Eight years after Hillary Clinton made history as the first woman to win a major party nomination for president, Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday picked up the torch in Chicago, potentially putting her on her own historic path to finish the job. In accepting the Democratic nomination at the United Center, Harris could become the first woman and first Asian American to ascend to the White House. Harris framed the November election as “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 members of any one party or faction, but as Americans. “On behalf of the people, on behalf of every American, regardless of party, race gender, or the language your grandma speaks, on behalf of my mother .
.. on behalf of Americans like the people I grew up with, people who work hard, chase their dreams and look out for one another,” Harris said.
“On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination.” The former California senator and attorney general noted the unprecedented nature of taking President Joe Biden’s place atop the ticket four months ahead of the election — “but I’m no stranger to unlikely journeys,” she said. That was encapsulated in her middle-class upbringing under her immigrant mother, Shyamala Harris, the nominee said to a jam-packed United Center to close out the Democratic National Convention.
�.