This is an adapted excerpt from MSNBC’s Oct. 29 special coverage.
On Tuesday, just one week before Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her closing message to the American people — and it was a damn good speech. Harris spoke to a crowd of thousands at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., the same site where Donald Trump addressed his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021, shortly before a mob attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Harris’ remarks strike me as essentially the bookend to her Democratic National Convention speech. Her acceptance of the Democratic Party’s nomination in August hit some of the same lines, but back then Harris knew she was speaking to her fellow Democrats and to those who had elevated her within the party. On Tuesday, she was speaking to the country as a whole.
Harris spoke directly to the American people and overtly asked for their vote. She reintroduced herself to the country and acknowledged that some people watching at home may not know enough about her. She talked about her upbringing and talked about having worked most of her career outside of Washington.
Harris then reminded the American people of our history:
Nearly 250 years ago, America was born when we wrested freedom from a petty tyrant. Across the generations, Americans have preserved that freedom, expanded it and, in so doing, proved to the world that a government of, by and for the people is strong and can endure.
Harris ended her roughly 30-minute speech by highlighting the danger Trump could pose to the country’s future: “These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators. The United States of America is the greatest idea humanity ever devised.”
There, the vice president was not speaking to people who already support her; she was speaking to people who may not have been inclined to vote for her, who may not have felt comfortable with her, and who may not have felt like it was a worthy enough cause to get up off the couch and vote.
Harris’ closing message to the American people was that she embodies the future of this country, and the other guy embodies the end of our democratic experiment. She promised to protect the country — that is strength personified. I think Tuesday’s speech may be the most important speech of Harris’ life thus far.
