'Resurrected': Democrats prepare for joy and unity at convention in Chicago

Tens of thousands of Democrats are expected to descend on Chicago this week for their party's convention, bubbling with a feeling few had anticipated: pure, unconfined joy.

- Lauren Gambino

At the end of their four-day fete, when the red, white and blue balloons tumble from the rafters of the United Center, Kamala Harris will have become the first woman of colour to accept a major party's presidential nomination in US history.

The moment will cap a frenzied few weeks for Democrats, after the vice-president's sudden ascent to the top of the ticket in a development that has transformed the race for the White House and galvanised a party once resigned to a rematch between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

"It's a remarkable turn of events," said Howard Dean, a former Democratic National Committee chairman and former Vermont governor.

"The Democrats have now been resurrected." In less than a month since Biden's decision to abandon his re-election campaign, Harris has united most Democrats and restored the party's dominance among young voters and people of colour.

While the race remains nailbitingly close, two new polls over the weekend found Harris leading Trump nationally, by four and five points: 49-45 in a Washington PostABC News-Ipsos survey and 50-45 in a poll from the New York Times and Siena College. An average of all recent polling shows Harris leading Trump by two points, 49-47.

Harris also now leads among registered voters in two Sun Belt states, Arizona and North Carolina - the only two of the so-called swing states that Trump won in 2020 - and is closing the gap with Trump in two others, Nevada and Georgia.

Harris's crowds have been large and electric a development that appears to irk her rival, still struggling to find a mocking nickname.

Fundraising has poured in at a record pace. Celebrities, artists and fashion designers are eager to help. Online, young people continue to churn out memes and flattering content.

Party officials say the Harris-inspired vibe shift is trickling down ballot and translating into on-the ground organising.