After months of passive, unsure feelings about the future of the country, Democrats filled the room with excitement, emotion, and positive energy last night as they saluted presidential nominee Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention. And among those championing that joy and hope was former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Clinton took the stage to a wave of cheers and applause. “Wow. There’s a lot of energy in this room, just like there is across the country. Something is happening in America, you can feel it,” she began.
Before turning her attention to Harris, Clinton thanked President Joe Biden for his selfless act of stepping down when it was time, and for standing by Harris as she pursues the presidency. Clinton said of Biden, “He has been democracy’s champion at home and abroad. He brought dignity, decency, and confidence back to the White House, and he showed what it means to be a true patriot. Thank you, Joe Biden, for your lifetime of service and leadership.” The room also gave the president a lengthy standing ovation, with many exclaiming, “We love you, Joe!”
Next, seemingly choking up with emotion, Clinton gave a powerful endorsement of Harris—one that moved attendees to tears and which seemed like a symbolic passing of the torch between our most recent female candidates.
“In 1984, I brought my daughter to see Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated for vice president. If we can do this, Gerry said, we can do anything,” Clinton said. “And then there was 2016, when it was the honor of my life to accept our party’s nomination for president. And nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams. And afterwards, we refused to give up on America. Millions marched. Many ran for office. We kept our eyes on the future. Well, my friends, the future is here.”
In a political moment that will be hard for any millennial ever to forget, Clinton lost the presidential race in 2016 to Republican Donald Trump (despite having earned a larger share of the popular vote), robbing Democrats—including young voters, members of the LGBTQ community, and liberal women—of the hope of having the United States’ first female president. The defeat was tough on the country and, of course, on Clinton, who retired from electoral politics following her loss—which is why her DNC speech hit listeners that much harder.
“I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see us. They would say, ‘Keep going,’ surely. And Gerry would say, ‘Keep going.’ Women fighting for reproductive health care are saying, ‘Keep going.’ Families building better lives, parents stretching to afford childcare, young people struggling to pay their rent—they’re all asking us to keep going,” Clinton said.
She then praised Harris’s record as a champion of women’s reproductive rights, a lawyer who helped children who were abused and neglected, a prosecutor who “locked up murderers and drug traffickers,” and a proud American who will always honor our military and our veterans.
“Kamala has the character, experience, and vision to lead us forward. I know her heart and her integrity,” Clinton said. “On her first day in court, Kamala said five words that still guide her: ‘Kamala Harris, for the people.’ That is something that Donald Trump will never understand. So it is no surprise, is it, that he is lying about Kamala’s record, he’s mocking her name and her laugh. Sounds familiar?”
(As readers may recall, Trump famously based much of his campaign against Clinton on an obsessive storyline about her personal versus professional email inboxes.)
“But we have him on the run now,” Clinton said of the Republican candidate. “So no matter what the polls say, we can’t let up. We can’t get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes. We have to fight for the truth. We have to fight for Kamala as she will fight for us. Because you know what? It still takes a village to raise a family, heal a country, and win a campaign. And America needs every one of us, our energy, our talents, our dreams. We’re not just electing a president. We are uplifting our nation. We’re opening the promise of America wide enough for everyone.”
She continued: “Together, we’ve put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling. And tonight—tonight’s so close to breaking through once and for all.”
Hear Clinton’s full speech here.
