• USA POLITICAL ELECTION

Chicago, US, Aug 20 (EFE).- By Beatriz Pascual Macías

In a rousing speech on Tuesday, former US president Barack Obama urged America to begin a “new chapter” by electing Kamala Harris to the presidency and leaving behind the darkness and divisiveness of the Donald Trump era.

Obama, an adopted son of the city of Chicago, was greeted with thunderous applause at the United Center where the Democratic National Convention is being held, and which on Thursday will hear Harris formally accept the party’s presidential nomination.

“Yes, she can!” the audience shouted, replicating the “Yes, we can” slogan and the energy that catapulted him to the White House in 2008.

The former president said he felt “hopeful” about November’s election, alluding to the “hope and change” slogan of his own presidential campaign.

Obama attacked Trump, describing him as a selfish and bullying billionaire, who only sees “power as a means to his ends,” and who resorts to “childish nicknames” and “crazy conspiracy theories” to combat his greatest fear, which he said is losing to Harris.

When the audience erupted into boos, Obama raised a finger, telling supporters: “Do not boo. Vote!”

In a stronger tone than on other occasions, Obama even mocked Trump, saying he has a “weird obsession with crowd sizes,” prompting the audience to cheer.

Harris’ own campaign has also used the term “weird” to describe Trump and his running mate, Senator J.D. Vance.

“We don’t need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos. We have seen that movie before and we all know that the sequel is usually worse,” Obama said.

“America is ready for a new chapter. America is ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”

He went on to say the America Harris wants to create is one of freedom and opportunity for all, regardless of their social status or skin color.

“I believe that’s what we yearn for – a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other,” said Obama, who at times adopted a more reflective tone, moving some of the thousands of people in the stadium to tears.

He also referred to the current moment in American society and the culture that has allowed Trump to come to power, describing it as “a culture that puts a premium on things that don’t last: money, fame, status, likes.”

“We chase the approval of strangers on our phones. We build all manner of walls and fences around ourselves and then we wonder why we feel so alone. We don’t trust each other as much because we don’t take the time to get to know each other,” he reflected.

There were, however, lighter moments as well, such as when he referred to Harris’ running mate and Minnesota governor Tim Walz, who has a reputation as being progressive and kind.

“I love this guy. Tim is the kind of person who should be in politics,” Obama began.

“You can tell that those flannel shirts he wears don’t come from some political consultant, they come from his closet, and they’ve been through some stuff,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience and agreement from Walz’s wife Gwen.

With his words, the first Black US president put all his support behind Harris to make history as the first woman, the first woman of color and the first person of Indian origin to be elected leader.

The bond between Obama and Harris, however, did not begin Tuesday night. They met 20 years ago when she was a district attorney in San Francisco and he was running for Senate in Illinois.

Harris helped organize a fundraiser for Obama’s senatorial campaign at a San Francisco hotel, and the two quickly connected as mixed-race Americans: Obama’s father was from Kenya and his mother a Caucasian woman from Arkansas, while Harris’ mother was Indian and her father is Jamaican.

Years later, as the former president recalled during his speech, their paths crossed again. When Obama ran for the White House in 2008, Harris volunteered for his campaign in Iowa.

On Tuesday, Obama returned to the DNC to return the favor with a speech intended to propel Harris to the White House. The audience received the former president’s rousing words with such enthusiasm that, at times, one could not hear what he was saying.

“So let’s get to work!” he finished. EFE

bpm/tw