Kamala Harris arrives in Chicago to star at Democratic convention

Kamala Harris energises Democrats ahead of Democratic National Conference, facing Trump in pivotal election campaign, amid protests over Gaza conflict.

Kamala Harris arrived in Chicago on Sunday (August 18, 2024) ahead of her star turn at the Democratic National Convention, perhaps the most pivotal moment yet for her short but stunning election campaign against Donald Trump.

The U.S. Vice President has re-energised the party after an astonishing month that has seen her replace President Joe Biden at the top of the ticket and wipe out Republican rival Trump’s lead in the polls.

On the way to Chicago, Ms. Harris stopped in the crucial battleground state of Pennsylvania – which Mr. Trump won in 2016 and Mr. Biden in 2020 – and embarked on a day-long bus tour in a bid to keep up the momentum.

Accompanied by her running mate Tim Walz and their respective spouses, they set off from Pittsburgh on a coach emblazoned with their names to a series of rust-belt towns to woo blue-collar voters.

But Ms. Harris insisted that Mr. Trump was still the favourite to win and that she would campaign hard with just 79 days until the November 5, 2024, election.

“I very much consider us the underdog, we have a lot of work to do to earn the vote of the American people,” Ms. Harris told reporters in Pennsylvania. “That’s why we’re on this bus tour today.”

Her rapid rise has unsettled 78-year-old former president and convicted felon Mr. Trump, who is resorting to his favoured tactic of personal insults against America’s first female, Black and South Asian Vice President.