Hope and fear A final cry against danger of tyranny

Hither the politics of joy? Her solid if unspectacular closing argument for why she should be elected US president was not about Kamala Harris. It was first and foremost about Donald Trump.

- David Smith

The Democratic nominee's big speech in Washington mentioned Trump by name 24 times and Joe Biden only once. It confirmed that even if Trump is not commander-in-chief he still commands the American psyche.

A week before election day, Harris chose her venue carefully: the Ellipse, a park just south of the White House. Trump "stood at this very spot nearly four years ago", she noted, adding that he had sent an armed mob to the US Capitol to try to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

A very different, more diverse, larger crowd - some estimated 75,000 - gathered here on Tuesday, basking in unseasonal afternoon heat, wrapping up against an evening chill.

They waved "USA" signs and the Stars and Stripes and wore wristbands glowing blue or red. They chanted "Kamala! Kamala!" and "We're not going back!" They were surrounded by great symbols of the republic: the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the White House itself.

Speaking at a lectern behind protective glass, Harris went on to warn of Trump's enemies list and intention to turn the military against those who disagree with him.

"This is not a candidate for president who is thinking about how to make your life better," she said. "This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and out for unchecked power."

The vice-president went on to sketch out some of her own biography as a prosecutor and law enforcement officer fighting for the people. Yet somehow the argument again came back to the Republican nominee.