Kamala Harris chittis, 'Harris will fight for us' (Details)

Kamala Harris chittis, 'Harris will fight for us' (Details).

The stakes could not have been higher for Kamala Harris as she made history to formally accept the Democratic vice-presidential nomination. How did she do?

Only three women have been on the top ticket for a major party before, and none has made it to the White House.

The California senator, who spoke in an almost empty auditorium in Delaware, is also the first African American and Asian American to be nominated.

We asked voters and experts to assess her performance.

A single mother to three boys, Ms Reese was "thrilled" by the news last week that Kamala Harris would serve as Joe Biden's running mate.

"Kamala has been a superpower in our government, not only showing the world what strong ambitious women of colour can do for our communities, but also speaking up for the voiceless within the justice system and in service."

For 37-year-old Reese - an author, healthcare worker, and a black woman - Harris's speech tonight showed her "a woman connected to people".

"Tonight, we saw a vulnerable human being with a heart, with compassion, with character," she said. "This is a key component we have been missing in the White House and that wasn't lost.

"She didn't hit hard on the politics because people are exhausted - we want to know someone who cares about others, sees people, and will fight for human beings first [and] will be leading the country into the future."

Black women 'finally have a voice'

Dr Karen Kemp-Prosterman, 44, pediatric dentist and mother from Connecticut

She says she was sceptical of Senator Harris as a presidential candidate.

"Initially, I wasn't very excited about her," she says. "We've already had a black president and so as a black person I was pragmatic: I didn't think the country was ready to elect a black woman as president."

But Kemp-Prosterman was "shocked by my own excitement" when Harris was selected last week as the vice-presidential candidate.

"Hearing her tonight, I got very emotional," she says. Like Harris, Kemp-Prosterman is also a graduate of a historically black college and university (HBCU) and was a member of the same sorority.

"So many similarities that paralleled a lot of my life," she says.

And Kemp-Prosterman says she is excited by the diversity that Harris brings to the ticket.

"Especially as a black woman, you know how much we're there for the Democratic party. So to see the ticket actually be representative, to see that [we're] actually not be taken for granted this time - it does mean something," she says.

"You feel like you actually have a voice."

'She moved me but I'm still not sold'

Before her big speech, this young Democrat and first-time voter hadn't been swayed by Harris.

"I think that we kind of get carried away by 'firsts', especially as black people, by the 'first this' and 'first that', it's just seen as a gigantic milestone," she told the BBC last week. "But are you fighting for some of the values that the black community holds dear?"

But the 21-year-old says she was moved by Harris' convention address.

"Kamala's speech was particularly moving to me because she spent less time attacking President Trump and more time making her case as a leader under the Biden administration. She exuded a confidence that made you feel as though she was speaking as the current vice-president."

But Forte still isn't totally sold by the former prosecutor.

"If I had one critique, it'd be the part where she claimed that we could end this pandemic under the leadership of Joe Biden. Sure, his response to the coronavirus would likely be much better than the current administration's. However, a change in leadership alone will not eliminate this pandemic."

If I had to rate it, I would give it an 8/10.

One of the things I liked about what she did was she shouted out everybody: HBCUs [historically black colleges], AKAs [an African American sorority], the Divine 9 [nine historically black fraternities and sororities], her Indian heritage, her Jamaican heritage, her white husband. She didn't shy from any of that.

So I'm glad that she was very forthright about who she is and all the things that make her who she is. And she stood up for Joe - that's her job and I think that's what people are looking for her to be.

I mean, in the next 76 days they're going to need her to drive home the messages of the Democratic Party and to help smooth those rough patches that Joe may have on the trail when him and Trump get to arguing.

But in terms of her first appearance as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, I think she did a very good job.

'It lacked policy'

Debra J Saunders covers the White House and writes an opinion column for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. She used to report on Harris in California.

Kamala Harris' brief acceptance speech was like an elopement in place of a wedding. Held in a makeshift stage in Delaware hotel instead of the Wisconsin Center where the Democratic National Convention is supposed to be, the venue provided six American flags and a podium for Harris, who had no audience or energy to jazz up the moment.

Blame it on the pandemic. Harris, a former San Francisco District Attorney and California Attorney General, whom I've covered over the years, was button down when she should have been electrically charged.

It came off as a speech written by an efficiency expert. Or worse, a committee of efficiency experts, who wanted to check the boxes and quickly.

There was little policy discussion. Rather than talk at length about the coronavirus and racism, Harris melded the two together "There is no vaccine for racism," she said. And who can argue with that?

While running mates are expected to be pit bulls against the opposition, Harris meekly cited three things she didn't like about President Donald Trump - "constant chaos," "incompetence, and "callousness." No one would argue. But there was no sound bite destined to lead in news stories. No big rhetorical moment.

Everyone else already had said that Joe can bring the country together. She said it too.

Harris is not afraid to attack. She's not afraid to be blunt. I can only guess that she's trying to do her job as the campaign wants her to do it. But the campaign is clueless. And the usually sharp Harris seemed so as well.