2024-08-20 21:00:02
CHICAGO — Hillary Clinton, the first woman to clinch a major political party’s presidential nomination, on the first night of the Democratic National Convention praised Vice President Kamala Harris — the second woman in U.S. history to be nominated — for her bright vision for the nation and her ability to lead the country forward.
“The story of my life and the history of our country is that progress is possible, but not guaranteed,” Clinton told a packed crowd in the United Center. “We have to fight for it. And never, ever give up.”
Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, said that together, women have put “a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling.”
“On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris taking the oath of office as our 47th President of the United States,” she said. “When a barrier falls for one of us, it … clears the way for all of us.”
Clinton said that Harris’ historic nomination, as the first Black and South Asian woman at the top of a major party ticket, is an opportunity for the country to progress.
Clinton said that every generation has “carried the torch forward,” and that Harris will carry that torch as she pushes for the restoration of abortion access, affordable housing and child care.
Harris has often promised to restore Roe v Wade, the Supreme Court ruling that gave Americans the constitutional right to an abortion. However, in order to pass legislation in Congress, Democrats would need to control the House and have 60 votes in the Senate to advance legislation past the filibuster.
Women in history
Clinton highlighted Democratic women who had broken barriers throughout history.
She cited the late U.S. Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first woman to run for the Democratic Party presidential nomination, and the first Black person to seek to be a major party’s candidate for president, and the late U.S. Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated for the vice presidency by a major political party.
Clinton said that accepting the presidential nomination was the greatest honor of her life. She touched on her loss to Donald Trump in 2016, and noted that despite it, there was a wave of women who ran for public office following Trump’s ascension to the White House.
“We refused to give up on America,” she said.
Clinton said that when she looks at Harris’ campaign she sees freedom.
“I see freedom from fear and intimidation, from violence and injustices, from chaos and corruption,” she said.
Harris indeed has framed her campaign as a fight for freedom, and as an effort to move forward as opposed to Trump and the GOP. Additionally, Beyonce’s song “Freedom” is the campaign’s anthem.
Harris speaks
Harris, who made a brief surprise appearance before Clinton spoke, thanked President Joe Biden for his leadership before she stressed that the November elections are a fight for the future.
“This November, we will come together and declare with one voice, as one people, we are moving forward,” Harris said. “We all have so much more in common than what separates us.”
Harris is expected to give her speech accepting the nomination on Thursday night.
Clinton said that Harris would be “for the people,” which was also the theme of the first night of the convention. Clinton criticized Trump and said that the former president only cares about himself, not Americans.
She said that Democrats have Trump “on the run,” but urged them to not get too comfortable, even as Harris’ campaign has energized Democrats across the nation. Clinton warned Democrats to not rely on the polls, which have shown Harris either gaining on Trump or ahead, and said they must keep campaigning until November.
Since Biden suspended his reelection campaign, after a disastrous June debate that rattled his party’s belief in his ability to defeat Trump, several battleground states that were leaning toward Republicans, such as Georgia, Nevada and Arizona, moved to a “toss-up,” according to The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter.
“No matter what the polls say, we can’t let up,” Clinton said.
