'Striking': Dana Bash reacts to Harris' speech on final day of DNC

Jake, the hallmark of her vice presidency until, frankly, until the Dobbs decisio was that she was dismissed and underestimated. And even now, some Biden aides are saying that they didn't treat her that the way that they should ha And the theme of this speech was that she's an underdog. The theme of the speech was don't underestimate America. Don't underestimate all of us. And that is her story. That is her story in the brief f that we have seen her hit by President Biden. And in the four weeks since she a candidate for president in her own right. And I will just say it was strik on the substance of this, how much policy there was, how much populist policy there was on eco and how forceful she was on the policy of it all. Very, very hawkish. I think if there is one thing that we know about Kamala Harris is that voters don't feel like they fully understand her. She has not actually been in the public eye in elected off on the political side and in for quite that long. So she is relatively new to this And I felt like this speech was really filling out some of the contours of who she is as a person. And I do think she's been very misunderstood politically for quite some time in the primary in 2020, she had to run to the left. But when I covered her, then I covered I talked to a lot of people who covered her in her Senate ra And in the years before she even became a politician, in the true sense, they view her in a very differen as a pretty pragmatic person, as who has progressive beliefs but is not an ideologue. And this part of her speech really stuck out to me. She said she would be a presiden who is realistic, practical and has common sense. And I think that if there is anything in the spee that she wanted to convey that would cut against the narra that is being written about her by Republicans is that she is in the end and she is interested in solving problems. She is interested in not just do you know, the left or the right says you should be on in terms of the ideological side But what she thinks is the right thing to do, and that was an important messag for her to deliver tonight. And I think she has to do that from this point forward as well to explain to people not just what does she believe, but how does she think about the decisions that she mak And of course, it's always about a contrast, right, I mean, this is her introduction as you see, put so well, Abby, to filling out the contours of w and what she's going to do. She treats Donald Trump as as a threat, as a threat to democracy, as a threat to the world. Freedom she uses over and over a and other opponents, whether it's been in his primari you know, running against him in a general election, have trea a little bit more of a as a joke And she has said she said in the that he's not a serious man, but you have to take it seriousl And that clearly is going to fra the next 70 plus days. The speech was infused with patr from the beginning to the end. She also noted, quote, I know there are people o political views watching tonight, and I want you to know, I promise to be a president for all Americans. You can always trust me to put c above party and self, to hold sacred America's fundamental principles from the rule of law, to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of powe She was attempting to demonstrat that her patriotism is quite a contrast from that of her oppone Anderson rhetoric at times was m She talked about being a prosecu a commander in chief, tempered with compassion, saying a harm against any one of us is a harm against all She went on to say, We are all in this together and toward the end, talking about a lesson her mothe she says, used to teach, which was never let anyone tell who you are. You show them who you are. Tonight. She wanted to show America who she believes she is on this stage tonight. David Axelrod. Yeah, look, I mean, that was a great speech. I think it was a great speech. She met the moment. She told her own story compellin She told it in the sort of in the in the context of the larger American s in a way that everyone could rel She spoke to the struggles of mi class people and her desire to just do things to help, which I think will resonate a lo with folks in a country where that is continuing to be a She she she hit the right themes on national and personal security. You know, I think that she and the biggest is think back for weeks to the s we heard in Milwaukee and how di and negative and divisive it was And this was a unifying speech. This was a speech and in which she asserted, but also demonstrated a desire to be the president of the entire country. Fascinating to play those speech by side, really. It would be devastating, I think You would think so. But if nothing else, the choices very clear here between a unifying candidate who who has positioned herself, I think, in the mainstream of Am thought and values and Donald Tr And I think that was the goal. And they succeeded, Audie. I think that we know she's been saying that that people have been talking about her as a joyful warrior. We heard more. Warrior. It was really about projecting s all the way through. Even her personal story. And growing up, they were framed in almost opening arguments right, too, referring to the public as her clients, saying that Donald Trump's client was himself. It actually helped her once, not for once, it helped that she used her biography to the fullest extent because that was the thing that she was perceived to have struggled with in the pa And here she was presenting that with the foot forward. And I think that it just shows a very interesting sign of growth in 2020. There was criticism by some on t saying, Kamala's a cop. Yes. There were moments tonight where she stepped very much into This is the Kamala Harris that w as a youth, because she asked the question, how did some kid from, you know, the Bay Area, who's mu and all these different things climb to the very top of American poli Because she is that tough. She is that smart. Who would have thought it would? It would take a multiracial woma from a blended family to remind what real patriotism is and how it working, how it funct Could you see her as a commander in chief? That was what she had to prove. You could see her as commander i You could see her facing down Pu If you're a dictator on the worl stage right now. You should be very, very nervous that this woman is going to be in the White Hous She is going to be a tough, tough partizan defender of freed John King. Anderson, two ways to look. Let me start with what I think is the smaller piece of it, at least tonight, the policy par What were her weaknesses coming into this speech? Trump polls better than she does on the economy, on immigration. She presented this. Let's get housing, let's get job Let's help workers. Let's do middle class. Republicans will push her. How are you going to pay for it? All of that. But she made an affirmative case for how I can help the middle cl On immigration, she mocked Trump for pulling awa from the bipartisan border deal said, I'll sign that deal, but I'll also go back to us being a nation of immigrants with strong border security. Again, she'll have to defend thi in the 75 days to come. But she tried to address in a forceful way for two biggest weakness on poli Bigger, I think, though, as people have discussed, it was the contrast we have now. A Biden Trump race was a race be you know, two older men that much of America didn't want You have a very clear choice after this speech tonight, especially after listening to Donald Trump in Milwaukee optimistic, an American dream, an American journey. Let's come together. A unifying Her challenge tonight was to prove she could be a credible center left president. The incoming I'm getting from Re say a lot of them think, at least with this speech, she did just what she had to do.