Harris isn’t backing away from Biden’s democracy focus. But she’s putting her own spin on it

CHICAGO (AP) — Before dropping his bid for reelection, President Joe Biden framed voters’ choice in November in dark and ominous terms, painting Republican nominee Donald Trump as a menace to American democracy and questioning whether the country could survive if he won.

The Democratic Party’s new nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, isn’t exactly shrinking from that message, warning in her Thursday night acceptance speech of “extremely serious” consequences of Trump returning to the White House.

But Harris is putting her own spin on what has been a central messaging strategy for Democrats. Rather than focusing on the existential threat a second Trump term could pose to the country's foundational institutions and traditions, she is expanding Democrats' definition of what's at stake in this election: It's about preserving personal freedoms.

The fresh frame was on full display this week at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where attendees wrote their own definitions of freedom on handmade posters and Beyoncé’s anthem “Freedom” boomed through the loudspeakers. The convention dedicated a day’s theme to “fighting for our freedoms,” with special guest Oprah Winfrey suggesting those working to preserve reproductive rights are “the new freedom fighters.”