Reporter Mo Siqi

Edited by Qi Fei

The Democratic National Convention that just ended was like a lively party. From August 19 to 22, more than 50,000 supporters, more than 4,700 Democratic delegates, politicians, consultants, media and Hollywood stars gathered at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.

This made the whole conference star-studded, and the participants were enthusiastic. Many people wore hats with the name or portrait of "Harris Waltz" printed on them, and some held signs that read: "We fought. We won."

Harris was not the party's most popular choice before incumbent President Biden dropped out of the race. But within a month of her becoming a presidential candidate, enthusiasm for her candidacy has continued to grow, reflected in polls, fundraisers, campaign rallies and more.

As Harris continues to gain popularity, the US election situation has changed. According to the poll results released by the polling website "FiveThirtyEight" on August 22, Harris' national average support rate is 47%, 3.2% ahead of Trump. In many key swing states, Harris has also reversed Trump's previous lead, thus reshaping the election landscape.

With the two parties' candidates officially confirmed, the US election has entered the final stage. As the first African American woman and Indian American to be nominated by a major political party in US history, can 59-year-old Harris shoulder the burden of the Democratic Party? Harris's diverse ethnic background and female identity will officially confront Trump's white supremacy.

Harris unites the Democratic Party as never before

At around 10 p.m. local time on August 19, 81-year-old Biden made his debut as the incumbent president on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, and burst into tears while interacting with his youngest daughter, Ashley Biden. This was a speech with extremely complicated emotions for Biden, who will soon leave the political stage where he has worked for 50 years and give the spotlight to the ambitious Harris.

In his speech, Biden reiterated the common achievements he and his comrade Harris had made over the past four years, emphasized the economic achievements after the epidemic, and said that it was a wise move to choose Harris as his partner four years ago, praising her for being "strong, experienced, and very upright."

During his nearly one-hour speech, Biden was interrupted several times by cheers from the audience, who thanked him for his lifelong service to the country and for his withdrawal from the race. Biden is the first incumbent president to give up seeking re-election since then-President Johnson in 1968.

But starting from the second night, few speakers mentioned the current occupant of the White House. Even his old partner Obama only briefly expressed his respect for Biden in his speech.

The most notable atmosphere of this party convention is that the Democratic Party has quickly gathered around Harris. Harris' speech at the party convention was seen by the outside world as a key moment in defining her true identity.

On August 22, local time, Harris, who was officially nominated, delivered the most important speech of her political career to the nation on the last night of the convention. Harris talked about her childhood experience, and her ordinary family background enabled her to empathize with the concerns of the people and implement relevant policies.

"From the courthouse to the White House, this is my life's work." Harris recounted how, when she was a prosecutor, she stood up for women and children against villains; she fought big banks, provided $20 billion in aid to middle-class families, and helped pass the Homeowners' Bill of Rights, the first of its kind in the United States; she also stood up for deceived veterans and students, workers who were owed wages, and abused seniors; and she fought against criminal gangs that trafficked guns, drugs, and people.

Harris stressed, "These struggles have not been easy, and the elections that put me in these positions were not easy. We are underestimated at almost every moment, but we never give up because the future is always worth fighting for."

Harris said when she elaborated on her campaign platform that she would make "strengthening the middle class" one of her core goals, and promised to create jobs, develop the economy, and reduce the prices of medical insurance, housing and daily necessities. Harris also said that she would defend women's right to abortion, reform the "broken" immigration system, and maintain US national security.

Harris spent a lot of time calling for opposition to Trump's return to the White House because it will have "serious consequences." "Trump tried to erase your vote. Think about what he would do if we gave him power again. Think about his clear intention to release the violent extremists who attacked law enforcement officers in Congress... Think about the power he will soon have, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled that he is immune from criminal prosecution. Trump is not bound by anything... He is not here to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve his only client - himself." Harris shouted that she only had one client - "the people."

Harris' running mate is Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a man many Americans had never heard of before he was named the vice presidential candidate.

On the evening of August 21, Waltz formally accepted the nomination. In his speech, he joked: "You may not know this, but I don't give big speeches like this very often." He elaborated on the story of growing up in a small town middle-class family and how his past experience as a teacher and football coach inspired his passion for politics. "We make sure every child in our state has breakfast and lunch every day." This sentence triggered the loudest cheers of the night.

Waltz spent most of his speech canvassing for Harris. He said Harris has been committed to serving the people from her time as a prosecutor to her time as vice president. "She has fought against predators and scammers, transnational crime teams, and powerful corporate interests. She will not hesitate to cross party lines if it will improve people's lives."

To endorse Harris, former President Obama and his wife Michelle gave a heartfelt support on August 20, and the couple's speech won a standing ovation.

The Obamas did not forget to remind the Democrats that there will be a "tough battle" ahead. Obama criticized his opponent, saying, "Trump's narrow and limited worldview makes him feel that two hardworking, highly educated and successful African Americans pose a threat to his position." Michelle mocked, "Who will tell him (Trump) that the job he wants to do now may be an 'African American job'."

Harris and Obama have been friends for 20 years. Harris later became an early supporter of Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and canvassed for him door to door before the Iowa caucus. The Wall Street Journal revealed that the two have been in contact since 2020, with Obama often acting as her adviser. Obama promised to support her campaign by providing policy or strategic advice, helping to raise funds and mobilizing voters to vote.

Many big names also appeared on stage at this party congress, including former President Clinton and his wife Hillary, former House Speaker Pelosi, Pennsylvania Governor Shapiro and American talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

As the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate and former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton once again stood on the stage where she was nominated eight years ago to support Harris in completing her unfinished cause. Hillary Clinton emphasized that when the "glass ceiling" barrier faced by American women is broken by one person, it will also clear the obstacles for everyone to move forward.

Clinton portrayed Trump as an egocentric person in her speech, while Harris is a future leader with an inclusive vision for the country. "Next time you listen to Trump speak, don't count how many lies he tells, but how many times he says 'I'. When Harris becomes president, every day will start with 'you, you, you, you'." Clinton also joked about her age, saying, "I turned 78 two days ago, but I'm still not as old as Trump."

All Democrats who took the stage did not forget to criticize Trump, accusing him of fraud and creating division. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker sarcastically said, "Trump thinks we should believe his economic achievements because he claims to be very rich, but from the perspective of a true billionaire, Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity." Democratic Congressman Alexandre Ocasio Cortez said that Trump is a "union destroyer who is not worth mentioning" and "he will sell out the country for a dollar as long as he can line his pockets and bribe his friends on Wall Street."

Democrats launch new attack on Trump

After the Democratic Party changed its leadership, the offensive and defensive positions changed, and Trump and the Republican Party became passive. The benefits brought by the previous shooting seemed to have disappeared. On July 13, Trump was shot at a campaign rally and became a "national hero" for a time, which boosted the morale of the Republican Party.

Currently, the gap between the two in the polls is very small. Who will win in the end depends on a series of factors, including election funds, election momentum and votes, and whose election message can better impress voters.

In recent days, Harris has fully demonstrated her ability to attract money. Since replacing Biden, she has raised about $500 million in just one month. Harris' team said that she raised $310 million in July, and with the funds raised before Biden withdrew from the election, the total campaign funds have exceeded $1 billion. In contrast, Trump's campaign team only raised $130 million in July, with a total of $320 million. Harris completely reversed the situation in which Trump had an advantage before July.

Harris' campaign team said that 60% of the $310 million raised in July came from women. This shows the appeal of her female identity. Harris is expected to surpass any previous election in terms of motivating women to donate.

In terms of election momentum, compared to the languid Biden, Harris is quick to respond, has clear logic, and is charismatic. With Biden's withdrawal from the race, the most fatal age and energy issues facing Democratic candidates have been solved; and when Trump faces Harris, who is nearly 20 years younger than him, he is the one who feels powerless.

Lin Zhimin, a political science professor at Valparaiso University in the United States, and Wang Jianwei, a professor of international relations at the University of Macau, jointly wrote that Harris's brilliant debut swept away the long-accumulated pessimism of the Democrats and gave them hope of winning the election again. "This kind of bottoming-out rebound is very powerful, and even Biden himself did not expect it. One of the important reasons why many senior Democratic Party officials are hesitant to persuade Biden to withdraw from the election is that they are worried that no one in the party is capable of taking over, let alone leading the Democratic Party to a decisive battle with Trump. Harris's record when she ran for president five years ago was indeed terrible, and she did not even make it to the party primary stage."

However, Harris, who was appointed in a time of crisis, showed a completely different ability and aura from five years ago. "Democrats quickly rallied around her, and her support has surpassed Biden's at his peak and is comparable to Trump's support within the party," the article wrote.

Regarding the question of "whether Harris' honeymoon period can last," the article points out a possible trend: given that the election day is not far away, as long as the current situation continues for another month to one and a half months, it may lay the foundation for the Democratic Party's victory.

Biden's appeal has always been an area where he suffers. Biden's decent and restrained political elite style is powerless against Trump, who is outspoken and has no bottom line.

The Democratic Party has also been studying how to defeat Trump for nearly a decade. Unlike Hillary and Biden, Harris is opening a new door.

The New York Times pointed out that Harris is making a new attempt: to deflate Trump. At the Democratic National Convention, a large number of videos attacking Trump appeared. These videos portrayed Trump as having a dark and ugly past and Harris as having a bright future. The videos also constantly emphasized Trump's criminal facts and set the tone for this election with a contrast - "This is our choice: prosecutors or felons."

Harris no longer focuses too much on Trump's racist remarks or simply portrays him as a "destroyer of democracy" like Hillary and Biden. Instead, she tries every means to resonate with voters, such as calling Trump "a narrow-minded liar", a populist "pretending to be working class" who only cares about himself and his billionaire friends.

These attacks are not just rhetorical, but vote-winning, aimed at undermining working-class support for Trump in three key swing states: Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, which once supported the Democrats but flipped to the Republicans in the 2016 election that Trump won.

On the social media front where Trump is good at building momentum, Harris' team did not give in and began to compete with Trump for young voters and online voters, winning over social media bloggers and building momentum by attacking the other side.

Recently, Harris' team shared a video on the social platform TikTok, which quoted a popular reality show audio as the voiceover. "Now I want to sit down and relax and enjoy my night, and suddenly I hear this disturbing, piercing voice." In the video, Harris was smiling and shaking hands with the children. The camera turned, an ominous background sound sounded, and the picture switched to a plane with the words "Trump, Vance" on the fuselage in the distance. This playful video has received 23 million hits.

Harris's team also opened a TikTok account for her running mate, Waltz, who joked in his first video that he and his dog call TikTok "TimTok." This is a kind of dad joke, which is usually simple, childish and likes to play with puns.

Harris' team said it has taken over a 175-person digital operations team from Biden's campaign, all of whom are under the age of 25, to run Harris' TikTok account (@KamalaHQ). In July, donations from Generation Z increased nine times compared to the amount Biden's team received from Generation Z in June.

In order to attract Latino voters, Harris' team also launched a bilingual channel on WhatsApp, which is the most popular communication tool among Latino and even immigrant groups. "Latino votes will be the decisive factor in this election," said Eva Longoria, an American actress who became famous for "Desperate Housewives" at the Hispanic Caucus Meeting of the Democratic National Convention.

Polls in multiple swing states reversed

Harris's strong momentum is directly reflected in the current polls. In the US election, swing states, also known as battleground states, refer to states where no specific candidate or party has overwhelming support to obtain electoral votes. These states have always been the targets of both parties.

Just weeks ago, Trump seemed on course to win several key swing states. Harris reversed that trend.

In mid-August, a poll conducted by Time magazine and Siena University showed that Harris was slightly ahead of Trump in three key swing states, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Trump had a slight lead in Georgia and Nevada, but his lead had narrowed significantly. In North Carolina, Harris was also 2% ahead of Trump, which was one of the only seven core swing states that Trump won in the 2020 election.

Another poll released by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report showed that Harris has a slight lead in six of the seven swing states, with Trump only maintaining an advantage in Nevada. Harris has the strongest lead in Arizona, where Biden won by only 0.3% in the 2020 election.

According to the poll results released by the polling cooperation website "FiveThirtyEight" on August 22, Harris's national average support rate is 47%, 3.2% ahead of Trump.

This suggests that Harris has successfully consolidated a segment of Democratic voters who may have been hesitant to support Biden, especially young voters, non-white voters and female voters.

Alina Szmant, a 78-year-old Democrat from Wilmington, North Carolina, is a retired scientist who is excited about the opportunity to elect the first female president of the United States. "Harris is well prepared to be an excellent president. As for Biden? He was never my first choice, or even my second, third or fourth choice," Szmant said without hesitation.

With the change of candidates, the identity politics of the Democratic Party has become more prominent. Harris is obviously more popular among female voters, young voters and African-American voters.

A poll released by Langer Research Associates on August 13 found that 83% of African-American voters support Harris. Although Harris' support among African-American voters has not yet reached the level during Obama's campaign, her performance is much better than before Biden withdrew.

At the same time, the gap between male and female voters is widening, with more men leaning toward Trump and women supporting Harris. In Arizona, Georgia and Nevada, Harris leads Trump by 14 percentage points among female voters; in May, Biden and Trump were tied in support among this group.

A YouGov/CBS News poll from August 14 to 16 showed that Trump's main voters are still older white, non-college voters; while Harris' lead among young people and black voters is growing.

In terms of education, Trump's supporters are concentrated among white voters without a college education, while Harris is leading among white voters with a college education. However, a recent CBS poll showed that Harris only leads Trump by 5% in this group.

Diao Daming, a professor at the School of International Relations of Renmin University of China, told Phoenix Weekly that despite Harris' strong campaign momentum, it is not naive to think that the Democratic Party's problems will be solved after the change of candidate. "The economic problems, inflation situation and border issues are all there. The Democratic Party's current momentum reflects more of the mood of American voters. When Harris gets more Democratic voters to 'return to the team', she will have to go head-to-head with Trump. By then, it is hard to say who will perform better."

Diao Daming also pointed out the identity politics problem of the Democratic Party. In his opinion, if Harris wins the election, it means that the Democratic Party is being swept up in identity politics. "Is the United States ready to welcome a female minority president? This may further tear American society apart."

Policies may continue under Biden

A bigger problem facing Harris is how to cut ties with Biden on policy to reduce the involvement of voters who are dissatisfied with Biden's policies.

Whit Ayres, a longtime Republican strategist, said Harris' biggest weakness is that there is a lot of evidence that she is a liberal from San Francisco with a set of far-left policy positions that are outside the scope of mainstream American thought and for which she has not previously responded.

Harris also faces protests against Israel's actions in Gaza, an issue that has divided the party politically. Harris has been tougher than Biden in calling for a ceasefire and condemning civilian deaths, but she has not wavered from the administration's staunch support for Israel, a stance that risks alienating the progressive wing of the party.

So far, Harris' team has shied away from policy details, choosing instead to release a broad vision.

On August 16, Harris delivered her first keynote speech on economic policy at a rally in North Carolina. She emphasized that she would be committed to creating an "opportunity economy," including lowering people's cost of living to protect the "middle class," including tax cuts, housing assistance, pushing for a cap on drug prices, and stopping price gouging.

She has emphasized providing substantial tax cuts for families with children, pledging to expand the child tax credit to $3,600, provide tax credits of up to $6,000 to families with newborns, help them get government-subsidized health care, and reduce prescription drug costs.

This is the most recognized part of Harris' economic policy. The Washington Post pointed out that the child tax credit policy launched in 2021 has raised the living standards of many families above the poverty line. If Harris's policy can be combined with appropriate work incentives, it is expected to become an effective poverty alleviation policy.

In contrast, her proposed housing policies are seen by some as contradictory between subsidizing homebuyers and lowering housing prices. Harris promised to build 3 million "middle-class affordable housing and rental units" in her first term and plans to set up a $40 billion federal fund to support construction. Harris also proposed providing $25,000 down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers and providing tax incentives to builders who build homes for first-time buyers.

The Washington Post criticized Harris' housing policy for costing a lot of money, but she promised in her speech not to increase taxes on households earning less than $400,000 a year, which would increase the federal deficit by $1.7 trillion over the next decade.

At present, the public does not seem to be very satisfied with Harris' economic policies. On August 17, Polymarket, known as the "world's largest prediction market platform", released data showing that Harris's chance of winning dropped to 50%, while Trump's rose to 49%, while the data a day ago was 54% to 44%. Harris's declining advantage indirectly shows that her economic policies have failed to impress the public.

On the contrary, Trump has an advantage on the two higher priority agendas of economy and inflation, while Harris' advantage comes more from issues such as ethnic identity, abortion, health care and gun control.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's, commented: "Harris and Biden may have slight differences in how to build a policy framework, but in terms of actual policies, including tax policies, policies to address housing shortages, consumer protection and antitrust policies, and other policies related to the cost of living for Americans, her views are not much different from Biden's. She herself has also participated in the discussions on the formulation of these policies. It is expected that Harris will continue Biden's position and exert efforts in multiple policy areas."

Although China policy was not explicitly mentioned in the economic policy, Harris called for expanding American jobs and strengthening the security of the supply chain in her speech, and said that she would continue to pay attention to the topics focused on by the Biden administration.

Rush Doshi, who served as director for China affairs at the National Security Council in the Biden administration, said that if Harris enters the White House, she may prioritize countering China and strengthening partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.

Du Rusong emphasized that Harris has spent a lot of time traveling to the Indo-Pacific region in the past four years, "and has had contact with almost every leader of Asian countries and regions during her tenure as vice president and senator." In his view, the Biden administration has adopted an economic and trade policy centered on partnerships aimed at competing with China, while Trump has adopted a more unilateral approach in implementing his tough policy toward China.

The New York Times reported on August 19 that many American companies, manufacturers, retailers and transportation agents are postponing opportunities to invest and expand in China. "Because these companies are ready to start a second wave of trade war with China regardless of whether Harris or Trump comes to power. They expect Harris to continue the Biden administration's current trade policy toward China, which will increase the cost of parts used by American companies."

Presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, who helped organize a conference of historians at Harris's residence in 2023, said she has been a blank slate for voters, which is a benefit rather than a burden. "She may not have thrived under Biden, but she never had a bad relationship with Biden. So she's been able to prepare for this moment, and she can take the good parts of the Biden era and unload the baggage that she wants or slightly disagrees with."

Regardless, allies and advisers preparing Harris believe she has laid the foundation for a presidential run over the past rocky four years, even though few expected she would be in that position at this moment.