This story is part of the IDS’ national convention coverage. Follow reporter Mia Hilkowitz on X and IDS social media for updates.
CHICAGO — Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president Thursday, closing out the 2024 Democratic National Convention. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz accepted his party’s nomination to be Harris’ running mate on Wednesday.
Speaking to an energized crowd of delegates in the United Center, the vice president said she would be a president who unites people, rather than instill cynicism in them. Touting her experience as a prosecuting attorney and California’s attorney general, Harris said her only client has been “the people.”
“I will never waver in defense of America’s security and ideals because in the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand and I know where the United States belongs,” Harris said.
Harris reaffirmed her commitments to decreasing gun violence, restoring women’s reproductive rights and protecting social security and Medicare during her speech. She also touted her plans to create an “opportunity economy,” which includes creating jobs, bringing together workers and passing a “middle class tax cut.”
The vice president also used her acceptance speech to contrast her record, values and middle-class upbringing with the GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump. She emphasized how the Biden-Harris administration worked with Democrats and Republicans in Congress to pass a bipartisan border security deal last year, but the effort ultimately failed. She claimed the failure was because Trump thought it would hurt his campaign. Harris promised in her speech she wouldn’t “play politics with our security.”
“My mother had another lesson,” Harris said. “She used to teach, ‘never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are.’ America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness and endless possibilities.”
Indiana delegates express support
Indiana’s 88 delegates voted to make Harris their party’s nominee during a virtual vote in early August. However, the Hoosiers still participated in a “celebratory” roll call vote Tuesday to show their support for Harris. Indiana’s delegates even had Sean Astin — an actor known for his roles in “The Goonies,” “Rudy” and “Stranger Things” — help cast their votes. The delegation cast their votes to the song “Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough,” by Michael Jackson, whose family was originally from Gary, Indiana.
Indiana delegates shared their excitement about Harris being the Democratic presidential nominee.
Bloomington Mayor Kerry Thomson, who attended the convention as a pledged party leader and elected official, told the Indiana Daily Student before the convention that officially nominating Harris and Walz, as well as developing the party platform, were the most important parts of the event.
“This is a really historic convention, and I am thrilled to be able to be a part of it,” Thomson said. “Of course, Biden was still in the race when I was chosen to serve as a delegate, and I’m even more thrilled now that Harris is in the race.”
Bloomington City Councilmember and IU alumna Sydney Zulich, who is a delegate for Indiana’s ninth congressional district, said she was “ecstatic” that Harris was the nominee.
“As a campaigner myself, as someone who works in campaigns outside of my own races, this is great,” Zulich said. “I think this is going to mobilize people.”
Nicole Bolden, Bloomington’s city clerk and delegate for Indiana’s ninth congressional district, said it is “amazing” that Harris — who is Black, Asian and the first woman and woman of color to hold the role of vice president — is the nominee.
“You know [there is] the business of the convention,” Bolden said. “But then that moment where you step back and look at the history of it, it is overwhelming.”
Protests and criticism also highlight last night of DNC
While Harris received overwhelming support from the nearly 4,700 delegates, the final night of the DNC saw continued protests and marches outside the convention hall and across the city. This week, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched around the United Center’s security perimeter, calling for Harris to endorse an arms embargo to Israel and permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War, among other conditions.
Although the demonstrations have generally remained peaceful, Chicago police have arrested more than 72 people this week in connection with the protests. Chicago police arrested 13 people on Monday after a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters breached an outer security perimeter fence. The next day, 56 people were arrested at a protest — which ultimately led to a violent clash with police — outside the city’s Israeli consulate.
Around 30 delegates are a part of the Uncommitted National Movement, a pro-Palestine coalition that led sit-in protests outside the convention this week. These delegates, along with other activists, expressed their frustration that the DNC declined to give any Palestinian Americans time to talk during the convention’s main programming. The Uncommitted National Movement said it began trying to get a speaker approved two months before the DNC, and they had negotiated with the Harris campaign until late Wednesday night but were unsuccessful. As a result of this decision to not have a Palestinian speaker, the coalition Muslim Women for Harris-Walz suspended its campaign early Thursday morning.
On Oct. 7, 2023, a Hamas-led attack killed around 1,200 people in Israel and the group abducted around 250 hostages. The Israeli government believes there are still 109 hostages in Gaza, including 36 people who are believed to be dead. In response to the attack, Israel launched a military campaign which has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, many of whom are women and children, and has displaced over 85% of the region’s population.
During her speech Thursday night, Harris reaffirmed her commitment to securing the release of hostages taken by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attacks and a ceasefire deal in the war. However, she did not specify if this ceasefire should be permanent. She also said that she will always support Israel’s right to defend itself and ensure Israel has the resources for its defense.
Harris also decried the loss of life and suffering in Gaza due to the war.
“President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” she said.
Harris’ acceptance speech comes as multiple news outlets, including Reuters and The New York Times, are reporting independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to drop out of the race and endorse former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee.
— Mia Hilkowitz is a reporter and editor at the Indiana Daily Student. Contact her at mhilkowi@iu.edu.
