U.S. Senator Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination for president Wednesday, imploring Americans to select Joe Biden in November and accusing President Donald Trump of failed leadership which had cost lives and livelihoods throughout a pandemic. It's a whole lot," that the California senator and former prosecutor said, referring to an events centre in Biden's hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, that was mostly vacant because of the coronavirus outbreak.
"We must elect a president... who will bring all of us together -- Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indigenous -- to achieve the long run we collectively desire. We have to select Joe Biden," she said.
Obama, whose vice president was Biden from 2009-2017, said he had hoped that Trump would take the job seriously, come to feel the burden of the office, and discover a reverence for American democracy.
"For close to four years now he has shown no interest in putting in the work... no interest in treating the presidency as anything but yet another fact show he can use to get the attention that he craves," Obama said, at unusually sharp criticism of a sitting president by a former president.
Harris' nomination capped the third night of a party tradition that has featured a crush of girls headliners, moderators and speakers, showcasing the rising power of women in politics and in the Democratic Party. Biden leads Trump in opinion polls, bolstered by a large lead among women voters.
Biden, 77, would be the oldest man to become president if he's elected, leading to speculation he'll serve only 1 term. The nomination for vice presidency will make Harris, 55, a potential top competitor for 2024.
The speech by Harris served as a reintroduction into the country after her failed White House bid. Harris outlined her history as a child of immigrants from India and Jamaica who as a district attorney, state attorney general and now vice-presidential candidate shattered racial and gender barriers.
"That I am here is really a testament to the devotion of generations ahead of me," she explained. "They organized, marched, and fought -- not only for their vote, but for a chair at the table."
'NO MATTER WHAT, VOTE'
Trump issued three tweets in all capital letters throughout the last half of the convention program, angrily criticizing Harris and Obama and questioning his allegiance to Biden.
At a speech from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia,'' Obama warned Trump and Republicans were attempting to make it tougher for Americans to vote and called Trump's leadership a threat to democracy.
"We can't let that happen. Don't let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you're going to get involved and vote," Obama said.
Democrats have been alerted by Trump's regular criticism of mail-in voting, and also by cost-cutting changes in the U.S. Postal Service instituted by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump supporter, that may delay mail during the election crunch. DeJoy said this week he would put those changes off until after the election.
Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee who dropped Trump, advised the convention she always hears from Republicans who repent backing Trump or even voting in any way. She won the popular vote from Trump but lost in the Electoral College that decides the U.S. presidency.
"This can't be an additional woulda coulda shoulda election," she explained. "Regardless of what, vote. Vote enjoy our lives and livelihoods are on the line, since they are."
Clinton said Biden needs to win overwhelmingly. "Take it out of me. We need numbers overpowering so Trump can not slip or sneak his way into victory."
Throughout the convention, Democrats have appealed directly to women voters, highlighting Biden's co-sponsorship of this landmark Violence Against Woman Act of 1994 along with his proposals to strengthen childcare and guard household health care provisions.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a top progressive who conducted against Biden in the 2020 primary, spoke from a childcare centre in Massachusetts that is currently closed because of the coronavirus. She mentioned Biden's suggestion to generate childcare more affordable as a very important part of his agenda to help working Americans.
"COVID-19 was Trump's biggest test. He failed miserably," Warren said. "Joe and Kamala will make high quality childcare affordable for each family, make preschool universal, and raise the salary for every childcare worker."
Biden called Harris as his running mate last week to face incumbents Trump, 74, and Vice President Mike Pence, 61. Even the Republican National Convention, also largely virtual, occurs weekly.
"We must elect a president... who will bring all of us together -- Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indigenous -- to achieve the long run we collectively desire. We have to select Joe Biden," she said.
Obama, whose vice president was Biden from 2009-2017, said he had hoped that Trump would take the job seriously, come to feel the burden of the office, and discover a reverence for American democracy.
"For close to four years now he has shown no interest in putting in the work... no interest in treating the presidency as anything but yet another fact show he can use to get the attention that he craves," Obama said, at unusually sharp criticism of a sitting president by a former president.
Harris' nomination capped the third night of a party tradition that has featured a crush of girls headliners, moderators and speakers, showcasing the rising power of women in politics and in the Democratic Party. Biden leads Trump in opinion polls, bolstered by a large lead among women voters.
Biden, 77, would be the oldest man to become president if he's elected, leading to speculation he'll serve only 1 term. The nomination for vice presidency will make Harris, 55, a potential top competitor for 2024.
The speech by Harris served as a reintroduction into the country after her failed White House bid. Harris outlined her history as a child of immigrants from India and Jamaica who as a district attorney, state attorney general and now vice-presidential candidate shattered racial and gender barriers.
"That I am here is really a testament to the devotion of generations ahead of me," she explained. "They organized, marched, and fought -- not only for their vote, but for a chair at the table."
'NO MATTER WHAT, VOTE'
Trump issued three tweets in all capital letters throughout the last half of the convention program, angrily criticizing Harris and Obama and questioning his allegiance to Biden.
At a speech from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia,'' Obama warned Trump and Republicans were attempting to make it tougher for Americans to vote and called Trump's leadership a threat to democracy.
"We can't let that happen. Don't let them take away your democracy. Make a plan right now for how you're going to get involved and vote," Obama said.
Democrats have been alerted by Trump's regular criticism of mail-in voting, and also by cost-cutting changes in the U.S. Postal Service instituted by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a Trump supporter, that may delay mail during the election crunch. DeJoy said this week he would put those changes off until after the election.
Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee who dropped Trump, advised the convention she always hears from Republicans who repent backing Trump or even voting in any way. She won the popular vote from Trump but lost in the Electoral College that decides the U.S. presidency.
"This can't be an additional woulda coulda shoulda election," she explained. "Regardless of what, vote. Vote enjoy our lives and livelihoods are on the line, since they are."
Clinton said Biden needs to win overwhelmingly. "Take it out of me. We need numbers overpowering so Trump can not slip or sneak his way into victory."
Throughout the convention, Democrats have appealed directly to women voters, highlighting Biden's co-sponsorship of this landmark Violence Against Woman Act of 1994 along with his proposals to strengthen childcare and guard household health care provisions.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, a top progressive who conducted against Biden in the 2020 primary, spoke from a childcare centre in Massachusetts that is currently closed because of the coronavirus. She mentioned Biden's suggestion to generate childcare more affordable as a very important part of his agenda to help working Americans.
"COVID-19 was Trump's biggest test. He failed miserably," Warren said. "Joe and Kamala will make high quality childcare affordable for each family, make preschool universal, and raise the salary for every childcare worker."
Biden called Harris as his running mate last week to face incumbents Trump, 74, and Vice President Mike Pence, 61. Even the Republican National Convention, also largely virtual, occurs weekly.