Kamala Harris and Donald Trump gear up for the final 10-weeks until election day on Friday, with the Democrat taking the lead after a rousing speech accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination.
Less than three weeks before the presidential debate between the US vice president and the Republican former president – and only a month before in-person voting begins – polls show the race for the White House is tightly contested.
The former senator and prosecutor left Chicago with the wind in her sails, toppling Trump and erasing the polling lead she had before replacing President Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket last month.
But Harris campaign battle director Dan Kanninen warned at a Bloomberg event during the convention that the race “hasn’t fundamentally changed” and is still “very, very tight.”
“We have tremendous enthusiasm – I think the momentum is in our favour – but now we need to do something with it and engage voters effectively this autumn,” he said.
Harris accepted her party’s presidential nomination at a glitzy final night in Chicago attended by a star-studded crowd that set the stage for the tight Nov. 5 election.
very low margins
The 59-year-old Californian held a slim lead in polling, overturning perceptions that a Trump win against Biden was likely, before he dramatically withdrew his nomination and endorsed Harris.
In just one month, Harris has raised a record-breaking half-billion dollars, and is enjoying a political honeymoon that shows no sign of ending.
However, party leaders have cautioned that there could still be hurdles in the campaign.
These include internal conflicts over U.S. policy on the Israel-Hamas war and potential changes in voting with the possible withdrawal of independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Friday, who could endorse Trump.
The controversial scion of America’s prestigious Kennedy family is planning an announcement in Arizona while Trump is also campaigning in the state, promising to bring a “special guest”.
Analysts are mixed on the impact of Kennedy’s departure from office.
He has received very few votes and has been marginalized by his embrace of conspiracy theories.
However, in a very tight contest, it’s possible that even a few thousand votes in a key state could ultimately determine who goes into the White House.
Democratic leaders, from Michelle Obama and Bill Clinton to vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, have warned that the party could lose to Trump’s Republicans if it becomes complacent.
“If we see a bad poll — and we will — we need to put down the phones and do something,” the former first lady told party supporters in Chicago.
Walz, a former high school football coach, cited a sports analogy, saying Democrats were “trailing by a field goal, but we’re on offense and we have the ball.”
Getting to the Center
Trump has largely espoused this ideology, mobilizing his right-wing supporters with dire warnings about immigrant criminals and painting a dark picture of a country in “collapse” that only he can save.
Harris and her Democrats are moving toward the center.
Party strategists have paraded a slew of anti-Trump Republicans in Chicago throughout the week, including a former Cabinet official, a small-city mayor and a former statewide incumbent.
“If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024, you’re not a Democrat, you’re a patriot,” said Geoff Duncan, the former lieutenant governor of Georgia.
While Democrats previously portrayed Trump as an instigator, they have now begun to mock the Republican candidate in ways that seek to belittle him and damage his image of invincibility.
Harris called him a “non-serious” person.
Harris, who has not announced any schedule for the weekend, will head back to Washington on Friday with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff to lay out a battle plan for the next 70-plus days.
“I will be a president who unites us around our highest aspirations,” Harris said in her keynote speech, drawing loud applause.
“A president who leads and listens, who is realistic, pragmatic and has common sense and who always fights for the American people.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
