Riding high on DNC momentum, Kamala Harris faces a fierce fight to the finish

Jan van der Made

23 August 2024 at 12:40 pm·1-min read

US presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have entered the final 10-week stretch to election day, with the Democrat surging after an electrifying speech accepting her party's nomination at the Democratic National Convention (DNC). But with some voters on the left still unconvinced, a final victory is far from certain.

Less than three weeks before the 10 September presidential debate between the US vice president and the Republican ex-president, and only a month before early voting kicks off, polls show the race for the White House is neck and neck.

Former senator and prosecutor Harris leaves the DNC in Chicago with the wind in her sails, having erased the polling leads Trump was enjoying before she replaced President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket last month.

Harris vows 'new way forward' for America as she accepts nomination

But in one of the many speeches at the DNC, Michelle Obama, wife of former president Barack Obama, struck a sober note. In spite of all the "enthusiasm and positivity" generated by the convention, she cautioned, the race for the White House will be an "uphill battle".

One of the main challenges, believes Gretchen Pascalis, a spokesperson for Democrats Abroad France, may be low turnout. She is also concerned about voter suppression, pointing to Harris's remarks on "protecting the right to vote".

Overall, Pascalis thought that the DNC was a show of "new energy, of very democratic ideas, and of a real desire to improve the life of everyday, middle-class Americans".

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