Even before Kamala Harris closes out the DNC with her eagerly awaited acceptance speech Thursday night, Democrats have already used their convention to put their stamp on a historic campaign they hope can catapult her to the White House in November.
With four days of raucous support from the crowd of delegates, an impressive list of heavyweight speakers and a remarkably successful roll out of their standard bearers, the party leaves Chicago with a narrow lead in polls and what analysts say is a better-than-even chance of beating Republicans and former President Donald Trump.
In many ways, the successful DNC has offered a road map for what the nation can expect as Harris seeks to ride a shockingly unified party into battle for the White House.
None of that would have been in the wildest dreams of convention planners and Democratic strategists just over a month ago, when the party was heading for a doom-and-gloom convention with President Biden at the helm and hoping that Trump’s unpopularity would be enough to squeak out a win.
Here’s what the DNC taught us about the 75 climactic days to come:
The politics of ‘joy’
From Oprah Winfrey to the Obamas and everybody in between, speakers doubled and tripled down on the message that Harris is the candidate of joy.
Time after time, Democratic leaders sought to put a wide smile and laughter as the trademark images of their campaign to elect Harris.
“Let us choose optimism over cynicism. because that’s the best of America,” Winfrey said. “Let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday.”
“Let us choose truth, honor and let us choose jo-o-o-o-y,” Winfrey roared, extending the final word in her trademark eruption.
Former First Lady Michelle Obama praised Harris for “the steel of her spine, the steadiness of her upbringing, the honesty of her example — and, yes, the joy of her laughter and her light.”
Former President Bill Clinton also predicted Harris would be the “President of joy.”
“When Kamala Harris is president, every day will begin with ’you, you, you, you,” he said, imagining how Harris would have worked at a McDonald’s restaurant as a kid. “She greeted every person with a 1,000-watt smile and said, ‘How can I help you?’”
Of course, stressing positive feelings like joy mirrors the themes of most successful political campaigns: opportunity, public service, patriotism and the hope for a better future. And Harris claimed joy as the soundtrack of her campaign run from the moment she took over the race from President Biden last month.
But the contrast couldn’t have been more striking to the Trump campaign, which has focused just as much in instilling fear and anger to motivate his supporters to back him.
Trump proudly dubs America a failed nation and calls on his followers to give him the power to stop the decline, which he blames on Democrats and their kumbaya policies.
A big-tent party
Boosting Harris aside, the DNC showcased the party’s big tent. There were progressives and moderates, young guns and familiar old standbys.
The goal was to empower and excite the entire breadth of the party, which will be an important hurdle especially in battleground states where the margin of victory could come down to a few thousand votes.
Progressives like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-Bronx-Queens) delivered their support along with a message to stand up for the working people like she once was. Moderates like Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Long Island) reminded Harris not to forget about the fears of suburbia.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, a mainstream liberal, name-checked moderate or conservative leaning Senate candidates on whom the party’s chances of holding the chamber rest.
There were even proud independents like Oprah and #NeverTrump Republicans like Geoff Duncan and ex-Rep. Adam Kinzinger.
The ideological unity was a major contrast with the Republican National Convention last month, where Trump loyalists enjoyed a complete monopoly over the proceedings and the goal was to send a unified, if narrow, message to his supporters.
The GOP’s previous presidential candidates were not welcome and even former rivals like Nikki Haley were given the cold shoulder by the convention crowd packed with Trump’s MAGA fans.
Women grab the spotlight
Harris is running to become the first woman president, but she’s taking a very different approach at getting there than Hillary Clinton, who fell short of the same goal in 2016.
Harris rarely explicitly mentions her gender, let alone her race that would also make her a trailblazer. That’s a deliberate shift from Clinton, who regularly sought to remind women that she was running to make history.
But Democrats made sure it was all but impossible to watch the DNC without knowing that there’s a woman in charge.
Hillary Clinton herself did much of the political heavy lifting in her rousing and inspirational speech that urged women to keep the gender gap as wide as ever in Harris’ favor.
“Together, we put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” Clinton said. “On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris, raising her hand, and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States.”
“We kept our eyes on the future,” she added. “Well, my friends, the future is here.”
Then there was Michelle Obama, who deftly dispelled any rumors that she was not 100% devoted to Harris by dubbing her “my girl Kamala.”
The emphasis on abortion rights was also striking, taking center stage among every policy issue with the exception of the economy.
Democratic candidates, both men and women alike, have won race after race by stressing reproductive rights since the conservative Supreme Court rolled back the national right to abortion in 2022.
A smooth passing of the torch
Going into the DNC, there was perhaps more Democratic hand-wringing about handling the passing of the torch from Biden to Harris than any other issue.
After Biden’s abrupt decision to step down and endorse Harris as his successor, there was significant division within the Democratic Party over whether Harris should effectively be handed the nomination on a sliver platter.
Trump and Republican surrogates decried what they called a “coup” to install Harris at the top of the ticket.
In the end, the handover could hardly have been handled more smoothly.
On Monday, Biden delivered a speech that was equal parts political elegy and a handing of the baton to Harris, effectively staking his own legacy on a bet she can beat Trump.
“She will be a president we can all be proud of,” Biden said. “She will be a historic president who puts her stamp on America’s future.”
When the crowd serenaded him with thunderous chants of “Thank you Joe,” the 81-year-old president interrupted, “Thank Kamala too.”
Harris, who insisted on attending Biden’s speech in person, bounded out on stage to hug Biden. The crowd erupted and the misgivings were laid to rest.
Coach Walz for the win
Harris’ biggest campaign decision so far was picking Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate.
So far, few are second-guessing that choice as Walz has quickly put his stamp on the race.
Leaning into his heartland everyman image, the Minnesota governor thrilled the crowd by recounting his small-town upbringing and experience as a high school teacher and football coach.
“It’s the fourth quarter. We’re down a field goal. But we’re on offense and we’ve got the ball,” he said Wednesday night. “We’re driving down the field. And boy, do we have the right team.”
Most analysts assumed Harris would tap an older white man to balance her appeal to become the first Black woman in the White House. But Walz appears to be adding something extra with his inspirational personal story.
That includes his photogenic all-American family, especially his son, Gus, who stole the show by pounding his chest and shouting “That’s my dad” during this father’s convention speech.
Getting under Trump’s skin
If the first job for Democrats was introducing Harris to the country and unifying the party behind her, the next was to get under the skin of former President Trump.
The DNC appears to have succeeded in that beyond anyone’s hopes.
Trump was already stewing over the fact that Democrats made his bid for reelection much tougher by switching in Harris for Biden, who appeared to be a flawed candidate headed for debate.
Trump has struggled to find effective lines of attack against Harris and has been unable to stay on message even when his advisers urge him to stick to issues like the border and inflation.
When Barack Obama mocked Trump for his obsession with “crowd size” on Tuesday, the former president called him “nasty” on the stump the next day.
Trump called Democratic star Josh Shapiro a “Jewish governor,” insulting Jewish voters he hopes to win over to the GOP’s side.
He repeatedly derided Harris as “stupid” and “not too bright,” instead of training attacks on the Biden policies that Republicans say she will implement.
