Harris' DNC speech proves she finally knows who she needs to be to win

• Vice President Kamala Harris delivered an impassioned acceptance speech.
• Harris took care to portray herself as a president who would represent "all Americans."
• She has tried to recast her image from a progressive fighter to a unifying leader.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday delivered an impassioned speech in which she reintroduced herself to the nation, connecting her past representing the people as a prosecutor with a desire to be "a president for all Americans."

"I will be a President who unites us around our highest aspirations," she said. "A President who leads and listens, who is realistic, practical, and has common sense. And always fights for the American people. From the courthouse to the White House, that has been my life's work."

Harris' acceptance speech capped off an unprecedented rise that began as one of the least popular vice presidents in recent memory. Now, she is firmly ensconced as just the second woman in American history to be a major party's presidential nominee.

Former President Donald Trump tried to hew to a call for unity in his major convention address given just days after he survived an assassination attempt. After detailing his harrowing experience, Trump meandered into his usual stump speech that included nods to his false claim that 2020 election was stolen from him.

Like other Democrats this week, Harris said Trump was just in the race to better himself.

"Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails," she said. "How he would use the immense powers of the presidency of the United States. Not to improve your life, not to strengthen our national security, but to serve the only client he has ever had: Himself."

Harris focused on a call for unity, which was accompanied by progressive policies, such as an ambitious plan to address the housing shortage.

"You know our opponents are out there every day denigrating America, talking about how terrible everything is. Well, my mother had another lesson she used to teach: never let anyone tell you are; you show them who you are. America, let us show each other and the world who we are and what we stand for: freedom, opportunity, compassion, dignity, fairness, and endless possibilities. We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world."

Trump's advisors appeared unimpressed by the spectacle.

"A candidacy based on nothing - provided a speech literally on nothing," Chris LaCivita, one of Trump's co-campaign managers, wrote on X.

Kamala Harris is not going back to 2020.

Amid her sprint to the nomination, Harris has jettisoned many of the progressive policies that defined her 2020 primary campaign. Addressing one of her biggest potential weaknesses, Harris reiterated her support for the bipartisan Senate immigration plan, which is the most conservative immigration policy Democrats have supported in decades. Even some Senate Republicans blamed Trump for killing that deal.

"Well, I refuse to play politics with our security," Harris said. "Here is my pledge to you: As President, I will bring back the bipartisan border security bill that he killed."

In contrast, Harris was among a handful of candidates during the 2020 primary season who expressed support for decriminalizing the act itself of crossing a border illegally.

Fellow Democrats are cheering on her reinvention even as Republicans try to brand her as a flip-flooper.

"In my district, I say what works in Michigan works in San Francisco what works in Francisco might not work in Michigan," Pelosi told Politico in an interview on the sidelines. "And we must win Michigan."

Pennslyvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who Harris considered a possible running mate, praised the vice president for reversing her 2020 view that fracking should be banned. Shapiro praised Harris' evolution on the issue as a "sign of strength."

"It's a sign that she has listened to the importance of energy in Pennsylvania and that she's going to continue to help us be a net energy exporter and put people to work," Shapiro told Politico.

Trump and GOP vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance have labeled Harris a "chameleon." Trump has undermined the attack by suggesting that core elements of Harris' identity have also changed — most notably, he declared before a room of Black journalists that Harris wasn't really Black.

Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan delivered a fiery convention address that urged his fellow Republicans to support Harris even if they don't agree with her on every issue. On Thursday morning, Duncan seemed to suggest it's a lot easier for him to make peace with Harris' current trajectory.

"I mean, certainly, she was painted. And -- and rightfully so, as somebody very far left in her 2020 stances in policy positions. But she certainly walked back from some of those," Duncan said on CNN.

Harris' second act could carry her to the presidency.

Missteps typified Harris' early time in the Biden administration. She angered Sen. Joe Manchin, then a West Virginia Democrat, by talking to reporters in his state. Her response to Lester Holt about not visiting the US-Mexico border overshadowed Harris' outreach to Mexico and Guatemala. Worst of all, staffers continued to leave Harris as she navigated her historic vice presidency.

Harris rejuvenated her political standing by leading the Biden administration's response to the Supreme Court's landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. In doing so, she leaned back into the edge that drew eyebrows when she grilled Trump administration officials on Capitol Hill. Few could have predicted how much she would skyrocket after President Joe Biden abruptly left the race.

As Politico detailed, she had more donors in the first 10 days of her campaign than Biden did in 15 months. Harris has narrowed the race to the point that the presidency once again is considered a toss-up. Political prognosticators have moved most of the seven swing states away from Trump.