Obamas fire up Democratic crowd and Harris’ chances to beat Trump

Chicago: It was hard not to feel the joy.

Even before the roll call began, which gives the states and territories the chance to cast ceremonial votes for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz as the Democratic nominees for president and vice president, the Democratic National Convention crowd could barely contain their excitement.

Former US president Barack Obama with former first lady Michelle Obama as he is introduced during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Credit: AP

They danced, chanted and cheered. They dangled their glow-in-the-dark bracelets and attempted the Mexican wave. And by the time Michelle Obama took the stage, followed soon after by husband Barack, the energy in the stadium was palpable.

“I’m feeling fired up! I’m feeling ready to go,” the former president said to a thunderous roar as he revived his old campaign catch-cry.

It was 2008 when the son of a black Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas became the first African American to win the presidential nomination from a major party.

Sixteen years later, Harris has had her own groundbreaking moment, officially becoming this year’s presidential candidate.

The crowd was delighted with the endorsement of Kamala Harris for president.Credit: Bloomberg

The pair have known each other for years: indeed, Harris was one of few people in the Democratic Party who endorsed Obama for the White House back then, at a time when much of the party establishment had initially thrown their weight behind Hillary Clinton.

But while this was Obama’s chance to return the favour, there was no escaping the fact that his quiet manoeuvring, along with that of senior Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, likely contributed to the pressure campaign that led to President Joe Biden withdrawing from the election.

To that end, Obama began his speech paying tribute to his former vice president, who he described as his “brother” and “friend”.

“History will remember Joe Biden as a president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger,” Obama said. “Now the torch has been passed. Now it’s up to us to fight for the America we believe in ... we don’t need four more years of bluster and chaos. We’ve seen that movie and we all know the sequel is usually worse.”

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris listen during speeches at the Democratic National Convention.Credit: SF Chronicle via AP

Obama’s speech came after his wife, Michelle, entered the stage to thunderous applause and told the raucous crowd: “America, hope is making a comeback!”

In 2016, the former first lady’s appearance for Hillary Clinton used her now-famous phrase against Donald Trump and his Republicans: “When they go low, we go high”.

This time, however, she took a much different tone, lashing Trump as the beneficiary of “the affirmative action of generational wealth”, eviscerating his talking points and racially charged attacks, and slamming him for the lies he had spread about her husband’s heritage.

“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,” she said. “His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be black. Who’s gonna tell him that the job he’s currently seeking may be one of those ‘black jobs’?”

The Obamas’ appearance was as much an emphatic endorsement of Harris and Walz as it was a call to action. While polls show Harris has narrowed the gap against Trump in several battleground states, the election is still anyone’s to lose.

As such, nothing could be left to chance, they said, urging Democrats to mobilise and do whatever they could to stop Trump’s negativity and lies.

“I don’t care how you identify politically, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, independent or none of the above,” Michelle Obama said. “This is our time to stand up for what we know in our hearts is right.”

The speeches from two of the most revered members of the Democratic Party capped off what had already been a rollicking celebration featuring star-studded cameos, anti-Trump Republicans, and a brief video appearance from Harris herself, who was patched into the convention from a rally in Wisconsin at the same stadium where Trump accepted his nomination only a few weeks ago.

Delegates hold “Doug” signs while the US second gentleman speaks at the convention.Credit: Bloomberg

“We are so honoured to be your nominees,” the vice president said. “This is a people-powered campaign and together we will chart a new way forward.”

The convention kicked off with the grandchildren of two Democratic presidents, John F. Kennedy and Jimmy Carter, rallying around the new ticket.

Progressive independent senator Bernie Sanders was there, too, talking up Harris’ push to cut costs for working families and calling for an end “to this horrific war in Gaza” and an immediate ceasefire to bring the hostages home.

And former Trump White House aide Stephanie Grisham also took the stage, recalling her experience working with the former president, and how she quit after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.

Senator Bernie Sanders at the convention.Credit: AP

“I couldn’t be part of the insanity any longer,” she said. “Now here I am behind a podium advocating for a Democrat, and that’s because I love my country more than my party.”

But it was Harris’ husband Doug, who could also make history as America’s first-ever first gentleman, that gave the crowd a personal insight into his wife, and into his own affable nature.

Describing her as a “joyful warrior” who easily embraced the role of “mamala” to his two children, the self-deprecating lawyer explained how they met on a blind date after Emhoff got her number from a mutual friend.

He called her at 8.30 in the morning, left a long rambling message, and the rest, as they say, is history.

“Kamala saved that message and makes me listen to it every anniversary,” he told the crowd.

Thursday will be their 10th anniversary, the same night that Harris formally accepts the nomination for president of the United States.

“Kamala was exactly the right person for me at an important moment in my life,” Emhoff said. “And at this moment in our nation’s history, she is exactly the right president.”

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