In a closing argument speech delivered across from the White House that most political observers and junkies have heard variations of since President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 race and passed the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic Presidential Nominee said:
“It is time to turn the page on the drama and conflict, the fear and division. It is time for a new generation of leadership in America. And I am ready to offer that leadership as the next President of the United States.”
Speaking at the spot on the Ellipse in the National Mall where Donald Trump moved the MAGA mob to storm the Nation’s Capitol on January 6, 2021, Vice President Harris, unlike her opponent close to four years ago, offered a unifying, inclusive, and forward vision of how her Presidency would be and how she would lead.
Framing this elections choice as “About whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American. Or one ruled by chaos and division,” the Vice President reminded the over 75,000 person crowd that came to watch her that it was on this “spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election that he knew he lost” and said “So what” when told the mob he sent wanted to hang his own Vice President, Mike Pence.
Warning the American People that Donald Trump has only one agenda: promoting himself and going after the people on his “Enemies List” that he perceived as having wronged him, Harris offered a vision of working for all the American People, pledging to work with all parties in order to enact the Harris/Walz “To Do List” in building on the successes of the Biden/Harris Administration and further moving the country forward and lifting the American People up.
Recounting her biography of service to the people as a lawyer, district attorney, State Attorney General, Senator, and Vice President, Harris, unlike her opponent, admitted her humanity, saying:
“I’ll be honest with you: I’m not perfect. I make mistakes. But here’s what I promise you: I will always listen to you, even if you don’t vote for me. I will always tell you the truth, even if it’s hard to hear. I will work every day to build consensus and reach compromise to get things done. And if you give me the chance to fight on your behalf, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way.”
Saying the number one item on her agenda was to reduce costs for the American People, the Vice President highlighted several programs she would pursue that would accomplish that including:
- Middle Class tax cuts.
- Going after price gougers
- Expand the Prescription Drug Benefit on medications like insulin to all Americans.
- Cut red tape to speed up the housing construction process.
- Expand the child tax credit.
- Reduce the costs of child care.
- Having Medicare cover the costs of Home Care.
Commenting that one third of the nation’s women live in a state with a Trump abortion ban, she also promised to work to restore Roe v Wade through the legislative process.
She also pledged to work to enact bipartisan border security measures like the tools Trump told Republicans in Congress to oppose after they were for it.
Harris also said she would work to find an earned pathway for citizenship “for hardworking immigrants like farmworkers and Dreamers.”
Unlike Trump who calls veterans “suckers” and “losers” she affirmed that “I will always honor—never denigrate—the service and sacrifice of our troops and their families. And fulfill our sacred obligation to care for them.”
Saying she would be a strong leader in Global Affairs, the Vice President called Trump “An easy mark” in the eyes of the World’s dictators.
In her closing remarks, Ms. Harris repeatedly invoked “The Promise of America,” saying:
“I’ve lived the Promise of America. I saw how hard my mother worked to give her daughters the same chances this country gave her. Growing up, I was blessed to have family by blood and family by love who instilled in me the values of community, compassion, and faith that have always defined our nation at its best.”
“I’ve lived the Promise of America. I’ve spent my life fighting for the people who have been hurt and counted out, but never stopped believing that, in our country, anything is possible.”
“I’ve lived the Promise of America. And I see the Promise of America in all of you. In the young people voting for the first time. Who are determined to live free from gun violence, protect our planet, and shape the world they inherit. In the women who refuse to accept a future without reproductive freedom. And the men who support them. In Republicans, who never voted for a Democrat before, but put the Constitution of the United States over party. In Americans, different in many respects, but united in: Our pursuit of freedom. Our belief in fairness and decency. And our faith in a better future.”
“America: I know that the vast majority of us have so much more in common than what separates us. That’s why I’m in this race. To fight for The People. Just like I always have. Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant.”
“Across the generations, Americans have: Preserved that freedom. Expanded it. And in so doing, proved to the world that a government of, by, and for the people is strong and can endure. And those who came before us – the patriots at Normandy and Selma. Seneca Falls and Stonewall. On farmlands and factory floors.”
“They did not struggle, sacrifice, and lay down their lives, only to see us cede our fundamental freedoms, only to see us submit to the will of another petty tyrant. The United States of America is not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators. The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised. A nation big enough to encompass all our dreams. Strong enough to withstand any fracture or fissure between us. And fearless enough to imagine a future of possibilities.”
“So, America, let us reach for that future. Let us fight for this beautiful country we love. And in 7 days, we have the power to turn the page, and start writing the next chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.”
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