Sixteen years after he introduced himself to the nation with his Democratic National Convention keynote, former President Barack Obama will speak again. But Wednesday night also offers Sen. Kamala Harris a version of the chance Obama had in 2004: to introduce herself to a new audience and position herself for the future. In Harris’ case, it’s as the already-anointed vice presidential nominee and as a former presidential candidate, but given how many U.S. voters only really tune in to politics in the final stretch of a presidential campaign, it’s still an important moment.
Harris will also take the (virtual) stage at a convention in which the keynote, divided between 17 speakers, has left a bit of a void in the traditional future-of-the-party keynote role. She’ll face a challenge balancing that potential role and her job as the vice presidential nominee to support the top of her ticket and attack Republicans—though, as Harris showed in her first event with Joe Biden, she’s well able to fill the running mate role.
Harris has a compelling personal story to offer as the daughter of immigrants and the first Black woman or South Asian person on a major party presidential ticket, which follows her career of similar history-making firsts. One question mark about her speech is that speeches have not been where Harris has made her biggest mark; that would be in Senate hearings, where she demonstrates the sharp questioning ability and attention to detail that made her such a successful prosecutor.
So Wednesday night is both an opportunity and a significant challenge—to shine, but not so brightly she outshines Biden; to introduce herself to a new audience while building on what the people who have been paying attention already know about her; and the eternal problem for women: to make the case against Trump without seeming too mean.
Michelle Obama, for one, expressed confidence that Harris is up to the task:
