5 Takeaways From the Democratic Convention

A month and a day after Democrats made a change, Kamala Harris has the party faithful believing.

The vice president’s speech on Thursday capped an ebullient four-day convention in Chicago that showcased the party’s reinvigorated chances against Donald J. Trump in the wake of President Biden’s decision to step aside.

Before a convention hall packed with supporters in symbolic suffragette white, Ms. Harris became the second woman to formally accept the Democratic Party’s nomination as she tries to break through as the nation’s first female president.

Not that she talked about that. Instead, Ms. Harris wrapped herself in the language of patriotism and American exceptionalism, unspooling the story of her upbringing by a single mother to present herself as a leader who understands the strains and aspirations of the middle class.

Here are five takeaways from her speech and the convention week that led up to it:

Harris sought out the middle ground — and the middle class.

By the time Ms. Harris took the stage on Thursday, the convention hall had already been suffused with patriotic pageantry. Flags were waved. Veterans were cheered. USA signs were handed out.

“We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world,” she said as she neared the dramatic finish of her speech. She was seeking to occupy some of the most frequently trod ground of winning American campaigns.