Chicago - Democratic White House hopeful Kamala Harris hugged Joe Biden on stage at the party's national convention late Monday after the US president said he would be "the best volunteer" for her campaign against Republican rival Donald Trump. Wrapping up a forceful, roughly one-hour televised speech to party delegates in Chicago in which he passed the nomination torch to his vice president, the 81-year-old Biden said "I promise I'll be the best volunteer Harris and Walz's camp have ever seen," referring to Harris's running mate Tim Walz.
An emotional Joe Biden won a huge ovation as he gave a farewell speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday after Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance to thank him for being an "incredible" president.
"I love you," the tearful 81-year-old president told the crowd to deafening cheers, less than a month after dropping out of the White House race against Donald Trump and passing the torch to his vice president. Biden took to the stage to chants of "We love you Joe" from the same party which had pushed him out over concerns about his age, in one of the biggest political shocks in US political history.
"We both know we have more to do, but we're moving in the right direction," he said, referring to himself and the 59-year-old Harris, who, in the space of a few breathtaking weeks, has turned the presidential race upside down.
America's first female, Black, and South Asian vice president has quickly breathed new life into the Democratic Party and wiped out Republican rival Donald Trump's lead in the polls.
She heaped lavish tribute to Biden at what must be one of the toughest moments of his career, even breaking with tradition to speak on the first night of the convention in praise of her boss. "I want to kick us off by celebrating our incredible president Joe Biden," said Harris, who was wearing a tan suit and took to the stage to Beyonce's "Freedom."
"We are forever grateful to you." As he has been so often in his five-decade-long political journey, Biden was surrounded by family, with his wife Jill Biden, and their daughter Ashley introducing him. "Joe and I have been together for almost 50 years.
And still, there are moments when I fall in love with him all over again," the first lady said. - 'Something is happening' - The Democrats are in an exuberant mood in Chicago, daring to hope for victory in November that seemed inconceivable just weeks ago after Biden's disastrous debate against Trump.
But Monday's first night of the convention was an emotional one on many levels and for many of the key players. Hillary Clinton, who lost against Trump in 2016 in her bid to become America's first woman president, backed Harris to finally break the glass ceiling. "Something is happening in America, you can feel it -- something we've worked for and dreamed of for a long time," the former secretary of state and first lady said.
The crowd also chanted "Lock him up" as she recalled Trump's recent conviction in a porn star hush money trial -- an ironic echo of when Trump led similar chants for Clinton to be jailed in a row over deleted emails. Harris will formally accept the party's nomination on the final day Thursday, in her biggest chance yet to define her candidacy in front of a huge audience of tens of millions of American voters. Her star turn will cap a week where the biggest names from the party's past will endorse her as its future, with former president Barack Obama speaking on Tuesday, and ex-president Bill Clinton introducing Harris's running mate Tim Walz on Wednesday.
- 'Craziness' - For Biden, he is suddenly the convention's warm-up act instead of its headliner, and he reportedly still feels frustrated at the way he was pushed aside despite feeling that he could still beat Trump. But he has insisted he is at peace with his decision. "I am," Biden told reporters earlier when asked if he was ready to pass the torch to Harris.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
