Biden bids farewell in tears, and the USS Harris prepares for the sprint丨A week of in-depth reading
2024-08-25
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The Democratic National Convention was held in Chicago from August 19 to 22.
For the Democratic Party, this convention symbolizes "saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new" - saying goodbye to Biden, who was forced to withdraw from the election last month, and Kamala Harris taking over, formally accepting the nomination of the Democratic presidential candidate and putting forward her own campaign platform.
After this meeting, the USS Harris entered the final sprint and will strive to defeat Trump on November 5.
Shedding tears
On the first day of the conference, the most eye-catching thing was Biden’s speech and his tears in public.
Biden received a very warm welcome when he appeared. Before his speech, the audience stood up and applauded for 4 minutes and 30 seconds, which was unusual.
Throughout the venue, many banners read "Thank you, Joe" to thank Joe Biden; many audience members also held up signs that read "We love Joe" and cheered loudly: "Thank you, Joe!" "We love Joe!"
However, the basic fact behind the warm atmosphere and enthusiastic cheers is that less than a month ago, the theme of the Democratic National Convention was Biden's re-election campaign. All planning and arrangements for the convention were also centered around helping Biden win re-election.
Unexpectedly, because of a debate, within a few weeks, senior party officials, Democratic donors and media supporting the Democratic Party jointly pressured Biden to withdraw from the election.
After withdrawing from the race, Biden went to the Democratic National Convention to stand up for Harris and give a speech for Harris' campaign in front of the people who forced him to withdraw. The audience's "thank you" was for him withdrawing from the race.
So, Biden couldn't help crying before the speech officially began, and the scene attracted widespread attention. It is very likely that Biden's tears were due to mixed feelings.
After all, for a professional politician like Biden who has been in politics for more than 50 years, being forced to withdraw from the election at the final stage of the peak of his political career is a huge blow that can be imagined.
But he had to consider the overall situation. After deciding to withdraw from the election, he immediately expressed his support for Harris, avoiding the division of the Democratic Party.
Biden also said that his decision to withdraw from the election was not only for the Democratic Party, but also for the United States, to avoid Trump's election and "threaten American democracy."
Therefore, there was widespread praise within the Democratic Party for Biden's withdrawal from the election, saying that he put the interests of the Democratic Party and the country above his personal ambitions and that he had a big picture in mind.
Sad or grand, Biden officially passed the torch to Harris at the convention. Afterwards, he flew to faraway California for a vacation.
Vision
Harris was the central figure of the convention. She arrived at the venue at the opening of the convention to "see Biden off", but more importantly, her closing speech on the 22nd.
The closing speech is very important. Harris is a temporary replacement for Biden, and she has not had time to publicly and systematically introduce her major positions on domestic and foreign affairs to the public. An important function of this speech is to fully elaborate on this aspect.
Harris's closing speech lasted about 40 minutes. She systematically discussed her policy ideas and political vision, which mainly included five aspects:
The first is economic policy. A few days ago, Harris put forward her own economic concept at a campaign rally, namely "opportunity economics", which is to give everyone the opportunity to develop. She continued this statement in this speech, saying that she would take care of ordinary workers and small business owners, reduce taxes for the middle class, solve the housing shortage problem, strengthen medical insurance, and tax large companies.
The second issue is abortion rights. Harris cited some tragic stories as examples to accuse Trump and American conservatives of "depriving" women of their abortion rights and causing harm to some women. She asked them "why don't you believe in women" and claimed that she would guarantee women's right to choose abortion when she came to power.
The third issue is gun control. Harris said that if she became president, she would push Congress to pass relevant laws to more strictly control guns and ensure the safety of campuses and society.
Fourth, immigration and border issues. This issue was once considered Harris's "weak point". However, Harris said in her speech that if she became president, she would carry out a comprehensive reform of the immigration system, rather than simply "building a wall" and "deporting" people like Trump did.
Fifth, foreign policy. Harris stressed the need to strengthen relations with allies, especially NATO. On the two hot issues of Ukraine and Gaza, Harris said that he would stand firmly on the side of Ukraine; in addition, both Israel's security and the basic rights of the Palestinians must be guaranteed, and the two-state solution is the only solution.
Harris's platform is basically the consistent position of the Democratic Party. But one thing worth noting is her explanation of foreign policy. Many analysts believe that Harris lacks experience in diplomacy and her specific position is not clear to the outside world. Through this speech, the outside world at least roughly knows some of her ideas.
"Honeymoon"
After fully outlining the vision, the Harris is ready to sprint.
There are still more than two months to go until the general election voting day on November 5, and Harris faces a relatively big test in the sprint stage.
Although Harris has overshadowed Trump at the moment, an important reason behind this is the so-called "honeymoon period."
Many Democrats and moderate voters were worried about Biden's aging, but he won the primary with an absolute advantage, so they could only worry. After Biden withdrew from the race, Harris took over. Harris is younger, a woman, and a minority woman, which is a big contrast to Biden's image, greatly inspiring the enthusiasm of young people and minority voters and the media's pursuit.
For a time, Harris had a good relationship with voters and the media, and received a lot of positive reactions and positive reports. This was the so-called "honeymoon period." The Democratic National Convention attracted attention again, and the media naturally flocked to report on it.
Before this, Trump’s assassination and the Republican National Convention also had similar effects on Trump’s campaign, but they were shorter in duration and were quickly overshadowed by Harris.
In just one month, Harris not only has a much better fundraising ability than Trump, but also has a higher approval rating than Trump in some polls, showing a good momentum. However, with the end of the convention, the "Harris" has officially set sail, and the next election campaign will be the real test. Harris may not be as good as Trump in terms of campaign experience and signature policies.
The most direct challenge is probably the debate between Harris and Trump scheduled for September 10. If Harris can gain a clear advantage in this debate, her momentum will continue.
Otherwise it's hard to say.
Text丨Qian Kejin, international commentator of Yangcheng Evening News
