Kamala Harris has the big MO!
Momentum driving Harris out of the convention and towards November 5th
Kamala Harris has the most sought-after political asset that there is...the big MO!
In political campaigns, momentum is the fuel that fires progress. It is what millions of dollars, hours of sweat and constant strategic calculation goes towards identifying and capturing.
For some campaigns, it remains elusive despite everything you try.
Jeb Bush had all the ingredients for a successful campaign in 2015 when running to be the third member of his family nominated to be the Republican nominee for President. He had money, he had status, he had prestige...but he could never catch fire in the political sense. His opponent, Donald J. Trump captured the momentum early and never let it go.
Almost 10 years later and Trump is now on the wrong side of the momentum equation.
Just one month and one day since she was thrust to the top of the ticket thanks to Joe Biden's historic decision to step aside, Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic party's nomination to be President of the United States last night.
She did it riding a wave of momentum unlike any we have seen in recent campaign history.
The events leading up to Harris' acceptance speech last night felt like a coronation party more than a political convention.
There was the emotion of a powerful invocation to fight gun violence from former Representative Gabby Giffords (who was a victim of a mass shooting during her time as a Congresswoman).
Former Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger shocked the political establishment by appearing on stage for his political opponents and hit Trump right where it hurts by labelling him as a 'weak man' and a 'small man'.
He hit the notes so well that Fox News refused to carry his speech live despite showing the rest of the convention.
Reverend Al Sharpton did what only he can do by raising the ceiling on the convention center with a powerful introduction of members of the Central Park Five - men who were just boys when they were wrongfully convicted of murder in 1989 and forced to suffer the indignity of a front-page New York Times advertisement funded by Donald Trump advocating that they face the death penalty.
And there was Pink - performing a rendition of 'What about us’ that added to the star-studded celebrity content scattered throughout the convention (most notably represented by Rapper Lil John bringing the house down when casting Georgia’s votes during the roll call to elect Harris).
But the star of the night, and the new undisputed leader of the Democratic Party, was Madam Vice-President Kamala Harris.
Harris has often had her abilities as an orator questioned.
Her background as a prosecutor has shown through in Senate hearings where she has shown a meticulous ability to question and prod leaving critics and allies alike to argue that she is much better in an adversarial setting than at a podium attempting to rally and inspire.
Last night, she dispelled that pigeon-holing with a powerful performance on the biggest stage of her life.
Pitching herself as a President ‘for all Americans’, Harris pitched herself squarely at the undecided voters in the swing states - Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada - that she needs to win the election.
She positioned her story as a success of the middle class - growing up “in the flats” as a child of divorce who didn’t have the luxury of status and privilege.
Citing the people who had underestimated her at every step of her journey, Harris pledged to overcome the doubt and lead America to a new era of opportunity and freedom.
The speech was light on policy detail and strong on rhetoric but the crowd didn’t care - they were in raptures from start to finish.
They however were not her audience - the more than 20 million Americans watching at home - many of whom have only recently thought about Kamala Harris as a potential President - will be the final arbiters of her fate.
With 73 days to go until the election, Kamala Harris might have the momentum, but she still has a hill to climb.
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