'A new way': Kamala Harris reintroduces herself to voters and other key moments

CHICAGO – Kamala Devi Harris stepped into the national spotlight Thursday for her stunning presidential bid by reintroducing herself as someone who is "no stranger to unlikely journeys."

The vice president, a child of immigrants, becomes the first Black and South Asian woman nominated by a major party.

Harris framed the 2024 contest as one in which voters fed up with Republican nominee Donald Trump have a chance to do something in November.

"With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past," she said.

"A chance to chart a new way forward. Not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans."

Harris laid into Trump for much of her address, saying the former president tried to steal Americans' votes when he denied losing the 2020 election.

"Donald Trump is a very unserious man," she said. "But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are very serious."

Boosted by an electoral adrenaline rush thanks to President Joe Biden's dramatic exit from the race, much of the 2024 Democratic convention has centered on telling the country who she is while affirming a progressive position on a host of issues.

Much of the week has been filled with sweeping statements about how the 59-year-old California Democrat sees the country, such as calling for an "opportunity economy."

Just how she plans to execute these ideas remains unclear, and GOP critics have called out the Harris campaign for being light on policy while sprinting to define her as too liberal for the country.

But Democrats and their allies didn't sweat those claims much this week and have instead emphasized vision and character, plus a deepening sense of urgency in a race most acknowledge will be decided by razor-thin margins.

Here are the key moments from the final day of the Democratic National Convention.

Harris reintroduces herself to unsure Americans

Harris used the prime-time speech to talk at length about her mother, Shyamala Harris, who was 19 when she came to the U.S. from India "with an unshakeable dream to be the scientist who would cure breast cancer."

Harris said she was raised mostly by her mother, who rented a home in a blue-collar neighborhood in the East Bay of California. She described it as "a beautiful working-class neighborhood of firefighters, nurses and construction workers, all who tended their lawns with pride."

Many Americans are making their first impressions about Harris after she replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee when he dropped out of the race last month.

"I will be a president who unites as around our highest aspirations, a president who leads and listens, who is realistic, practical and has common sense, and always fights for the American people," Harris said.

"From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life's work."

Her campaign used Harris’ story to bolster core themes such as portraying the vice president, a former prosecutor, as a protector. Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, goddaughter and another relative also came on stage to tell the audience about the Kamala they know.

Before Harris took the stage, two young nieces of Harris joined actress Kerry Washington on stage to tell the crowd how to pronounce "Kamala." Trump and others have repeatedly mispronounced the vice president's first name and misspelled it in social media posts, seemingly on purpose.

In a particularly personal account to convey her sense of justice, Harris recounted the story of her best friend, Wanda, whom Harris asked what was wrong when she noticed her sad at school.

Wanda told her she was being sexually abused by her stepfather.

“And I immediately told her she had to come stay with us. And she did,” Harris said. "That is one of the reasons I became a prosecutor. To protect people like Wanda."

Dems lean into combating gun violence, mass shootings

The Harris campaign may have little to say regarding policy on its website, but speaker after speaker Thursday night spotlighted issues that matter to the progressive base under the umbrella of freedom.

Chief among them are mass shootings, which have plagued the country for decades with little action by Congress.

Former Rep. Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz., who survived an assassination attempt in 2011, spoke up for stricter gun control, joined by her husband, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., on stage. That shooting killed six and severely injured Giffords, who was shot in the head.

"Terrible, terrible day. I almost died," she said.

Other speakers, such as Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Ga., who lost her son to gun violence in 2012, lined up on stage telling stories of personal tragedy as the result of massacres.

Kim Rubio talked about seeing her daughter, Lexi, for the last time. The 10-year-old was among the 21 people killed two years ago at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. That shooting killed 19 students and two teachers and injured 17 others.

Abbey Clements, was a second grade teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012 when a shooter killed 26 people, including 20 first graders.

"They should still be here," she said.

No Palestinian speakers on convention stage

All week, the demands and direct action of protesters demanding an end to Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza stalked the convention.

But a new wrinkle developed after the campaign refused a request from a group of uncommitted delegates to give a Palestinian American a speaking slot on stage.

Hours before Harris took the stage, for instance, Muslim Women for Harris-Walz announced it was disbanding over the snub, and many continued a sit-down demonstration outside the arena into Thursday evening.

The uncommitted delegates locked arm in arm, according to online footage, tried to enter the convention floor but reportedly were barred from returning to their seats.

Many progressive activists and officials expressed support for hearing from a Palestinian voice drawing attention to the humanitarian crisis. Others warned that barring such a viewpoint could backfire politically given the sustained demonstrations against the Biden administration and pressure on Harris.

"The (Democratic) party is making a tragic mistake in 2024 perpetuating this erasure of the Palestinian story (and) voice," Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said in a post on X.

Harris addressed the Middle East war, however, saying she and Biden were working on a peace deal "so the suffering in Gaza ends."

She received some of her most rousing applause Thursday when she committed to supporting Israel's right to self-defense but also when she condemned the “devastating” violence against Palestinians.

“Now is the time to get a hostage deal and a cease-fire deal done,” Harris said.

Harris, Dems try to yank ‘patriotism’ from Republicans

Democrats used their convention Thursday to stake the claim as the patriotic party, turning to military veterans and national security officials to cast Trump as a threat to the country and someone who has disrespected veterans.

At the same time, they sought to portray Harris as a leader who will be feared and respected by foreign adversaries.

“She knows a tyrant when she sees one − and our allies know a leader when they see one,” said Leon Panetta, former secretary of defense and CIA director, among other titles, across multiple presidential administrations.

The most searing attack came from Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican congressman from Illinois who served on the House committee that investigated Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

“I want to let the Republican Party in on a little secret,” he said. “The Democrats are as patriotic as us. They love this country just as much as we do. And they are as eager as us to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservative have ever been.”

Kinzinger said he is voting for Harris to “put our country first” – a message the Harris campaign has tried to push to win Republican and independent voters turned off by Trump.

Delegates waved American flags and chanted “USA!” Democratic members of Congress with military service came on stage.

Republicans have long portrayed themselves as the party of patriotism.

But Democrats think they can use Trump’s past comments about veterans, his friendly statements about dictators, and his role during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol to challenge that narrative.

“Politicians like Donald Trump don't stand with us,” said Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a military veteran and the Democratic nominee for Senate in his state. “They call patriots like Sen. McCain 'losers.' John McCain was an American hero. Show some respect.”

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a former astronaut and U.S. Navy captain, told the convention: "The world laughs at Trump literally, but folks, it is not funny. When he was president, that means the world was laughing at us. The threats we face are too serious."

Central Park 5 blast: Trump called for our execution

If there's any group that has a reason to oppose Trump, it is the five New York Black and Latino men who as teenagers were wrongly accused of assaulting a white female jogger in 1989.

Trump, a real estate mogul at the time, infamously bought a full-page ad calling for their execution.

Joined by the Rev. Al Sharpton, the group, originally known as The Central Park Five (who now prefer to be called The Exonerated Five), tore into the former president. The group said Trump wanted them dead for a crime they didn't commit.

"That man thinks that hate is the animating force in America. It is not," said Yusef Salaam, one of the men. He is now a member of the New York City Council.

"We have the constitutional right to vote. In fact, it is a human right, so let us use it. I want you to walk with us. I want you to march with us. I want you to vote with us."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'A new way forward': Harris accepts historic nomination: 6 takeaways