Is Kamala Harris the next Barack Obama - or Hillary Clinton?

Tim Walz, Barack and Michelle Obama, and even Oprah Winfrey have taken to the DNC stage to lay the ground for Kamala Harris’ run for the White House. But have the upbeat and optimistic speeches actually galvanised any support from the rest of America?

Harris fundraised four times as much as Trump in July, a whopping $500 million, as supporters were inspired after Biden’s resignation, but can she survive on vibes until election day? Is she the continuity candidate or can she bring anything new to the Oval Office?

Tim Walz issued a rallying cry at the DNC, saying “we’ll sleep when we’re dead”, while Michelle Obama warned against being complacent. If ‘Coach Walz’ and ‘Kamala is Brat’ Harris are looking to woo the voters in November, we ask whether a unity message may be needed to harness the vote of undecided Americans.

For this episode of The American Fourcast, Matt Frei is joined at the convention in Chicago by former Obama White House Official Nayyera Haq; Joe Biden’s former chief of staff in the senate Susan Platt; and Channel 4 News’ Washington correspondent Siobhan Kennedy.

Produced by Silvia Maresca, Calum Fraser, Shaheen Sattar, Rob Thomson.

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[timbob]

The only reason these people would win is because of the amount of voters that will vote for them because they sound like nice people, without doing any research or studying policy, or their competence.

[moshodi]

@12:27 Matt Frei: I have not heard 1 single policy suggestion that might actually male a difference to how people live their lives here!"

[Floyys_ff]

I never heard Trump Talking without LYING every 20 seconds ...

[pluribus_unum]

They've already started uniting America -- they are putting Texas into play now.

It's a multi-generational task, but this team is already doing the work.

[padders]

Best comment from this discussion, ‘Trump isn’t appealing to anyone new’. This was the reason he lost four years ago.

[AllSectorsHearThis]

She's her own thing. What happened to chanel 4?

[kevinwilliams]

no she has to different from them both and be her own .

[ponypong]

Why are you allowing sweeping racist statements to go unchallenged? Not good channel four.

[GentlemanJack]

The expectation that a pair of political leaders can unite the country is not realistic. It's idealistic. In order to make that fantasy realistic, we need to elect leaders who prioritize revitalizing public trust in American institutions. That is also an unrealistic prospect because politics is the business of appealing to the majority, not the minority.

[donyoung]

How can you have an election not decided on the most popular policies?

[brianmccabe]

She will unite the people that want better politics.
The stooges will always be there.

[belkentens]

I wonder who’s side channel 4 are on…? 🤔

[onlineonlineaccount]

How is she a next Barack Obama what way and in what sense.

[Canti-]

💙💙 🌊🌊🌊 Kamala Harris for victory in November and the First Female President, November 5 Cant happen soon enough

[bob_the_blogger]

Great commentary. I particularly appreciate the focus and acumen of the anchor

[Normskiblue]

Okay, they’ve got the women’s vote, but they need blue men to win. If they don’t do this Trump will win!

[damienconnor]

No, but maybe the Last - Waltz will😊

[desmoran]

How does tax breaks for tech.and industrial billionaires and wall street who shipped manufacturing to china and india help people in the rust belt.

[belkentens]

If Michelle and Oprah are on board then she definitely has my vote for no other reason than that!! ✊🏾

[shane]

How can anyone expect her to unite when they run on division, hate, fear, and anger. They say the word unity a lot I’ll give them that.