CHICAGO (AP) - Kamala Harris on Thursday urged Americans to reject political divisions and instead chart what she called a "new path forward" as she accepted her party's nomination while mixing a biography with a warning about Donald Trump's re-election to the White House.
Taking the stage to a thunderous standing ovation to close the Democratic Party National Convention in Chicago, the vice president argued that her personal story and past as a prosecutor made her uniquely qualified to protect the interests of the American people against a former president she denounced as having only his own interests in mind.
"With this election, our nation has a rare, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past," Harris said. "A chance to chart a new path forward. Not as members of one party or faction, but as Americans."
Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, became the first black woman and person of South Asian descent to accept a major party's presidential nomination and, if elected, would become the first woman to hold the presidency. Harris made no explicit mention in her 40-minute speech of the historic firsts she would set, and only mentioned the words "Democrat" or "Republican" in the context of the debate over the bipartisan border bill that Trump helped scuttle earlier this year, which she promised to sign if elected.
Her speech - and the Democratic convention in general - was meant to appeal to broad swaths of Americans, not just the partisans who Harris had already energized with her ascension after President Joe Biden ended his re-election bid. Several times she implicitly appealed to a large portion of the electorate who, until a few weeks ago, were unhappy with both options for the White House, especially those who were unhappy with Trump, a point underscored by the appearances of several people who broke with the 45th president while embracing the policies and approach of the 46th. Biden.
She was joined by a large mixed-race family for the traditional balloon release. Earlier, two of her granddaughters led a packed United Center to teach people how to pronounce her name, which means lotus in Sanskrit.
"America, the journey that has brought me here in the last few weeks has no doubt been unexpected," Harris said. "But I'm no stranger to improbable journeys."
Harris reintroduced herself
Harris, who was raised primarily by her mother in a small apartment in San Francisco's East Bay after her parents divorced, described being raised by friends and caregivers who were also "a family of love." She also detailed a key part of her political story, when Wanda, her best friend from high school, confided in her that she was being abused by her stepfather and came to live with the Harris family.
"That's one of the reasons I became a prosecutor. To protect people like Wanda," Harris said.
Outlining her work as a prosecutor, attorney general, senator and now vice president, Harris said, "Throughout my career, I've had only one client: people." Trump, meanwhile, she said, has only ever acted in the interests of "the only client he's ever had: himself".
When she came to the podium, she saw a sea of female delegates and Democratic supporters dressed in white - the color of women's suffrage, the movement that culminated in American women securing the right to vote in 1920.
Harris performed on the day of her tenth wedding anniversary with her husband Doug Emhoff, whom she referred to on stage as "Dougie" and who gave her a kiss from the podium at the beginning of her speech.
She and other speakers have directly addressed Republicans.
Harris directly called on Republicans who don't support Trump to put aside their party labels and support her instead of Trump, who has denied his loss to Biden in the 2020 election inspired the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
"I know people of different political views are watching tonight, and I want you to know that I pledge to be a president for all Americans," Harris said. "I pledge to be a president for all Americans, to honor America's constitutional principles, fundamental principles, from the rule of law and fair elections to the peaceful transfer of power."
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