CHICAGO: Barack Obama will use the Democratic convention in Chicago to proclaim Kamala Harris as the party's future presidential candidate and, as the first black and South Asian woman, the heir to the movement he started in 2008.
Obama posted on social media that his speech at the Democratic National Convention today (Tuesday) will lay out “what's at stake” and why Harris and her running mate Tim Walz “should be our next president and vice president.”
Obama, the first black person elected to the White House, retains enormous influence and is a gifted speaker.
Her appearance at the convention will bring already dizzying levels of enthusiasm in Chicago (where outgoing President Joe Biden delivered his own emotionally charged speech on Monday night) to a new peak ahead of Harris' symbolic acceptance of the nomination on Thursday.
With the party united and Harris holding a strong lead in the polls, Democrats are making clear they believe they can defeat Donald Trump, who appeared poised to reclaim power in November until Biden turned the race around by dropping out and endorsing his vice president.
Democratic loyalists are already drawing comparisons to Obama's historic 2008 campaign, when a wave of enthusiasm carried him to the White House.
And convention delegate Ted Hiserodt, 56, said Obama would excite the Chicago crowd.
“It's very good for keeping the energy level high,” he said. AFP.
Harris, who was greeted with enthusiasm at her special appearance before Biden took the stage on Monday, will hold a rally before Obama's speech at the Milwaukee basketball arena where Trump attended the Republican convention just a month ago.
The choice of the 18,000-seat stadium appears to be a deliberate attempt to annoy Trump, who has been clearly unnerved by the fact that Harris, 59, unlike Biden, is able to draw the kind of crowds she has long drawn to her events.
In an attempt to divert media attention from the Democratic convention, Trump is holding events throughout the week and on Tuesday will speak in Michigan about what he says is Harris's “anti-police” stance.
While his allies have publicly called on Trump to focus on policy and stop his barrage of personal insults against Harris, the Republican candidate told CBS News he would not budge.
“I don't care,” he said, returning to one of his favorite jokes: that Harris is “not very smart.”
“I don't consider it an insult. It's a fact,” he said, adding that “many people” think he, on the other hand, is “very intelligent.”
Swan song
As the convention prepares for Harris' big speech on Thursday, her husband Doug Emhoff will be one of the speakers on Tuesday. Emhoff, a successful lawyer, would make history if Harris wins by becoming the country's first “first gentleman.”
But on Monday the floor belonged to Biden, who delivered a swansong after being forced to abandon his re-election bid amid deep concerns that at 81 he is too old and frail to defeat Trump.
Biden has transformed what could have been a humiliating moment into a narrative of sacrifice and passing the torch to his youngest deputy.
“It has been the honor of my life to serve as your president. I love my job, but I love my country more,” he said, wiping away a tear amid thunderous applause.
“I made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave them my best. For 50 years, like so many of you, I gave my heart and soul to our nation,” he said before hugging Harris on stage.
Monday's other star speaker was Hillary Clinton, who was the first female presidential candidate from a major party in 2016 but lost to Trump in an election that ushered in one of the most turbulent eras in American politics.
Harris, Clinton said, will be the one to break “the highest and hardest glass ceiling” in the country.
