Harris doesn’t support Biden’s approach to democracy, but puts her own spin on it | World News

The new framework was on full display this week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where attendees wrote their own definitions of freedom on handmade posters and Beyoncé’s anthem “Freedom” blared over the speakers.

The convention dedicated a day to the fight for our freedoms, with special guest Oprah Winfrey suggesting that those working to preserve reproductive rights are the new freedom fighters.

Harris repeatedly hammered the point home as she summarized her promises to American voters.

The freedom to live free from gun violence in our schools, our communities, and our places of worship, Harris said Thursday. The freedom to love who you love openly and proudly. The freedom to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis. And the freedom that unlocks all others: the freedom to vote.

Experts say Democrats’ more positive and personal appeal indicates the party is trying to boost morale and reclaim terms like liberty and freedom that Republicans spent years endorsing.

“I think everyone on the progressive Democratic side is hungry and ready for this positive vision,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of the national voting rights organization Fair Fight Action.

A word like “freedom” is abstract enough that people can project their own aspirations for the best version of American society onto it, said Matthew Delmont, a history professor at Dartmouth College. He added that it’s a smart move for Democrats to use phrases that Republicans have long used, though that doesn’t stop Republicans from defining the term in their own way.

Democrats at the convention said they understood why Biden had focused on the rhetoric of threatening democracy. After all, it was his presidency that was imperiled by Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, which led to the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop the transfer of power.

But Kamala is all about the future and she can do it, said Holly Sargent, a 68-year-old delegate from York, Maine. She can accept that he was a warrior who got us where we are, and now we need to focus on the future.

Biden, who withdrew from the race last month after strong calls from his party, appeared to embrace his role as the messenger of the new campaign theme. In his convention speech Monday, he said the results of this election will determine whether democracy and freedom prevail.

Even as the newly reinvigorated Democrats rely on individual liberty as a pillar of their campaign, the Trump camp is not ready to give up ground on that word, liberty or any other patriotic theme.

“It’s always nice to see Americans express their love for our country,” said Brian Hughes, a senior Trump adviser. “But a party that has opened our borders to drugs and crime, diminished our status as a force for global peace and made it difficult for our citizens to afford the basics of life seems like the exact opposite of patriotism.”

Shortly after Harris’ acceptance speech, Trump sought to cast doubt on the idea that she could bring positive change to the country. He argued that if she wanted change, she could have done it already in her current role as vice president.

“Why didn’t she do the things she complained about?” he told Fox News shortly after his acceptance speech. “She could have done it three and a half years ago. She could do it tonight by walking out of the auditorium and going to Washington, D.C., and closing the border.”

Since launching her campaign last month, Harris has focused on abortion access and reproductive issues as major talking points. Democrats see emphasizing people’s freedom to make their own health care decisions as a winning play at every level of the ballot, as they target Trump for bragging about appointing three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn the constitutional right to abortion two years ago.

The freedom talk also allowed Democrats to craft a broader campaign message that includes an issue they have often struggled to address nationally: gun control.

In a solemn moment at the convention on Thursday, five people whose lives have been touched by gun violence, including a teacher and a parent who spoke about the Sandy Hook and Uvalde school massacres, gathered on stage and shared their stories. Behind them, the words FREEDOM FROM GUN VIOLENCE flashed on the convention center’s main screen.

By pushing for freedom from gun violence, Vice President Harris is showing how much has changed on this issue. What was once a political third rail is now presented as an inalienable right, said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, a national advocacy group that fights gun violence.

To be sure, the Democrats’ national rally did not represent a complete turnaround from their warning that American democracy is at stake in November. Several speakers, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, stressed the need to protect American and specifically democratic institutions. They also pointedly recalled the January 6, 2021, riot in which Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, attacked police officers, and sought to block the certification of the 2020 election.

The bustling convention hall shared a rare moment of calm as a video showing footage of the attack was played on the screen.

Mentions of freedom, however, outnumbered threats to democracy, and “Freedom” signs often filled the area where thousands of delegates were gathered. Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, never used the word democracy in his speech to delegates Wednesday, while he used the word “freedom” eight times.

As the race enters its final months, Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher said Republicans are likely to focus on darkness and danger, and that we’re going to be invaded at the border, and we won’t be able to afford to buy groceries.

Harris, for his part, wants voters to see the stakes of the election in terms of “the future and freedoms and not going backwards,” he said, adding that this appeals to American ideals of optimism that often prevail in elections.

Liz Shuler, president of the AFL-CIO and a delegate to the Democratic convention, said Harris managed to describe what was at stake for voters in November while maintaining that sense of hope and optimism.

This is not about esoteric democracy, Shuler said. It’s about putting it on the ground, showing people how it affects them and allowing them to see themselves in it.