Harris promises to take a new path and defeat Trump

In her 40-minute speech, she repeatedly expressed her patriotism. Towards the end, she called on the Democrats in the arena and the viewers at home to campaign for her election on behalf of the country.

“Let's go out and fight for it,” she said. “Let's write the next great chapter of the most extraordinary story ever told.”

Americans across the country weighed in. Yvette Young, a Philadelphia resident since birth and project manager at SEPTA who attended a campaign party at a Harris campaign office, said she thought the speech was excellent and comprehensive.

“I think she addressed every issue,” Young said. “She wasn't afraid to call Donald Trump out on his nonsense and make him realize how much damage he's done to our country.”

A childhood in the middle class

Harris downplayed the historic nature of her candidacy – she is the first black woman of South Asian descent to lead a major party and would be the first female president regardless of race – but spoke at length Thursday about the values ​​her immigrant mother instilled in her.

Her mother, a scientist from India, “was tough, courageous and a pioneer in the fight for women's health,” she said.

Harris described her upbringing as middle-class, saying she was raised primarily by her mother after her parents divorced. Harris' father was a Jamaican student who met her mother at a civil rights rally, Harris said Thursday.

The vice president pledged to champion the middle class and create an “opportunity economy” that brings workers, small businesses and employees together. In addition, she promised to “end America's housing shortage” and reduce the cost of everyday necessities.

Ahead of the convention, Harris unveiled details of her policies to end price gouging, increase the child tax credit, curb rent increases and help first-time home buyers.

“We know that a strong middle class has always been critical to America's success,” she said. “And building that middle class will be a critical goal of my presidency. This is personal to me. The middle class is where I come from.”

Her remarks were applauded by another person at the watch party, Lindsay Davis, a Germantown resident and UX designer.

Davis believes there is a concrete issue that Harris can use to influence undecided voters.

“A lot of what she's already said about how to make it easier for first-time buyers to buy a huge home,” she said. “I think that's really important for younger people who aren't baby boomers, so Generation Z, Generation X, Generation whatever, all generations.”

A sense of justice

Harris' mother also taught her daughters “never to complain about injustice, but to do something about it,” she said, repeating a phrase that former First Lady Michelle Obama used repeatedly during her speech on Tuesday.

That same sense of justice motivated her to become a prosecutor, she said, serving as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general before being elected to the U.S. Senate in 2016.

As California's lead attorney, Harris secured a $20 billion settlement for homeowners in the state in a nationwide lawsuit against banks for lending fraud during the 2008 financial crisis.

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, who was also his state's attorney general at the time, said on Thursday shortly before Harris' speech that he believed her demand was significantly higher than what the banks had initially offered.

“America, we have a lot of great fights ahead of us,” he said. “And we have a damn good fighter ready to take them on.”

Trump’s “dark agenda”

Harris described many of her policy goals in contrast to those of her opponent, former President Trump, who is seeking another term in office.

While her administration will work to expand reproductive rights, Trump will further restrict them, she said.

Trump will push for a nationwide abortion ban, restrict access to contraception and require women to report miscarriages, she said, “with or without Congress.”

“Why don't you trust women?” she asked the packed crowd at the United Center. “We trust women.”

She said that if she is elected and Congress passes a bill restoring the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling, she would sign it. To do so, Democrats would likely need to not only control both chambers but also have 60 votes in the Senate.

On foreign policy, Harris said Trump would not stand up to dictators “because he wants to be an autocrat himself.”

She described the November elections as a “fight for the future of America.”

A chant broke out from the crowd: “We are not going back.”

She also asked the audience to imagine how dangerous Trump would be in office after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on July 1 that Trump could not be prosecuted for most of his official actions.

Second candidate

Harris spoke to a tightly packed crowd, many of whom wore white, a reference to the women's suffrage movement.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who spoke Monday, became the first woman to accept a major party's presidential nomination at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She delivered her acceptance speech in a white pantsuit.

But Harris was dressed in black from head to toe.

She took the stage to Beyoncé's “Freedom,” a song that has become the campaign's anthem. However, Beyoncé did not appear in person, despite widespread rumors that she would appear.

After Harris' speech, Democratic officials said 100,000 red, white and blue balloons were released into the air, a convention tradition. Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz, held hands on the stage and returned the cheers of the delegates.

“Unexpected” path to nomination

Harris acknowledged that her abbreviated path to the nomination, which began just 32 days ago, was highly unusual.

After President Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy for re-election on July 21 and endorsed Harris, the party quickly aligned itself with the vice president.

They collected the necessary delegates and, after a short vetting period, selected Walz. Soon after, they began campaigning in the seven crucial swing states – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Throughout the whirlwind, she praised Biden for his leadership and accomplishments.

She already did this in the opening lines of her speech on Thursday.

“Your record is extraordinary, as history will show,” she said. “And your character is inspiring.”

Republicans criticized the process that led to Harris' nomination, calling it a “coup” against Biden.

In a written statement ahead of Harris' speech on Thursday, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley reiterated that claim and sharply criticized Harris' policy proposals as “the most radical program ever presented at a major party convention.”

“After staging a coup to take the nomination from Joe Biden just weeks ago, Kamala Harris will now take the stage at the DNC to share her dangerously liberal agenda with the Democrats gathered to crown her in Chicago,” he said.

Keystone of the Convention

Harris' acceptance of the nomination concluded a four-day convention focused on passing the torch to the next generation, a theme that was also woven into speeches by long-standing Democrats, including former President Bill Clinton, who said he was “very happy to see all these young leaders.”

On the first night, Biden, who dropped out of the race last month, gave a farewell speech to Democrats and endorsed Harris. The Obamas campaigned for Harris on Tuesday, saying her candidacy “returns hope.”

As Harris delivered her speech, in which she sought to portray her candidacy and her vision for the country as one of freedom and joy, a sit-in broke out outside the United Center. Dozens of unaffiliated delegates, who were lobbying to allow a Palestinian American to speak at the DNC, said their request was denied by the Harris campaign.

In the arena, Harris said that negotiating an end to the war with the return of Israeli hostages and a permanent ceasefire was the government's highest priority.

“President Biden and I are working to end this war so that Israel is safe, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can exercise their right to dignity,” she said.

At the election party in Philadelphia, Alina Taylor, a special education teacher who lives in Upper Dublin, said that as a Democratic committeewoman for her district, she plans to volunteer for the Harris campaign and canvass votes.

“I came here because I'm hot and ready to go,” she said.

Before Harris' speech, she said she wanted to hear Harris' speech on the economy and what she planned to do on reproductive rights.

“This is so great because I want my daughters to have more rights than I did, and I don't want them to have fewer,” she said.

Pennsylvania Capital-Star reporter John Cole contributed to this report.