Harris arrives in Chicago for euphoric convention

Kamala Harris arrived in Chicago on Sunday, the day before the Democratic Party convention, which She has given new hope of a victory against Republican Donald Trump in November.

The vice president, who entered the race after Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy in July, is sure to be involved in the jubilation at this grand mass , which she will conclude with a speech on Thursday.

During the day, the 59-year-old candidate had crisscrossed Pennsylvania by bus, a key state for the November presidential election.

“I don't see us as favorites at all,” she told the press. “We have to earn every vote and that means being on the road, meeting people.”

In front of a group of volunteers, Kamala Harris judged, in an implicit allusion to the aggressive rhetoric of her rival Donald Trump, that “so-called leaders who only think about crushing others are cowards.”

The vice president brought pastries to a fire station, before going to meet the American football team of a high school.

– Chips and soda –

She also stopped at a convenience store to buy chips, confiding in passing that her favorite soda is “root beer”, a sugary soft drink typically American.

Pennsylvania is one of the states most coveted by the Democrat as well as by her Republican rival – who lost it by a hair's breadth to Joe Biden in 2020.

Donald Trump was there on Saturday, and he will return on Monday to this state where he was the target of an assassination attempt in July.

Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, in the United States, on August 17, 2024 © AFP – Jim WATSON

“She's crazy,” the 78-year-old billionaire said of his rival.

Deprived of his best enemy since Joe Biden's withdrawal, Donald Trump has multiplied personal attacks against this opponent who is almost 20 years younger.

The Republican team has planned campaign events in key states each day of the Democratic convention, which will be held from Monday to Thursday in Chicago.

– Trump's tour –

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Donald Trump will address the economy Monday in Pennsylvania, then crime and national security the following two days, in Michigan and North Carolina. The following day, he will travel to Arizona, on the border with Mexico, to talk about immigration.

At least 50,000 people – delegates, volunteers, supporters… – are expected in Chicago, America's third-largest city.

© AFP – MATTHEW HATCHER

All with a very heavy security presence, mobilizing no less than 2,500 local police officers, while the attempted assassination of Donald Trump remains on everyone's minds.

Palestinian support groups have planned large demonstrations to try to place the war in Gaza at the heart of the debates.

Several hundred of them have already marched on Sunday in a rather good-natured atmosphere, to protest against “the genocide in Gaza”, explained one of the organizers, David Finkel, to AFP.

This 76-year-old activist had participated in 1968 in a particularly stormy Democratic convention, also held in Chicago, against a backdrop of mobilization against the Vietnam War.

– Obama and Biden –

It remains to be seen whether these protests will resonate with fiercely optimistic democrats.

“The enthusiasm has increased dramatically,” said Laurie Beth Hager, a Democratic delegate representing North Dakota, predicting that the convention would be “a great show of joy.”

A new Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos poll on Sunday showed the vice president slightly ahead in national voting intentions.

From left to r.: Kamala Harris, Joe Biden and Barack Obama, at the White House, in Washington, on April 15, 2022 © AFP – MANDEL NGAN

On the shores of Lake Michigan, the party's heavyweights will come to support Kamala Harris, starting with former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, who are at home in Chicago.

As for Joe Biden, he will deliver on Monday what will be both the first major speech of the convention and a sort of farewell message, after half a century of politics.

According to CNN, he will be joined on stage by Kamala Harris, to offer the first strong image of the great Democratic mass.

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