Thursday night, Kamala Harris took the stage in a blue pantsuit to accept her party’s nomination for President of the United States. The excited audience kept chanting “Kamala” and “USA”; she thanked them and said, “We got to get to some business! Thank you all.”
According to Politico, Vice President Kamala Harris planned to lean into her personal biography, and that is what she did. While mention was made of her father Donald Harris, it was her mother Shyamala Gopalan’s “values” that Harris constantly referred to as her guiding principles throughout her speech. As I wrote throughout this four-day-long, DNC reinvention fest, everything from the single-mother schtick to the tough prosecutor trope is an illusion. But it is these illusions that Harris has hung her hat upon.
Harris began by thanking her husband and family, President Joe Biden, her running mate Tim Walz, and the Democrat delegates.
Okay, let’s get to business, let’s get to business. So, let me start by thanking my most incredible husband Doug. For being an incredible partner to me, an incredible father to Cole and Ella. And Happy Anniversary, Dougie! I love you so much.
To our president, Joe Biden! When I think about the path we have traveled together, Joe, I am filled with gratitude. Your record is extraordinary as history will show, and your character is inspiring. Doug and I love you and Jill, and are forever grateful to you both.
Grateful that he stepped aside, for sure. Biden and Dr. Jill probably are not watching and don’t care.
And to Coach TIm Walz! You are going to be an incredible vice president. And to the delegates and everyone who has put your faith in our campaign, your support is humbling. So, America. The path that led me here in recent weeks was no doubt unexpected. But I am no stranger to unlikely journeys. So, my mother, our mother Shyamala Harris, had one of her own. I miss her every day and especially right now. And I know she’s looking down smiling. I know that.
So, my mother was 19 when she crossed the world alone, traveling from India to California, with an unshakeable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer. When she finished school, she was supposed to return home to a traditional, arranged marriage. But as fate would have it, she met my father, Donald Harris, a student from Jamaica. They fell in love and got married, and that act of self-determination made my sister Maya and me.
Growing up we moved a lot. I will always remember that big, Mayflower truck, packed with all our belongings, ready to go. To Illinois, to Wisconsin, and wherever our parents’ jobs took us. My early memories of our parents together are very joyful ones. A home filled with laughter and music. Aretha, Coltrane, and Miles. At the park, my mother would say, “Stay close.” But my father would say, as she smiled, “Run, Kamala, Run! Don’t be afraid, don’t let anything stop you.” From my earliest years, he taught me to be fearless.
A campaign adviser must have encouraged Harris to add this commentary on her father, to her pre-packaged origin story that she has told before. The glossy video which led into her acceptance speech primarily highlighted Shyamala Harris and her role as a single mother, but not Donald Harris. Harris also only alluded to idyllic images of an Oakland neighborhood, but no mention of Montreal, Canada, where she spent the bulk of her pre-teen and teenage years.
But the harmony between my parents did not last. When I was in elementary school, they split up. And it was mostly my mother who raised us. Before she could finally afford to buy a home, she rented a small apartment in the East Bay. In the Bay, you either live in the hills or the flatlands. We lived in the flats — a beautiful working-class neighborhood of firefighters, nurses and construction workers, all who tended their lawns with pride.
My mother, she worked long hours. And like many working parents, she leaned on a trusted circle to help raise us.
Read related: After Three Nights of the DNC, the Question Remains: Where Is Kamala’s Father, Donald Harris?
his ties into Hillary Clinton’s “It takes a village,” and is a perfect setup for Harris’ mantra of “we’re all in this together.” Much of Harris’ speech was cobbling together the reimagined images that other speakers had created.
None of them family by blood, and all of them family by love. Family who taught us how to make gumbo. How to play chess. And sometimes even let us win. Family that loved us, and believed in us, and told us we could be anything and do anything. They instilled in us the values they personified: community, faith, and the importance of treating others as you would want to be treated. With kindness, respect, and compassion.
Harris used these lessons from her mother, the Civil Rights movement, and her community family to point to her life choice to become a lawyer and a prosecutor. This “Fighter” image is what she is hanging her campaign upon.
My mother was a brilliant, 5-foot tall, brown woman with an accent. As the eldest child, I saw how the world would sometimes treat her. But my mother never lost her cool. She was tough, courageous, a trailblazer in the fight for women’s health. And she taught Maya and me a lesson that Michelle [Obama] mentioned the other night. She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it. Do something about it. That was my mother.
And she taught us, “And never do anything half-assed.” And that is a direct quote.
The video presented considerable images of Harris’ tough prosecutorial moments as San Francisco DA and California AG, as well as her grilling of now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh when she was a senator. Harris claimed she became a prosecutor to protect people.
Because I believe everyone has a right to safety, to dignity, and to justice. As a prosecutor, when I had a case, I charged it not in the name of the victim, but in the name of the people. For a simple reason. In our system of justice, a harm against any one of us is a harm against all of us. No one should be made to fight alone. We are all in this together.
And every day, in the courtroom, I stood proudly before the judge and said five words: “Kamala Harris, for the people.”
And to be clear: My entire career I’ve only had one client: the people. And so, on behalf of the people. On behalf of every American regardless of party, race, gender, or the language your grandmother speaks. On behalf of my mother and everyone who has ever set out on their own unlikely journey. On behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with. People who work hard, chase their dreams, and look out for one another. On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on earth, I accept your nomination as President of the United States of America.
Harris went on to tout more inspirational vision about charting a new course. Apparently, she has now realized that the old one has not been working very well for Americans.
And with this election. And with this election, our nation… Our nation with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past. A chance to chart a new way Forward. Not as member of any one party or faction, but as Americans. And let me say, I know there are people of various political views watching tonight. And I you to know, I promise to be a president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put country above party and self. To hold sacred Americans fundamental principles, to the rule of law, to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of power.
I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations. A president who leads, and listens. Who is realistic, practical, and has common sense. And always fights for the American people.
From the court house, to the White House, that has been my life’s work.
The rest is mostly what Harris has already said on the campaign stump. Claims of her supposed accomplishments as a DA and AG, and how she will fight for America’s future.
Fellow Americans, this election is not only the most important of our lives. It is one that is the most important of our nation. In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man. But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious. Consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office, but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election.
Harris repeated the same, years-old, tired diatribes about Donald Trump fomenting an insurrection, January 6, and the E. Jean Carroll nonsense, and the 34 felony convictions. Harris continued the lie of Project 2025, and claimed Trump had wanted to pull us back into the past.
But America, we’re not going back! We are not going back. We are not going back. We are not going back to when Donald Trump tried to cut Social Security and Medicare. We are not going back to when he tried to get rid of the Affordable Care Act. When insurance companies could deny people preexisting conditions. We are not going to let him eliminate the Department of Education which funds our public schools. We are not going to let him end programs like Head Start that provide preschool and childcare for our children. America, we are not going back.
Of note, all of these programs are socialist at their root, and these are the ones that Kamala Harris chose to highlight and defend.
And we are charting a new way Forward. Forward. To a future, with a strong and growing middle class. Because we know a strong middle class has always been critical to America’s success. And building that middle class will be a defining goal to my presidency. This is personal to me. The middle class is where I come from.
Then why was she the tie-breaking vote on the Inflation Reduction Act, which is now destroying the middle class?
Harris went back to her mother once again.
As she taught us, opportunity is not available to everyone. I will create an opportunity economy where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed.
Which is a new spin on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Using government to level the playing field and manipulate equality of outcomes. Harris went on to attack Trump, using the same “he’s for himself” language of the prior speakers who set that stage. And it would not be a Democrat acceptance speech without making promises to restore the sacrament of federalized abortions.
I believe America cannot truly be prosperous unless Americans are fully able to make their own decisions about their own lives. Especially on matters of heart and home. But tonight, in America, too many women are not able to make those decisions. And let’s be clear of how we got here.
Simply put: They are out of their minds. And one must ask. One must ask, why exactly is it that they don’t trust women? Well, we trust women. We trust women. And when Congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, I will proudly sign it into law.
Harris then outlined the other fundamental freedoms that are at stake if Donald Trump is reelected. She further bludgeoned the gun violence drum. The freedom to love those you love openly and with pride. Climate change.
“And the freedom that unlocks all the others, the freedom to vote,” Harris said. Democrats resent the fact that they cannot manipulate elections to the degree they desire, and are intent on federalizing them.
With this election, we finally have the opportunity to vote in the John Lewis Civil Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act.
After more egregious lies about Ukraine, foreign policy, and what she and Joe Biden have done on the Southern Border (absolutely nothing), Harris said, “and let me be clear: I will always stand up for the right of Israel to defend themselves.” An obvious bone to Jewish voters on the fence. But Harris also quelled the pro-Hamas wing of her party with a claim that “President Biden and I are working to end this war.”
While Biden vacations in California and Harris is on a stage in Chicago accepting her party’s nomination: Yes, we can tell.
In her final attack on Trump and Vance, Harris issued one final, Shyamala Harris life lesson.
Our opponents are out there every day denigrating America, talking about how terrible everything is. My mother had another lesson she used to teach: “Never let anyone tell you who you are, you show them who you are.” America. Let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness, and endless possibilities. We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world. And on behalf of our children and our grandchildren, and all those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty. We must be worthy of this moment. It is not our turn to do what generations before us have done. 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 of being an American! So, let’s get out there, let’s fight for it. Let’s get out there, let’s vote for it. And together let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.
With these constant references to her mother, Shyamala Harris, once again, Kamala Harris shows that she has no unique ideas of her own.
God help us.
