It was the energy that radiated when before there had been none. Democrats in the crowd stood transfixed at the sight of a younger candidate exuding confidence, vitality and emotion. It had been a long time since they had seen such a thing.
Kamala Harris’ first presidential campaign speech was such a contrast to the frail incoherence of Joe Biden that almost no matter what she said, the contrast was already a winner for the Democrats.
In the end, the new presumptive Democratic presidential nominee did not give a speech for the ages in her campaign debut. It lasted barely 15 minutes. But it was a confident, self assured, debut. It was a feel good, aspirational pitch to America’s middle class, which claimed she had a vision for the future unlike Donald Trump.
The short speech was a once-over-lightly job in that it merely touched upon the issues that she saw as important, including the protection of freedoms, social security, universal healthcare, abortion rights and a ban on assault weapons. She did not give any detail about how she would achieve her agenda.
She also made no mention of border security or cost of living, arguably her two greatest weaknesses, and she did not discuss climate change or foreign policy, including China, Ukraine or Israel.
Mr Trump and his running mate JD Vance can be expected to relentlessly hound Ms Harris’ on the issue of the more than 10 million undocumented immigrants who have flowed over the border under the Biden/Harris administration. Mr Biden gave Ms Harris partial responsibility for reducing these numbers so Republicans will seek to hold her to account.
Ms Harris used her first speech to attack Donald Trump as a predator, fraudster and cheat, saying his vision would take America backwards and warning he would cut social security and medicare, end the Affordable Care Act and give tax breaks to the wealthy and big business.
But the speech was memorable for the stark contrast between the energy and vitality of the 59 year old Ms Harris and the frail, infirm Joe Biden.
Ms Harris’s delivery was loud, upbeat and at times almost raucous which for Democrats would be a welcome relief from the whispering incoherency of their 81 year old president.
The crowd lapped up the energy, at times breaking into chants of ‘Kamala, Kamala’ and ‘we are not going back’ (to Trump).
It was the clearest indication yet that this will be a very different election campaign with a younger candidate on the stump.
Ms Harris pledged that her presidential campaign would focus on strengthening the Middle Class which she said was the key to American prosperity.
She pointedly focused on abortion rights, drawing big cheers from the crowd when she said: “We trust women to make decisions about their own body and not have the government tell them what to do.”
It was the first indication that the Vice-President will spotlight the abortion issue at every turn, with polls showing it has been a clear winner for Democrats since the conservative-majority Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
Ms Harris said that if congress passed legislation to protect abortion rights – an unlikely scenario without solid Democratic majorities in both houses – she would sign it into law.
She also claimed she would seek to ban assault weapons, a promise which many Democrat presidents have failed to achieve.
With the eyes of America on her, the pressure is on for Ms Harris not to make any early mis-steps on the campaign trail. The key tests for her will be when she has to publicly defend the Biden Administration’s poor record on border security and the cost of living crisis affecting so many American families. As Vice-President she will be unable to clearly separate herself from the Biden record on these and other issues.
If Ms Harris is to have a chance against Mr Trump she will need to pitch herself as a more centrist candidate, focusing on the bread and butter issues of ordinary families, from jobs, to interest rates, taxes and services.
If she dwells on issues of identity politics and panders to the left-wing of the Democrat base, she will alienate the hardscrabble voters who she needs to win the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
The true test is yet to come, but Ms Harris’s first campaign speech was a vibrant and solid start, even if it was more about style than substance.
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