In DNC finale, Kamala Harris asks America to turn the page

Kamala Harris accepts Democratic nomination

"My entire career I've only had one client: the people."

(Image credit: Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)

What happened

Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic presidential nomination yesterday, capping a spirited four-day Democratic National Convention in Chicago — and a "turnaround with no precedent in American politics," Semafor said.

Who said what

Just 32 days after President Joe Biden dropped his re-election bid and endorsed her, Harris used the "most consequential speech of her political career to cast herself as an avatar of America's middle class" and a safe path away from the "abrasive" chaos of Donald Trump, The Washington Post said. Harris mixed her background as a daughter of immigrants and public prosecutor with a paean to American greatness and a cutting critique of Trump.

"My entire career I've only had one client: the people," Harris said. Trump's "only client" has always been "himself." Trump is "in many ways" an "unserious man," she said, but the consequences of putting him back in the White House, now with "no guardrails," are "extremely serious." She urged Americans to embrace this "precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past — a chance to chart a new way forward," together.

Trump criticized Harris' speech in real time on social media, then on Fox News. "It was a lot of complaining" about things she could have already solved, he said on Fox. Harris is "not having success — I'm having success," with "the Hispanic voters, doing great with Black men, I'm doing great with women."

What next?

Harris now has to "maintain the momentum of the first month of her candidacy," The Wall Street Journal said. Some Democrats are "privately beginning to dream" her momentum will "carry her for another 10-plus weeks," The New York Times said, but "many are bracing for the likelihood of stumbles against the most unpredictable of opponents."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.