Kamala Harris becomes the first Black and South Asian woman nominated to a major party's presidential ticket

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks after Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden introduced her as his running mate during a campaign event at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del., Wednesday, Aug. 12. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Kamala Harris became the first Black and South Asian woman nominated to a major party's presidential ticket tonight.

She is set to deliver her acceptance speech as the first woman of color on a major party ticket this evening.

Harris, a daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, has often spoken about both their experience in America and her own as a biracial woman.

Former President Barack Obama speaks during the third night of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Democratic National Convention via AP

Barack Obama fought back tears during his speech to the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday as he recalled how many Americans fought through oppression but still “joined together” to fight for the future of the country.

The former president was visibly emotional as he recalled the work of past generations, including “Black Americans chained and whipped and hanged, spit on for trying to sit at lunch counters, beaten for trying to vote.”

Then Obama got to his point: If these Americans could still fight to make America a better place, Americans discouraged by this state of the country right now can still keep up the fight and vote.

“If anyone had a right to believe that this democracy did not work, and could not work, it was those Americans. Our ancestors. They were on the receiving end of a democracy that had fallen short all their lives. They knew how far the daily reality of America strayed from the myth,” he said. “And yet, instead of giving up, they joined together and said somehow, some way, we are going to make this work. We are going to bring those words, in our founding documents, to life.”

Obama said he has seen the spirit of those ancestors in protestors over the last four years and urged them to keep up the fight.

“You can give our democracy new meaning. You can take it to a better place,” Obama said. “You’re the missing ingredient – the ones who will decide whether or not America becomes the country that fully lives up to its creed.”

Former President Barack Obama. Democra

Former President Barack Obama called Joe Biden his "brother" and California Sen. Kamala Harris his "friend" as he made a personal case for their election Wednesday night.

Obama recounted selecting Biden for the vice presidential nomination in 2008.

“That empathy, that decency, the belief that everybody counts – that’s who Joe is," Obama said.

He said Biden's experience as a single father and the parent of a soldier shaped the former vice president.

"For eight years, Joe was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision. He made me a better president -- and he’s got the character and the experience to make us a better country," Obama said.

Then, turning to Harris, he added: "And in my friend Kamala Harris, he has chosen an ideal partner who is more than prepared for the job; someone who knows what it’s like to overcome barriers and who’s made a career fighting to help others live out their own American dream."

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Former President Barack Obama. Democratic Nation

Former President Barack Obama laid into his successor in the starkest terms yet on Wednesday night, excoriating President Donald Trump as incapable of handling the responsibilities of the presidency and uninterested in “taking the job seriously.”

Speaking before Sen. Kamala Harris at Wednesday night’s Democratic National Convention, Obama said that while he never expected Trump to “embrace my vision or continue my policies,” he also never believed he would treat the presidency as “anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.”

A former president issuing a harsh critique of the current president, in another era, would be a more unique occurrence. But Trump has entirely changed the calculus by not only attacking his Democratic predecessors, but also the presidents from his own party.

Obama then listed the things Trump was unwilling to do, including put in the work to be president, find common ground with others or help anyone other than himself and his own friends.

“Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe,” Obama said. “170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.”

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks during the third night of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Democratic National Committee via AP

Speaking from a Massachusetts pre-K and kindergarten facility shuttered by the coronavirus, Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday night made the case that Joe Biden has the right kind of “plans” to rebuild the American economy.

Warren focused her remarks on child care, an issue that has grown in prominence as more parents than ever before – with schools and day cares closed – struggle to juggle work and caring for their children.  

Warren used a moment from her own life’s story, one familiar to those who followed her campaign, to drive home the point.

“As a little girl growing up in Oklahoma, what I wanted most in the world was to be a teacher. I loved teaching. And when I had babies and was juggling my first big teaching job in Texas it was hard, but I could do hard,” Warren said. “The thing that almost sank me? Child care.”

The future Massachusetts senator then called her aunt, who dropped everything to join her, helping Warren for 16 years. But that, Warren noted, was her own good luck – and not the fate of so many other working parents.

“Because of my Aunt Bea, I learned a fundamental  truth: Nobody makes it on their own,” Warren said. “And yet, here we are, two generations of working parents later, and if you have a baby and don't have a Aunt Bea, you are on your own.”

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Democrats played a video at the virtual convention this evening, featuring stories of a small business owner, a restauranteur, a farmer and a manufacturer who are all struggling to stay afloat as Covid-19 continues to roil the American economy.

The short video, narrated by Ohio's Sen. Sherrod Brown, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Rep. Cindy Axne of Iowa, takes aim at President Trump's handling of the pandemic as well as his trade war with China. 

The video ended on an upbeat note, however, with each of the beleaguered entrepreneurs expressing hope that a Joe Biden administration would bring about relief. 

"Joe Biden has an understanding of what the average American is experiencing," said the LA restaurant owner.

"I have a lot of confidence in Joe Biden," said the Iowa farmer. "He's a fighter and the real deal."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren speaks during the third night of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Democratic National Committee

During her speech tonight during the Democratic National Convention, Sen. Elizabeth Warren paid tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement in a subtle and poignant way.

As the senator from Massachusetts discussed the importance of affordable health care, the letters "BLM" could be seen on a shelf over her left shoulder.

More on Warren and race in America: In June, Warren had introduced an amendment calling on the Department of Defense to rename military bases named after Confederate soldiers.

It specifically called for the removal of names of Confederate leaders from all military assets —whether it's a base, installation, facility, aircraft, ship, plane or type of equipment — within three years.

The plan was adopted behind closed doors by voice vote with the support of some Republicans, even as President Trump condemned any action to remove Confederate leaders' names from military bases — and the White House vowed to veto any such legislative effort.

Former Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis. Democratic National Committee

Former Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis touted Joe Biden's economic policies when they worked together during the Obama administration and said the former vice president is the fighter that American workers need in the country now.

Solis said that because of President Trump's "failures," the country "must once again rescue a sinking economy."

Solis, who was sworn in by Biden, stated she's personally seen Biden work for Americans when he and President Obama, "extended overtime pay to more than four million workers" and "saved the automobile industry." As for Kamala Harris, Solis touted that Harris "took on big banks and won" when people in California "lost their homes."

She laid out the Biden and Harris' economic plan, saying that it would not only help the country "not only to recover what we lost but to improve upon it."

"That is why Joe Biden and Kamala Harris actually have a plan. Not only to recover what we lost but to improve upon it. To build back better. Creating 5 million good union jobs by bringing back supply chains to America. That is building back better. Creating millions of jobs by investing in clean energy. That is building back better. And making sure that working families can afford childcare. That is how we build back better," Solis said.

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Democratic National Committee

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi used her speech on Wednesday to tie Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is up for reelection in Kentucky, to President Donald Trump – and cast them as twin bulwarks against popular legislation, like lowering prescription drug prices.

Pelosi also made an argument, and distinction, that has largely gone unspoken during the convention’s first two nights: that Trump’s rhetoric and personal behavior are inextricable from the Republican political agenda.  

“As Speaker, I’ve seen firsthand Donald Trump’s disrespect for facts, for working families, and for women in particular — disrespect written into his policies toward our health and our rights, not just his conduct,” she said.

A historical figure in her own right, Pelosi touted the increasingly diverse makeup of the House Democratic majority and the record number of women in this Congress' ranks.

“This month, as America marks the centennial of women finally winning the right to vote, we do so with 105 women in the House,” she said. “Proudly, 90 are Democrats.”

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