By Alex P. Vidal
“I think people forget that it doesn’t take a big donation to help someone, just a lot of little donations.”— Hannah Teter
SHORTLY after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in a fiery speech in Chicago, Illinois on August 22 night, I received an email from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) which said, “This is critical, Alex Vidal: Vice President Harris just addressed the nation and called on Democrats everywhere to ACT.”
The email further stated: “If we want to win this fall, we must answer her call by delivering a HISTORIC surge of support for Democratic candidates. A coalition of donors will TRIPLE every gift, but their offer is only open for tonight!”
It was only when I read the following message that I realized it was a campaign to raise funds for the Democrats or the party’s presidential and congressional candidates: “Vice President Harris’ extraordinary call to action demands an extraordinary response. Please chip in $5 (becomes $15!) to defend the Senate and continue our historic progress.”
I was more interested in the vice president’s speech on the last night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) where Harris formally accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination by delivering a forceful speech that laid out her vision for the United States while warning about the possibility of former President Donald Trump returning to the White House.
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Other prominent and hard-hitting speakers before Harris’ speech included Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Eva Longoria, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger.
Harris recited her life story and background before directly taking on Trump and laying out her position on several hot-button issues, including the war in Gaza, immigration, abortion and more to cap off the fourth and final day of the DNC.
She declared, “I promise to be a president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country above party and self, to hold sacred America’s fundamental principles, from the rule of law to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of power.”
Calling the former president “unserious man,” Harris warned of “the consequences of putting (him) back in the White House are extremely serious.”
Harris bewailed, “Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States—not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security—but to serve the only client he has ever had: himself.”
“Consider the power he will have, especially after the United States Supreme Court just ruled that he would be immune from criminal prosecution,” Harris continued. “Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States, not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he has ever had — himself.”
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Turning to immigration, Harris accused Trump of sabotaging a bipartisan immigration bill that was negotiated in the Senate but failed after Trump came out against it. The bill would have provided billions of dollars in new spending to bolster border security and reform the nation’s asylum system.
“But Donald Trump believes a border deal would hurt his campaign. So he ordered his allies in Congress to kill the deal,” she said. “Well, I refuse to play politics with our security.”
As president, Harris said, she pleaded to “bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed. And I will sign it into law.”
She continued: “I know we can live up to our proud heritage as a nation of immigrants and reform our broken immigration system. We can create an earned pathway to citizenship — and secure our border.”
Harris on Republicans and abortion: “Simply put, they are out of their minds” blaming Trump for the Supreme Court which rolled back Roe v. Wade. Trump appointed three justices to the court, creating a conservative supermajority.
“Donald Trump hand-picked members of the United States Supreme Court to take away reproductive freedom, and now he brags about it,” she said.
Harris said Americans have shared stories of miscarrying in a parking lot, getting sepsis and losing the ability to have children again.
“This is what is happening in our country because of Donald Trump,” she said, warning “he is not done.” She said that he would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion, enact a nationwide ban on abortion and force states to report on women’s miscarriages and abortions. “Simply put, they are out of their minds,” she said.
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Harris said she and Biden are working to end Israel-Hamas war, calls situation in Gaza “devastating.”
Harris said she and Mr. Biden are “working around the clock” to get a hostage and cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.
“I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself,” she said. “I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself.”
But she said what has happened in Gaza during the 10-month war is “devastating.” “So many innocent lives lost,” she said. “Desperate, hungry people, fleeing for safety, over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking.”
Harris wrapped up her nomination speech, calling on Americans to “write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.”
“It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done,” she said. “Guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth — the privilege and pride of being an American.”
“So let’s get out there,” she said. “Let’s fight for it.”
Harris was joined on stage by her family and vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s family as red, white and blue balloons fell from the ceiling. A convention official said more than 100,000 balloons were prepared for the moment.
The convention soon ended with a benediction, bringing the 2024 DNC to a close.
(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)
