Women’s Revenge at the Democratic Convention

With their sights set on the future following the steady chorus of praise for outgoing President Joe Biden and the self-sacrifice he showed for his party, Democrats this week in Chicago are celebrating much more than the traditional passing of the torch to their new candidate Kamala Harris. The handover is not just generational, this time. The renewed hope of a potential victory against a Republican Party infiltrated by ideologues blindly following their misogynous candidate is also one of historic vengeance for women.

Harris, who on Thursday will officially accept her party’s nomination as candidate for president,* has not made her identity — as a woman, a person of color and the daughter of immigrants — a central theme of her campaign. Female activists, elected officials, and politicians who gathered at the Democratic National Convention did it for her, driven by the hope of seeing that glass ceiling finally shattered — and, moreover, by winning the race against Republican candidate and former president, Donald Trump, who remains unabashed by his sexist rhetoric.

No one was better placed to set the stage than Hillary Clinton, former Democratic presidential candidate and secretary of state who was the first opponent to endure Trump’s invectives and attacks in 2016. The defeat was as close as it was bitter. Rival Trump’s modus operandi is the same; the result may not be.

“We kept our eyes on the future. Well, my friends, the future is here,” Hillary Clinton said as the convention opened Monday in a passionate speech that called on Democrats to join with Harris and break through the last cracks of the glass ceiling that she herself has chipped away at for decades and on the shoulders of her predecessors.

“Hope is making a comeback,” former first lady Michelle Obama added on Tuesday, denouncing Trump’s “same old con … doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people’s lives better.”

The Republican ticket’s uncontrollable contempt for women, their reproductive health, and their abilities could in fact prove to be the Democratic presidential campaign’s best asset. Biden’s forced withdrawal and Harris’ arrival on the scene have undeniably given Democrats new life. Since then, it has, above all, been the erratic statements of Trump’s running mate, JD Vance, that continue to feed the Republicans’ contempt. Even those closest to them are concerned.

The list of juvenile insults wielded by Trump at his opponent is long. Harris is “a lunatic,” “incompetent,” she’s “not intelligent.” The Republican candidate, jealous that she made the cover of Time Magazine, even claimed that he was “better looking.” He even questioned whether Harris could claim to be both Indian and Black at the same time.

Vance has been no help, railing in a past interview against “childless cat ladies” who feel they have a say in the fate of the United States or by agreeing with the idea that postmenopausal women have no purpose in life other than to help raise children.

Candidate Trump went so far as using artificial intelligence to doctor a photo of Taylor Swift so that it appeared she supported his candidacy, all in order to manipulate the legion of fans who follow the singer and her feminist anthems and sway them to his side. And just a week before, he A week prior, he (wrongly) accused Harris of having altered the image of a crowd that rallied to see her, claiming that Harris committed an offense that should have “disqualified” her from the presidential race.]

Trump is no stranger to incoherence, and any pretext is enough for him to cry “coup d’etat” so he can falsely contest the results of the election again, if necessary.

Harris’ campaign has caught up to Trump in the polls, but the two candidates are just about equal. Once the honeymoon of the Democratic National Convention has passed, Harris will have to redouble her efforts to make herself known, broaden her support beyond the Democrats who are already convinced, and refine her political platform, parts of which have so far attracted mostly criticism.

The social climate in the U.S. is not the same as it was eight years ago. The Republicans’ all-out attacks on women, the LGBTQ+ community, and minorities have aroused their anger. And Harris, a former prosecutor, in whom all these aggrieved individuals see themselves, faces a Trump who is now a convicted criminal.

Harris could be Hillary Clinton’s revenge — and that of all the women who refuse to see history repeat itself. There are still 76 days left in this unprecedented campaign. The Democrats’ real work has only just begun.