CHICAGO, Illinois — Kamala Harris arrived in Chicago on Sunday ahead of her star-studded appearance at the Democratic National Convention this week, perhaps the most important moment of her short but spectacular campaign against Donald Trump.
The Vice President of the United States has given the party new momentum after an astonishing month in which she replaced President Joe Biden at the top of the electoral list and wiped out her Republican rival Trump’s lead in the polls.
En route to Chicago, Harris stopped in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania – which Trump won in 2016 and Biden in 2020 – and took a day-long bus tour to keep the momentum going.
WINDY WELCOME US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she steps off Air Force Two upon arrival at Chicago O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, August 18, 2024. AFP PHOTO
Accompanied by their vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz, and their respective spouses, they set off from Pittsburgh in a coach emblazoned with their names to a series of Rust Belt cities to woo the working class.
Harris, however, insisted that Trump was still the favorite and that she would campaign hard with 79 days to go before the November 5 election.
“I consider ourselves the underdogs. We still have a lot of work to do to win the vote of the American people,” Harris told reporters in Pennsylvania. “That’s why we’re doing this bus tour today.”
“Fight for the future”
Her rapid rise has unsettled 78-year-old former president and convicted felon Trump, who is now resorting to his preferred tactic of personal insults against America’s first black and South Asian vice president.
A day earlier, Trump had called Harris a “crazy woman” at a rally in Pennsylvania and boasted that he looked “much better” than the 59-year-old Harris.
Harris’ keynote speech at the convention on Thursday will be a crucial opportunity to sell her story to an electorate still getting used to the new name at the top of the Democratic ticket.
She is expected to portray the election as a “fight for the future” against a second Trump term, while promising an optimistic vision for Americans struggling with high prices.
Harris is expected to share the stage with Biden on Monday when he addresses the party convention – a speech he planned to give as the Democratic candidate just a few weeks ago.
The 81-year-old politician is reportedly still angry about the way Democrats pushed him out of office and believes he could still have defeated Trump.
Biden, however, is likely to focus more on the torch-passing and on Trump, whom he describes as a threat to democracy, and will seek to cement his legacy by helping Harris win.
Gaza casts a shadow
Harris’ rapid rise gives Democrats new hope – just weeks after Biden’s disastrous performance in the debate in late June had many believing the election was already lost.
A Washington Post, ABC and Ipsos poll released Sunday found Harris with a narrow lead over Trump among registered voters across the country. Just a month ago, Trump and Biden were tied at a scoreless margin.
But the shadow of protest against the Biden administration’s support of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip looms over Congress.
Security measures have been tightened for the four-day gathering. Tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on the city to take part in daily protests, with the largest planned for Monday and Wednesday.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said the planned protests would be allowed as long as they remained peaceful.
“If there are troublemakers, they will be arrested and convicted,” he told CNN.
