Kamala Harris’s ascent in the race for the White House has imbued the party with joy and galvanized ranks
Tens of thousands of Democrats are expected to descend on Chicago this week for their party’s convention, bubbling with a feeling few had anticipated: pure, unconfined joy.
At the end of their four-day fete, when the red, white and blue balloons tumble from the rafters of the United Center, Kamala Harris will have become the first woman of color to accept a major party’s presidential nomination in American history. The moment will cap a frenzied few weeks for Democrats, following the vice-president’s sudden ascent to the top of the ticket in a development that has transformed the race for the White House and galvanized a party once resigned to a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
“It’s a remarkable turn of events,” said Howard Dean, a former Democratic National Committee chairman and former Vermont governor. “The Democrats have now been resurrected.”
In less than a month since Biden’s monumental decision to abandon his re-election bid, Harris has united most Democrats and restored the party’s dominance among young voters and people of color. While the race remains nail-bitingly close, analysts recently adjusted their outlook in a trio of Sun belt states that had appeared to be slipping away from Democrats, possibly opening an alternative path to victory.
Harris’s crowds have been large and electric – a development that appears to irk her rival, still struggling to find a mocking nickname. Fundraising has poured in at a record clip. Celebrities, artists and fashion designers are eager to help. Online, young people continue to churn out memes and flattering content.
Party officials say the Harris-inspired vibe shift is trickling down ballot and translating into on-the-ground organizing.
“You can see the giant crowd packing the rallies,” said Ben Wikler, chair of the Wisconsin Democratic party. “But what you can’t see in those images is the fact that thousands of the people who go to those rallies are signing up for volunteer shifts and then going out and knocking on the doors of potential swing voters who may not know much about Vice-President Harris or Governor Walz.”
Harris officially secured the party’s nomination, in a virtual roll-call vote held earlier this month, instead of in-person at the convention. Then she chose Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, as her running mate, drawing plaudits from both poles of the party – an occurrence so rare the progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quipped that Democrats were showing “disconcerting levels of array”.
That period of harmony will be tested inside and outside of the convention hall, where a significant presence of pro-Palestinian protestors and “uncommitted” anti-war delegates plan to make their voices heard.
Still, Democrats hope to project a message of unity, as Harris and Walz, self-described “joyful warriors”, ride a wave of momentum into Chicago. Enthusiasm among Democrats surged from 46% in February, when the 81-year-old president was cruising essentially unchallenged toward his party’s nomination, to 85% in August, according to a survey by Monmouth University. Even among independents, enthusiasm has spread, from 34% to 53% over the same period.
“What you’re seeing is gen X rising,” said Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic party. “As gen Xers in the party, we’ve had to take the back seat in respect of our elders and now we’re finally claiming that mantle and running with it.” Harris is technically a boomer, missing the gen X cut off by a couple of months, but supporters say she embodies the cultural ethos of the generation.
“We always incorporate kind of pop culture and fun, because that’s who we are,” Kleeb continued. “And now we are going to implement policies that we’ve been screaming from the sidelines on.”
At the United Center, home of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls, Democrats will hear speeches from party luminaries, leaders and rising stars. Biden will deliver a pass-the-torch style speech on Monday, making the case that Harris is the best person to finish a campaign he started. By tradition, Walz will accept the vice presidential nomination on Wednesday night, and Vice President Kamala Harris will deliver her acceptance speech the following evening, on Thursday.
“The story here is simple and it’s one that will resonate with Americans across the country: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are fighting for the American people and America’s future — Donald Trump is only fighting for himself,” said Minyon Moore , chair of the convention.
