Obama to anoint Harris as Democrats’ best hope at convention

A delegate holds up a sign on the second day of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, on August 20, 2024. Agence France-Presse

CHICAGO — Barack Obama will use the Democratic convention in Chicago to anoint Kamala Harris the party’s future on Tuesday and, as the first Black and South Asian woman presidential nominee, heir to his trailblazing legacy.

Obama posted on social media that his Democratic National Convention address will lay out “what’s at stake” and why Harris and her running mate Tim Walz “should be our next president and vice president.”

The first Black person ever elected to the White House, Obama retains massive influence and is a celebrated orator.

READ: An emotional good night for Joe Biden at the Kamala DNC

His turn will amp up the already buoyant mood in Chicago where outgoing President Joe Biden delivered his own emotional speech late Monday.

Ahead of Obama’s blockbuster cameo, Harris’s husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, will testify to his wife’s human qualities before she symbolically accepts the nomination Thursday.

“(He) will show America the Kamala Harris only he knows. As America has seen the last few weeks, she’s joyful, she’s empathetic and she’s tough. That’s what differentiates us from the other side,” said Michael Tyler, Harris-Walz communications director.

READ: Harris hails Biden in surprise Democratic convention appearance

With the party united and Harris polling strongly, Democrats are making clear they believe they can defeat Donald Trump.

The Republican candidate had seemed set to regain power in November until Biden upended the race by dropping out and endorsing his vice president.

Comparisons are already being made by Democratic faithful to Obama’s historic 2008 campaign, where a tidal wave of enthusiasm carried him to the White House.

Harris, who was received rapturously in Chicago at her debut appearance before Biden spoke, will hold a rally Tuesday in the Milwaukee basketball arena where Trump attended the Republican convention just a month ago.

The choice of the 18,000-seat arena appears to be a deliberate attempt to needle Trump, who has been clearly rattled by the fact that 59-year-old Harris, unlike Biden, is able to draw the kinds of crowds he has long attracted to his events.

Trying to pry media attention away from the Democratic convention, Trump is holding events all week and on Tuesday spoke about what he says is Harris’s “anti-police” stance.

At an event in Howell, Michigan, he attacked what he called “the Kamala crime wave.”

“You can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread — you get shot,” he said flanked by police officers and their cars, falsely claiming there has been a 43 percent increase in violent crime.

While allies have pleaded publicly for Trump to focus on policies and stop his barrage of personal insults against Harris, he has not stopped.

Swan song

On Monday the floor belonged to Biden, who delivered a swan song after being forced to abandon his reelection bid amid deep concerns that at 81 he is too old and frail to defeat Trump.

Biden has recast what might have been a humiliating moment into a narrative of sacrifice, passing on the torch to his younger protege.

“It’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. I love the job, but I love my country more,” he said, wiping away a tear amid thunderous applause before embracing Harris.

The other star speaker Monday was Hillary Clinton, who was the first female presidential nominee of a major party in 2016, but lost to Trump in an election that opened up one of the most turbulent eras in recent US politics.

Harris, Clinton said, will be the one to break “the highest, hardest glass ceiling” in the country.

Twenty million people watched the first night of the DNC, ratings monitor Nielsen said, beating viewers for the inaugural evening of the Republican gathering that drew 18.1 million.

Local media reported that Chicago hotels housing convention attendees had received bomb threats, but city authorities did not comment.