"Don't let anyone tell you who you are....show them who you are...." Vice-President Kamala Harris in Chicago

Echo opinion published in the Boston Globe by 
Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist.

Kamala Harris lives up to the hype at the DNC- the highly successful convetion in Chicago.

The Democratic presidential nominee knows exactly how to prosecute Donald Trump — with mockery and moral outrage — and is tough enough to do it.

CHICAGO- Donald Trump picked the wrong woman to call dumb.

As shown by the speech she gave to accept the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night, Vice President Kamala Harris is smart enough to know exactly how to prosecute Trump — with mockery and moral outrage — and tough enough to do it.

“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,” she told an enraptured audience at the United Center in Chicago. “But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.”

This week at the Democratic National Convention, friends, relatives, and fellow politicians described Harris in such glowing terms that the big question was whether she could live up to the hype. The answer: Yes, she could, and yes, she did. 

In fact, in Chicago, Vice President Harris came across as strong, confident, down-to-earth, and, yes, joyful 😇 about the opportunity to run for president, which emerged unexpectedly a month ago, when President Biden dropped out as his party’s nominee.

Of course, that doesn’t mean victory in November 🤞 is guaranteed. Trump will fight back hard and do everything he can to demean and defeat his opponent. 

Harris will and should be pressed more on the issues and will have to answer for the less positive aspects of the Biden-Harris record, such as fallout from the border crisis and the (wrong-minded 😏😖) perception about a weak economy. She has only a short time to convince voters they know enough about her story, her values, and the direction in which she wants to bring the country to elect her to the presidency. But with Thursday night’s speech, Harris gave herself a fighting chance.

She told the story of being raised by a mother who came to the United States from India and taught her to “never do anything half-assed.” Her mother, who raised two daughters as a single parent in Oakland, Calif., after her divorce, also inspired Kamala Harris to pursue her dreams of a law career. That took her into politics as a district attorney, attorney general, senator, vice president, and, now, as her party’s presidential nominee.

In her acceptance speech, Harris did not address issues in great depth. She called for more affordable housing, a middle-class tax cut, policies to address climate change, and cited her commitment to reproductive rights. Concerning the contentious Israel-Hamas war, Harris said, “I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself … because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that a terrorist organization called Hamas caused on Oct. 7.” She also referenced the “devastating” damage and “innocent lives lost” in Gaza but did not say anything about changing current policy.

Harris said she wants to be a president “for all Americans,” no matter their party affiliation. In this election, she said, the country has “a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward.”

But even as she talked about unity, Harris was prosecuting the case against Trump in a very personal way. Trump, she said, always acts in the interests of “the only client he has ever had — himself.” Citing his affinity for dictators, she said that made him “easy to manipulate with flattery and favors.”

She blamed the country’s border problems on Trump’s successful bid to get Republican lawmakers to scuttle a bipartisan plan, saying, “I refuse to play politics with our security.” Alluding to some of the insults Trump has directed at veterans, she said, “I will always honor and never disparage their service and their sacrifice.”

She also said Trump “fanned the flames” of the mob attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which sought to overturn the 2020, presidential election. Noting that a recent Supreme Court ruling gives Trump some immunity from criminal prosecution, she noted, “Imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails and how he would use the immense power of the presidency.” Harris also said that after he “handpicked members of the Supreme Court” to strip away reproductive freedoms, now “he brags about it.”

A Wall Street Journal editorial described Harris as the least known presidential nominee in modern times. Her convention speech was the formal beginning of her introduction to many voters. By November, will they like what they have heard enough to vote for her?

Sensing opportunity, Trump has tried to define Harris before she can define herself, but his early efforts have been awkward or otherwise missed the mark. He has mused about when she “turned Black,” accused her of promoting communism, and, as previously noted, called her dumb.

If only Trump knew about another lesson that Harris said her mother taught her: “Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are.”

In Chicago, she showed Trump exactly who she is. Now he has to figure out what to do about it.