Joe Biden Passes the Torch to Kamala Harris as he steps down from leadership, officially handing over the reins to his Vice President who has quickly turned around a party in identity crisis and revived the fortunes of an election deemed lost. The elder statesman opens the Democratic convention in Chicago with an inauguration speech for his vice, presenting her as an “exceptional leader”, the sole guarantor of democracy and freedoms threatened by Donald Trump. A Biden advisor stated, “The president will explain how, in the battle for America’s soul, we ensured that democracy prevailed, and now, with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, we must ensure that democracy is preserved.”
In the basketball mecca of the Chicago Bulls, once home to Michael Jordan, at the United Center, the commander-in-chief will also claim his achievements in the White House over the past four years – from large investments in climate to infrastructure, healthcare, and the economic recovery post-Covid crisis – and take one last embrace from his Democratic supporters. Organizers have prepared signs for the audience saying ‘spread the faith’, a typical Biden expression.
On the other hand, the president arrives at the convention at the end of a positive week for the administration, as emphasized by the White House in a note highlighting reduced illegal border crossings with Mexico, crime rates, inflation, and drug prices. These are all results to showcase in Chicago to attack Republicans who, as emphasized in the statement, have blocked action on the Mexican border and did not vote for the bill to fund law enforcement or reduce drug costs. On the first day of the Democratic event, speakers will also include Hillary Clinton, who finds herself on stage after many years alongside the man who wanted to run in her place in 2016 but was preferred by Barack Obama’s then Secretary of State, and First Lady Jill, the most staunch supporter of her husband, always by his side.
Harris and her vice Tim Walz spent the eve of the convention traveling the streets of Pennsylvania on a bus, a strategic and still undecided state. Accompanied by their spouses, Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, the vice president and the governor of Minnesota met with voters in Beaver County, where the tycoon won in 2020, and where there are still many undecided voters. According to a new Washington Post-Abc News-Ipsos national voting poll, the Democratic presidential candidate leads 49% to 45% in a head-to-head against Trump, while including third-party candidates, she is at 47% against the tycoon’s 44%, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at 5%. At the beginning of July, the tycoon was at 43%, Biden at 42%, and Kennedy at 9%. However, due to the margin of error in this poll, which only verifies national support, Harris’s lead among registered voters is not considered statistically significant.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to attack his opponent head-on, accusing her of wanting to “bring communism to the United States” with a doctored photo showing the Democrat from behind on the podium at the Chicago convention, in front of a group of delegates in uniform with red flags and in the background a huge red banner with a sickle and hammer. Baseless attacks that may resonate with a certain type of voter but also reveal Republican fears. In the coming days, Trump and his vice, JD Vance, will start a counter-program to the Dem convention with a rally in York, Pennsylvania.
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