Joe Biden bids farewell to leadership and officially passes the torch to Kamala Harris, who in a matter of weeks has steered a party in identity crisis back on track and turned around an election that seemed lost. The elderly president 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 the freedoms that Donald Trump threatens at this moment. “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,” a Biden advisor reported.
In the basketball mecca of the Chicago Bulls’ former home, the United Center, the commander-in-chief will also claim his accomplishments in these four years in the White House – from major investments in climate to infrastructure and from healthcare to economic recovery after the Covid crisis – and will take the opportunity to enjoy the last embrace of his Democratic supporters. Organizers have prepared signs for the audience with the words ‘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 highlighted in a White House statement pointing out the reduction in illegal border crossings with Mexico, crime rates, inflation, and drug prices. All results to boast about in Chicago to attack Republicans who, as emphasized in the statement, have blocked action on the Mexico border and have not voted on legislation to fund law enforcement or reduce drug costs.
On the first day of the Democratic event, speakers will also include Hillary Clinton, who will find herself on stage after many years alongside the man who wanted to run in her place in 2016 but was preferred by Barack Obama, 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 aboard a bus on the streets of Pennsylvania, a strategic state still in the balance.
Accompanied by their respective spouses, Doug Emhoff and Gwen Walz, the vice president and the governor of Minnesota met 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 poll on the national vote, 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, given 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 with her back to the podium at the Chicago convention, in front of a crowd of delegates in uniform with red flags and a huge red backdrop with a sickle and hammer. Baseless attacks that may appeal to a certain type of voter but also reveal the fears of Republicans. In the coming days, Trump and his vice, JD Vance, will start a counterprogram to the Dem convention with a rally in York, Pennsylvania.
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