Kamala Harris, the patriot who doesn't talk about climate (for now)

At the end of a Democratic convention marked by the need to build a political and personal alternative to Trump, Kamala Harris' combative streak on the climate seems to have been put on hold.

Before taking the floor to officially accept the Democratic nomination in the race for the United States presidential elections, Kamala Harris set herself a very specific objective:That of convincing Americans that the challenge for the White House just start now, having reached the last kilometer of the electoral campaign.Now, having reached the end of a convention that had the precise and unfailing objective of surgically replacing the electoral campaign carried out to date - at the price of serious slips and a lot of tiredness, by Joe Biden - with the instantaneous one of the current vice-president, Harris seems to have succeeded in its aim.

For this reason, in his acceptance speech – lasted just 38 minutes, very little compared to the hour and a half of Donald Trump from a few weeks ago – Harris chose to put aside almost everything to talk about herself.Her personal story, the one about a black woman, daughter of immigrants and raised in the middle class neighborhoods of Oakland, California, became for a moment the nation's family saga, capable of redefining the canons of patriotism with which a people writes their historical biography, establishing their founding symbols and values.A topic that Democrats have considered taboo for too long.In doing so, they delivered him into the firm hands of conservatives, if not condemned to the vituperation of the fanatical fury of the American far right.

The Harris cure to revitalize the Democrats

The need for such a profound intervention to establish a new and exclusive communication between Harris as presidential candidate and the voters, leaving behind Harris as vice president - although still in office - perceived as a holdover from Joe Biden, occupied much of the speech that the 59-year-old from Oakland spoke at the United Center in Chicago.For the rest, everything that was not Kamala was two things: Trump and Gaza.

In the communication challenge with the former president, Harris has already demonstrated that she is playing on equal terms, responding blow for blow.The most recent reply is the spelling lesson on the pronunciation of "Kamala" given by his nieces and directed precisely at Trump, who some time ago had shown some hesitation, paired with the “weird” – literally, “weirdos” – saddled by vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz on the tycoon and his direct challenger, J.D.Vence, to ridicule and belittle the ostentatious machismo of the conservative leadership.

On Gaza, Kamala Harris does not deviate from Biden's line

But on Israel and Palestine Kamala Harris remains, by necessity, still firmly tied to the line of the current administration, reiterating that "the president and I are working day and night to now achieve the release of the hostages and a ceasefire.I want to be clear:I will always defend Israel's right to exist and ensure that Israel has the ability to defend itself.So that those people will never again have to face the horror that Hamas has caused October 7, the unspeakable sexual violence, the massacre of young people who had gone to see a festival".

To these words Harris added the desire to implement some of the demands of the Palestinian cause after stopping the atrocities in progress in Gaza:“The dimension of suffering is excruciating.We want this war to end.May Israel be safe.May the hostages be released.May the suffering in Gaza end.May the Palestinian people realize their right to freedom, security and self-determination."However, the choice not to have any representative of the Palestinians in the United States on stage – unlike the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American-Israeli kidnapped by Hamas – considerably downplays his words, continuing to maintain positions on distinct and distant levels, as highlighted by the profound crisis in negotiations in the Middle East.

Ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip – held in Cairo, Egypt, which is a party to it along with Israel, representatives of Hamas and the United States – have recently resumed and are expected to continue through the weekend .But it is a widespread feeling and probably rooted in reality that an agreement cannot be reached in the short term.The dispute over the so-called has now been added to the numerous obstacles that have been hindering negotiations for months “Philadelphi corridor”, the border line between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt.Here Israel - especially Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his loyalists - do not seem to listen to reasons and intend to maintain one fixed military presence, which Egypt considers a potential threat to its territories as well as a violation of the 1978 Camp David agreement, with which Cairo recognized the State of Israel.

But it is also the internal management of the chapter on Gaza that risks representing a major raw nerve for Harris.The proof became clear during the convention, when the group Muslim Women for Harris released a statement announcing its dissolution in response to the lack of presence of a Palestinian representative on the main stage of the event.Although the street protests much heralded by the ceasefire movements were less participatory and tense than expected, Harris's persistence on the line held so far by the administration could cost her some votes, especially in swing states like Michigan.

Very little, for now, on the climate

Many observers pointed to the patriotic Harris who emerged from the Democratic convention.The attempt, as mentioned, was to propose an identity narrative imbued with democratic values, which includes issues such as civil rights and those of second generations not as exceptions, but as an integral part of the American essence.But in this reworking of the meaning of patriotism, the climate issue remained excluded.She was the one who talked about it on stage Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior of the Biden administration, who spoke about theoperated of the Vice President in Climate Defense as Attorney General and Vice President.Nothing in the acceptance speech.

According to some analysts, the choice not to talk about emission reduction plans would also be dictated in this case by the need to Don't make false moves with the moderate electorate of the disputed states, which will be decisive in November.It therefore remains to be seen if, when and how, Harris will also decide to take up the fight against climate changes part of his, reworked, patriotism.