The Democratic National Convention kicks off on Monday in Chicago, marking a watershed moment just months before the November election. During the four-day event, some 5,000 delegates will formally choose Kamala Harris as the Democrat's presidential candidate.
The Democratic National Convention (DNC) which started in 1832, is a political event held every four years by the United States Democratic Party.
Since 1852, the convention has been organised by the Democratic National Committee and takes place in Chicago.
Its main objectives are to formally nominate candidates for president and vice president, adopt a party platform and unify the party.
Delegates from all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and US territories, along with "superdelegates" (unpledged party leaders and officials), attend the convention to vote on the party’s presidential candidate, as well as a delegation consisting of Americans living abroad.
Like its Republican counterpart, the RNC, which was held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 15-18 July, the DNC marks the formal end of the primary season and the beginning of the general election campaigns.
Jim Cohen, a retired political scientist who is now with Democrats Abroad France told RFI that the Democratic convention functions like a rubber stamp.
"In terms of expectations regarding the candidacy of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, there are not too many surprises," he says.
"The roll call vote has already taken place and Kamala Harris is already, for all practical purposes, the nominee."
There will be speeches by prominent Democrats, you can guess who they are!
COMMENT Jim Cohen Democrats Abroad France
Bittersweet farewell
US President Joe Biden will no doubt give a bittersweet farewell address, Cohen goes on.
While he can expect a hero's send-off – it will come from many of the same people who helped push him out due to age concerns.
Cohen also suggests that there will be speeches by prominent Democrats including Barack Obama, possibly Bill and Hillary Clinton.
New York Times writers like Frank Bruni and Maureen Dowd, have often been critical of the conventions, calling them "overly scripted spectacles focused on optics rather than substance".
While others, like the Washington Post's Dana Milbank and E.J. Dionne have described the happenings as "grandiose", theatrical events that prioritise "messaging and party unity over real political debate."
But there may be some surprises.
"Some delegates are uncommitted," says Cohen, singling out "a small number, mostly from Michigan and Minnesota" who will be asking for speaking time during the convention.
They will most likely "discuss the issue of Israel-Palestine, and see what they can do to get Kamala Harris to consider strong commitments to a different policy," he explains.
Cost of living
Just days before the convention, Harris unveiled parts of her economic program, including capping price increases for food producers and grocers, constructing three million new houses, lowering the cost of medication in the line with Biden's recent proposals.
According to Robert Kuttner, editor of the American Prospect, there "has been a lot of chatter about whether Harris is positioning herself to the left of President Biden and whether that is a good idea.
"Supposedly, by moving left, Harris risks alienating swing voters. But swing voters also buy groceries. The only voters whom Harris risks alienating by championing consumers are large corporations and their allies.
"They have few votes," he adds.
Critics disagree, says Cohen. "The Republicans are denouncing this as communism or as ruining the state by causing more deficits but I think that these are not wild proposals," he says.
The Harris shock
Biden's shock announcement on 21 July to quit the race followed by Harris' sudden surge in popularity hit the preparation of the convention like a tsunami. Where Biden was lagging behind Trump in most polls, Harris has now taken the lead, even in some of the "battleground states" like Arizona.
With her recent campaign overhaul modelled after pop star Charli XCX's Brat album cover and her frequent Tiktok messages, she has managed to get the attention of young people, many of them tired of politics dominated by white, ageing men.
"I think that we have seen an incredible turnout for Vice President Harris," Donna Ghosh, an American studying in France who will attend the DNC as a delegate, told RFI.
At 19, she is the youngest delegate for Democrats Abroad and she thinks probably one of the youngest delegates at the convention overall.
"As a young person, especially when you're getting involved in politics, it can feel like the space isn't quite there for you," she says, "because representation of young people in politics has been something that we've struggled with for a very long time."
But things are improving and Ghosh is "passionate about just being able to be a part of these conversations."
As a young person, especially when you're getting involved in politics, it can feel like the space isn't quite there for you, because representation of young people in politics has been something that we've struggled with for a very long time.
COMMENT Donna Ghosh delegate to the DNC 2024
Immigration
One of the conversations that will dominate the election campaigns after the DNC is immigration.
Cohen, who is a specialist in immigration and authored the book The hunt for illegals :anti-immigrant politics and movements in the US," originally published in French, thinks Harris's policy on immigration won't differ much from Biden's.
"We've come through a transition in the past several years whereby the people who arrive at the US-Mexican border are no longer in the majority Mexican," he says.
"Most people are from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, and in the last year year and half or so, [there are] people coming across the border in larger numbers than ever from Venezuela, from Cuba sometimes, from African countries, sometimes from Asian countries.
He suggests that under a Harris administration, firmer measures will be put in place to try and curb those flows but they will likely be "more humane than Trump's measures" and notably take into account the law stipulating that asylum seekers can "formulate their demand for asylum within the territory".
Cohen says that while Republicans are always accusing the Biden administration of allowing too many people in, "most of them are coming in legally".
In any given year, there are "between 800,000 and a million people who come in quite legally through family reunification or through some sort of a work visa and that would probably continue under Harris," he says.
That is "usually thought of as good for the economy, not something that's a threat."
The Democratic National Convention will end on Thursday, 22 August.
