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August 23, 2024 – 06:05
Jairo Mejia
Chicago (USA), Aug 22 (EFE).- U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris presented herself to Americans on Thursday as the only option to a “limitless” Donald Trump and promised a “new path forward” by accepting the nomination that makes her the first woman of African-American and Indian origins to run for president of the country.
“On behalf of all whose stories can only be written in this great nation, I accept your nomination to be president of the United States,” she said, capping a turbulent two months for Democrats that began with a dismal showing by an aging President Joe Biden in the June 27 presidential debate.
Harris appeared before thousands of Democratic Party delegates at the Chicago Bulls stadium during prime time, with television cameras across the country focused on a speech in which she portrayed herself as a “realistic, practical and common-sense” leader.
The historic Democratic candidate raised the crowd at this political conclave with a cry of “we are not going back,” in reference to the only term that Donald Trump has spent in the White House between 2017 and 2021 and which he now wants to repeat with a new electoral victory.
Regarding President Joe Biden, who cleared the way for her by refusing to run for re-election, supporting her candidacy and leaving her with a campaign with a full campaign coffers, Harris said she will be “eternally grateful.”
“When I think about the journey we have taken together, I am filled with gratitude. Joe, your record is extraordinary, as history will show. Your character is inspiring,” she added.
“The United States, the path that brought me here a few weeks ago has certainly been unexpected. But I am no stranger to improbable journeys,” said Harris, who recalled the migrant past of her mother, Shyamala Harris, who “traveled from India to California with an unwavering dream of being a scientist who would cure breast cancer.”
Harris promised tax cuts for the middle class, to work on legislation to restore abortion protections, to revive a bipartisan border bill that restricted asylum access, supported by Biden, and to continue investing in defense to have “the greatest lethal force in the world.”
Surrounded by signs with her name in a festive atmosphere, Harris attacked Trump, saying that “he is not a serious man, but the consequences of putting him back in the White House are very serious,” highlighting the threat he poses to democracy.
“Imagine a Donald Trump without limits and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States, not to improve your lives, not to strengthen our nation, but to serve his only client: himself,” he said.
Harris presented herself to Americans as a middle-class woman who learned “not to be afraid” and who was always told by her mother, when she complained about an injustice, to stand up and do something, a mantra recalled by Michelle Obama in a speech this week at the Democratic convention.
Her inspiration to become a prosecutor, her first step into a political life, was the story of a classmate who was abused by her stepfather and who she took into her home. In her career she concluded that the important thing “is not to represent the victim, but the people, because harm to one is harm to all.”
Harris, who was surrounded by a group of women in positions of power dressed in white in homage to the suffragettes, closed her speech with the traditional shower of confetti and more than 100,000 balloons that fell from the stadium ceiling.
The soundtrack to this historic moment was the song ‘Freedom’ by Beyonce, whose presence was rumored throughout the convention and who was replaced during these four days by talents such as Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Pink. EFE
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