old billionaire said of his rival, whom he also called a “communist.”

The strategy of the former president, deprived of his best enemy since the withdrawal of Joe Biden, has so far consisted mainly of launching broadsides of personal attacks against this opponent who is almost 20 years younger.

But he is struggling to find the right response to an opponent who is riding on encouraging polls.

Republican counter-offensive

The Republican team announced a counter-offensive on Sunday, with campaign events planned in key states each day of the Democratic convention.

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.

According to the Democratic Party, at least 50,000 people – delegates, volunteers, supporters, etc. – are expected in Chicago, the third largest city in the United States, for a show of unity and enthusiasm until Thursday evening.

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.

“The vast majority of protesters […] are peaceful” and “want their voices to be heard, and we’re going to protect that,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said Sunday morning on CNN. But “if there are troublemakers, they will be arrested and convicted.”

Obama

Instead of inaugurating an octogenarian president mired in poor polls, the Democratic Party will triumphantly carry a candidate who is on a par with or even better than her Republican rival in a race that promises to be very close.

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

Forgotten are the general gloom surrounding Joe Biden’s candidacy and the panic caused by his failed debate at the end of June against Donald Trump, which forced him to throw in the towel.

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.

In his stronghold of Chicago, there is no doubt that this charismatic speaker will mobilize even more Democrats, many of whom say they find, in this start to the vice-president’s campaign, a euphoria reminiscent of the march towards the White House of the first black president of the United States, in 2008.

But it will be up to Joe Biden on Monday evening to deliver what will be both the first major speech of the convention and a sort of farewell message, after half a century in politics.

The president will praise his record during his term, according to a press release, but will above all call for support for the vice president, in the face of a Donald Trump who has been convicted of criminal charges and who has not committed to conceding a possible defeat.

Above all, he will call for support for the vice-president by “highlighting the issues” of the election, in the face of a president who has been convicted of criminal offences and who has not committed to conceding a possible defeat.

According to CNN, Joe Biden could even be joined on stage by Kamala Harris, in an emotionally charged performance, just as the United States likes it.

But the presence at the convention of Hillary Clinton, whom Donald Trump beat to general surprise in 2016, will perhaps also remind euphoric Democrats to be cautious.

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