Vice President Kamala Harris capped the Democratic National Convention by asking Americans to cast away, once and for all, the extreme divisiveness and hatred that’s plagued our politics for almost a decade.
On the final night of a convention no one imagined a month and a half ago, Kamala Harris made a rousing call for Americans to relegate Trump to the dustbin of history and show the world what Abraham Lincoln called the “better angels of our nature.”
“Let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: Freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness, and endless possibilities,” said Harris before a packed, raucous crowd in Chicago.
“We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world. And on behalf of our children and our grandchildren and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment.”
It was an impassioned appeal by Harris that capped a Democratic National Convention where hope, optimism, and, as Oprah put it using her trademark bellow, “Joooooooooooy!!!,” were on full display.
The DNC was indeed a celebration of the newfound “joy” Democrats were sorely missing when Biden was still at the top of the ticket.
However, amid the revelry, there were also stark warnings of the consequences of a Trump return to the White House, this time with no guardrails and equipped with a voluminous tome of extremist measures laid bare by “Project 2025.”
[Seriously Question: what kind of brain-dead political boobs lays out in excruciating detail their nefarious plans for undermining American Democracy like a James Bond supervillain?]
Good thing SNL’s Keenan Thompson was on hand to lay bare the evil and insanity contained within.
Harris also warned of the dangers of “Project 2025,” which advocates for Trump sycophants being installed into the rank-and-file of the federal government, as well as the shuttering of essential services like the Department of Education.
And she made clear that, unlike Trump, Harris would not fawn over dictators and tyrants as the commander-in-chief.
“In the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand, and I know where the United States belongs,” she said after excoriating Trump for kowtowing to dictators like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un.
The vice president’s address capped four days of inspiring speeches by a deep bench of Harris surrogates – many of whom hail from Postindustrial America – who will now go forth and campaign for Harris where it matters most, in places like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Allies like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, once considered a frontrunner in the Harris veepstakes before Tim Walz became America’s favorite football coach and dad (if you didn’t tear up when Gus Walz cheered for his father, you are dead inside) will expertly make the case for Harris and Walz over the next two-and-a-half months.
Funny enough, Shapiro is criticized by MAGA minions for sounding a lot like President Obama in his speeches, which isn’t quite the insult they assume it is, as any Democrat would relish being compared to the Democratic Party’s best-spoken former leader.
Yet Obama isn’t even the best public speaker in his family!
Michelle Obama delivered the most inspiring and impactful speech of the convention, imploring all Americans, regardless of party, to put the best interest of the American people before partisanship.
“Look, I don’t care how you identify politically, whether you are Democrat, Republican, independent or none of the above. This is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right,” said the former First Lady to thunderous applause.
I’ve covered many conventions in my day, both Democratic and Republican. However, none of them could hold a candle to what transpired over the last four days: a celebration of what can be when we listen to “our better angels” instead of indulging our fear and prejudice.
Even someone as jaded as I, who covered some of America’s lowest moments in recent years – the Sept. 11 attacks and the Iraq War come foremost to mind – felt a renewed sense of hope.
For the first time since Trump injected himself into the American political bloodstream more than nine years ago, I felt like the lesser angels he inspires in his faithful may soon be vanquished.
