After paying a vibrant tribute to Joe Biden on Monday, Democrats will crown Kamala Harris as their party’s nominee on Tuesday during a day of celebration in Chicago, with Barack and Michelle Obama as distinguished guests.
The party, meeting in convention after one of the most eventful months in American political history, will formalize the entry of the vice-president into the race for the White House, facing the Republican Donald Trump.
A coronation with the air of a “celebration”, promises the Democratic Party.
One by one, representatives from each American state will advance into the blue-carpeted home of the legendary Chicago Bulls basketball club to nominate Kamala Harris as their new candidate for the November presidential election.
This investiture had already been formalized during an online vote.
Democrats expected to campaign without passion for the octogenarian president, who is mired in the polls. But since his incredible withdrawal on July 21, they have found themselves dreaming again of a victory thanks to their 59-year-old candidate, who is ahead of Donald Trump in most opinion polls.
In the middle of the evening, the delegates will then attend speeches by one of the star couples of their party: the Obamas.
“It’s great to be back in Chicago!” said the first black president of the United States, referring to the city where he learned his trade.
The 60-year-old will explain Tuesday evening “why Kamala Harris should be our president,” he wrote in a message on X.
“Thank you Joe!”
The 44e The President of the United States and his wife Michelle are still very popular among Democrats.
“He’s one of the best speakers of our time” and “he’s very good at getting the energy level up and mobilizing volunteers,” Ted Hiserodt, 56, a delegate from Arizona, told AFP.
The goal of this second day of the convention, according to the Democrats, is to unfold “an ambitious vision for the future of America.”
The party is looking to the future just a month after Joe Biden dropped out.
The 81-year-old Democratic president, relegated to the cruel role of warm-up man, passed the torch to his vice-president on Monday evening to cheers and tears.
The leader received a deafening ovation from his party, with shouts of “Thank you Joe!”, before sharing a long hug with Kamala Harris.
He has pledged to become the “top volunteer” for the campaign of the 50-year-old, who could become the first black woman to run for president.
“We are eternally grateful” to Joe Biden, an “incredible” president, Kamala Harris greeted on stage.
Thumbing a Nose at Trump
The US vice president will accept her party’s nomination in front of cameras from around the world during a grand evening on Thursday, punctuated by the release of thousands of balloons.
The candidate, who has less than three months to convince Americans to elect her against Donald Trump, will briefly leave Chicago on Tuesday to make a detour to the neighboring state of Wisconsin, one of the most contested in the presidential race.
She will deliver a speech in the middle of the evening in the immense complex in Milwaukee, the same place where Donald Trump was invested by the Republicans a month earlier.
A thinly veiled snub.
The 78-year-old former president was forced to review his entire electoral strategy after the shock withdrawal of his arch-rival, Joe Biden.
Anxious to halt the momentum gained by his new rival, he is increasing his trips this week to the most contested states in the presidential election.
The septuagenarian will be in Detroit, Michigan, on Tuesday afternoon for a campaign rally focused on fighting crime.
Before other campaign events in North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada.