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Friday 13 Sep 2024
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Walz officially accepted the nomination to be Harris's White House running mate on on Day 3 of DNC in Chicago. (Photo: Reuters)
The Democratic National Convention has barreled into its third day with a lineup featuring former president Bill Clinton and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as the closer, introducing himself as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate.
"It's the honour of my life to accept your nomination for vice president of the United States. We're all here tonight for one beautiful, simple reason — we love this country," Walz said in Chicago in a speech that also targeted Republican Donald Trump.
Taking the stage ahead of Harris's big night on Thursday, former teacher and National Guard soldier Walz outlined his life story while underlining the ticket's focus on safeguarding Americans' freedoms and building for the future.
Walz described his upbringing in Nebraska and teaching and coaching football in Minneosta and told the crowd, "Thank you for bringing the joy to this fight."
“While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” he said. In a dig at his Republican counterpart, JD Vance, he added, "I had 24 kids in my high school class, and none of them went to Yale."
The Minnesota governor brings an earthy, Midwestern vibe to Harris's surging campaign against Trump that was central to his speech at Chicago's United Center.
"We’ve got a pretty clear choice it seems to me. Kamala Harris, for the people. And the other guy who has proved, even more than the first go-around, that he’s about me, myself and I," Clinton said earlier.
"What does her opponent do with his voice? He mostly talks about himself. So the next time you hear him, don’t count the lies, count the I's," he said of Trump.
Walz will tee up Harris's Thursday speech and the climax of a convention that has defied predictions of disunity or even chaos in the wake of President Joe Biden's decision to drop his reelection bid on July 21.
On Tuesday, it was Democratic superstars Michelle and former president Barack Obama who spoke, following up on Biden's speech Monday, where he passed the torch to his vice president.
The convention has seen intense enthusiasm, buoyed by Walz's appearances at sideline events, where he has been mobbed by supporters seeking selfies and chanting, "Tim! Tim! Tim!"
Overshadowed by Gaza carnage
Polls show the race remains close, but Harris is moving ahead — a remarkable turn of events, given that only a month ago Trump seemed to be gaining a steadily tightening grip over Biden.
In a dramatic gesture, Harris and Walz held a mass rally on Tuesday in Milwaukee at the same time as the convention crowd jammed into the Chicago venue.
On Wednesday, Trump gathered supporters in North Carolina for his first outdoor rally since an attempt on his life last month that saw him wounded and a bystander killed. Security was especially tight, with a bulletproof glass screen erected around the podium.
Republicans have ramped up attacks on Walz in an attempt to paint him as an extreme leftist, much as Trump routinely brands Harris a "communist" and "marxist."
Trump has bashed the convention as a "charade" and noted the fact that he has been a frequent topic of conversation.
He also singled out his predecessor, Barack Obama, for a highly critical convention speech on Tuesday night, saying Obama had been "nasty."
The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has split the Democratic base, with pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrating outside the United Center and several speakers this week acknowledging civilian deaths in the enclave.
On Wednesday, Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar blasted the "humiliation" US Secretary of State Antony Blinken endured during his recent trip to Israel, where he failed to convince hawkish PM Benjamin Netanyahu and secure a breakthrough for a Gaza ceasefire deal.
"Now ask yourselves, how does our Secretary of State travel 11 times begging for an end to a situation that we truly have continued to provide the bombs and the weapons that are creating that situation," the Minnesota representative told the "Uncommitted" movement's press conference in Chicago, Illinois.
Source: TRT World
