... to the convention, to the speeches, to the state of the race:
The DNC was a rousing ratings success, and it went off without a hitch in Chicago, a city that has been preparing for over two years...
Associated Press on the convention
... Harris’ nominating convention has been a four-day romp imbued with a party-like atmosphere and a sense of optimism. It’s safe to say that it would have been a much different gathering were Biden the party’s nominee.
Democrats have been through emotional whiplash since Biden bowed out of the race last month, clearing the path for Harris.
For months Democrats had been despondent about Biden’s polling and his underwhelming speaking appearances. And many Democrats were convinced that Trump could run away with the election.
Contrast that with the convention being held to nominate Harris in Chicago: Laughter filled the air, the mood was electric and searing jokes at Trump’s expense flowed freely. The event has also drawn an A-list slate of talent, from John Legend to Pink.
Not to be forgotten: There also have been words of caution about the hard work ahead...
CNN on VP Harris' acceptance speech
Vice President Kamala Harris capped one of the most extraordinary months in modern political history Thursday night with a speech that rallied Democrats around themes of patriotism — and cast Donald Trump as the enemy of classic American principles.
“In the enduring struggle between democracy and tyranny, I know where I stand. And I know where the United States belongs,” she said.
With the cadence of a courtroom prosecutor, Harris delivered on the promise many Democrats saw in her when she launched her first presidential campaign five years ago, and when Joe Biden chose her as his running mate in 2020.
Harris went directly at her Republican rival. She laid out the former president’s legal troubles. She blamed him for the horrors some women have faced amid the implementation of strict state-level abortion laws. She issued a reminder of what she called the “chaos and calamity when he was in office.”
“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,” she said. “But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”...
David Rothkopf on VP Harris' acceptance speech
... It was a virtuoso performance that unfolded as what you might have expected from the kind of big star performer who was rumored to join the stage Thursday night but in the end, did not appear. It began in close up, intimately, with warmth and humanity. Then it steadily built, each section topping the one before it. From the personal recollections of her own origin story she built to not just telling about her time as a prosecutor and attorney general but revealing the steely resolve that distinguished her in those careers.
From there, in describing the threat posed by her opponent and by bad actors around the world and her commitment to America’s strength, she grew stronger and stronger, almost transforming herself in the course of 40-plus minutes from the girl who grew up in Oakland to the woman who should be, who must be, America’s next commander in chief...
J.V. Last on the state of the race
... The proposition Democrats offered, over and over, was that Trump voters were good people who had been led astray by bad leaders. And instead of hectoring them or criticizing them, Walz and company welcomed them as friends and called them home.
Donald Trump’s ceiling is somewhere in the neighborhood of 46.5 percent of the national vote. His only path to victory is a narrow band in which he’s able to turn out just enough of his low-propensity voters in three to five states to draw a slim Electoral College victory.
The Harris campaign served notice last night that it is not interested in fighting trench warfare in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. This campaign is comfortable enough with its base that it sees the opportunity to take from Trump and blow the map wide open. This is a ticket that wants to compete in North Carolina, Nevada, Georgia, and maybe even Texas...
Jessica Piper on the state of the race
Vice President Kamala Harris activated a flood of Democratic donors who had been on the sidelines, new data shows: More people donated to her campaign in its first 10 days than in the entire 15 months of President Joe Biden’s.
And most of the donors were new not only to the campaign but to giving to any Democrats this cycle. [snip]
That surge reflects an unprecedented level of Democratic enthusiasm — and is a stark illustration of how Harris was able to tap into a portion of the party’s base that Biden simply was not reaching. Further underscoring that: About one quarter of the new Harris donors, a bit shy of 400,000 people, had actually given to Biden’s 2020 campaign but not to his reelection bid.
The flood of money has equipped Harris with the financial resources to rapidly revamp her campaign ahead of what remains a highly competitive general election with former President Donald Trump, and has allayed Democratic fears about their party’s enthusiasm...
We'll have more reactions, and where we go now, later in "Tweets."
