Former President Barack Obama (2009-2017) on Tuesday called on the United States to open a “new chapter” to bring Vice President and Democratic candidate Kamala Harris to the White House and leave behind the darkness of the Donald Trump era.
Obama, an adopted son of Chicago, was greeted with a thunderous ovation at the United Center stadium where the Democratic National Convention is being held, which on Thursday will hear Harris give the speech in which she will formally accept the party’s presidential nomination.
“Yes, we can!” the crowd chanted as Obama took the stage, echoing the slogan and energy that catapulted him to the White House in 2008. The former president responded by saying he felt “hopeful” about this election, alluding to the slogan of “hope” and “change” from his own presidential campaign.
Obama harshly attacked Trump, describing him as a selfish and bullying billionaire who only sees “power as a means to his ends” and who resorts to “childish nicknames” and “crazy conspiracy theories” to combat his greatest “fear,” which he said is losing to Harris in the November election.
In a more forceful tone than on other occasions, Obama even resorted to personal attacks, mockingly saying that Trump has a “strange obsession with crowd size,” which automatically provoked the audience’s joy and erupted into applause.
Harris’s own campaign has used the term “outsider” to attack Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance.
A FILM THAT OBAMA ALREADY KNOWS
“We don’t need four more years of bluster and chaos. We’ve seen that movie and we know that the second half is always worse. America is ready for a new chapter. America is ready for a better story. We’re ready for a President Kamala Harris!” he exclaimed.
Obama went on to describe the America Kamala Harris wants to create as one of “freedom” and “opportunity” for all Americans, regardless of their social class or the color of their skin.
THIS IS WHAT WE LONG FOR
“I think that’s what we’re longing for, a return to America where we work together and take care of each other,” said Obama, who at times adopted a more reflective tone and moved the thousands of people who listened to him in rapt attention in the stadium.
With precise prose, he spoke about the current situation in American society and the culture that has allowed Trump to come to power.
“A culture that values things that don’t last: money, fame, status, likes. We chase the approval of strangers on our phones. We build all kinds of walls and fences around ourselves and then wonder why we feel so alone and don’t trust each other,” he mused.
There were, however, lighter moments, such as when he referred to his running mate and Democratic vice presidential hopeful, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who has earned a reputation for being a good-natured man.
“I love this guy. Tim is the kind of person who should be in politics,” Obama began. “You can see that those flannel shirts he’s wearing don’t come from a consultant, they come from his closet, and they’ve been through some battles,” he said, drawing loud laughter from the audience and his wife Gwen.
With his words, the first African-American president of the US put all his political capital behind Harris so that she can make history as the first woman, the first African-American and the first person of Indian origin to be elected president of the United States.
Obama and Harris’ bond, however, did not begin tonight. They met 20 years ago when she was a district attorney in San Francisco and he was running for Senate in Illinois.
So Harris helped organize a fundraiser for Obama’s Senate campaign at a San Francisco hotel, and the two quickly connected as mixed-race Americans: Obama’s father was from Kenya and his mother a white woman from Arkansas, while Harris’s mother was Indian and her father was Jamaican.
Years later, as the former president recalled during his speech today, their paths crossed again. When Obama ran for the White House in 2008, Harris volunteered for his campaign in Iowa.
Today, Obama returned to the Democratic Convention to return the favor with a speech aimed at propelling Harris to the White House. The audience received the former president’s words with such enthusiasm that, at times, it was hard to understand what he was saying.
«¡Now, let’s get to work!finished. EFE
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