Less than three weeks before the 10 September presidential debate between the US vice president and the Republican ex-president, and only a month before early voting kicks off, polls show the race for the White House is neck and neck.

Former senator and prosecutor Harris leaves the DNC in Chicago with the wind in her sails, having erased the polling leads Trump was enjoying before she replaced President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket last month.

• Harris vows ‘new way forward’ for America as she accepts nomination

But in one of the many speeches at the DNC, Michelle Obama, wife of former president Barack Obama, struck a sober note. In spite of all the “enthusiasm and positivity” generated by the convention, she cautioned, the race for the White House will be an “uphill battle”.

One of the main challenges, believes Gretchen Pascalis, a spokesperson for Democrats Abroad France, may be low turnout. She is also concerned about voter suppression, pointing to Harris’s remarks on “protecting the right to vote”.

She is particularly worried about Trump’s recent, puzzling remark that his Christian supporters would never need to vote again if they elected him, a statement Pascalis calls “very dangerous and frightening”.

Show of unity

Overall, Pascalis thought that the DNC was a show of “new energy, of very democratic ideas, and of a real desire to improve the life of everyday, middle-class Americans”.

She was particularly impressed by the performance of television icon Oprah Winfrey (“What an energy she has!”), and says she supports Harris’s choice of Tim Walz as her vice-presidential running mate.

“He complements her in many ways. And he really represents rural America. And he can appeal to certain undecided voters,” she told RFI.

Contrasting the DNC to its rival, the Republican National Convention that was held in July, Pascalis noted: “Unlike the Republican convention, at the Democratic convention, all former living presidents actually spoke, except for Jimmy Carter, who’s unwell.”

Indeed, in the past week, former US presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both took the stage to give speeches supporting Harris, as well as sitting president Biden.

But at the RNC, neither George Bush nor former Republican vice-president Dan Quale, nor party heavyweights Dick Cheney and Mitt Romney, showed up. Even Mike Pence, Trump’s vice president, did not make an appearance.

In spite of the show of unity and positivism at the Democratic convention, however, there were sharp controversies as well.

Palestinian question

Pro-Palestinian protesters who gathered outside the convention centre were supported by a group of 30 delegates inside, who are described as the “uncommitted” movement.

According to political magazine Mother Jones, they “represent the hundreds of thousands who voted uncommitted in lieu of supporting President Joe Biden’s primary campaign”.

During the four days of the convention, these delegates tried, in vain, to secure a slot on the main stage for either Ruwa Romman, the representative for the state of Georgia and the first ever Palestinian-American to be elected as a delegate to the DNC, or a doctor who has volunteered in Gaza.

Both requests were refused.

Members of the uncommitted movement point out that while Israeli parents Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg were invited to make a moving speech from the main stage about their son Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was taken hostage during Hamas’ attack on 7 October, Palestinian speakers were only offered speaking time on the sidelines of the main venue.

“It is quite disappointing to see that, even with our protest vote, we did not get a Palestinian speaker to be at the DNC,” says Ali Hallal, who canvassed for uncommitted candidates in Detroit.

‘Not guaranteed my vote’

“(Harris) does not have a guarantee of my vote at this point,” he told RFI. “You can’t expect an uncommitted voter to vote for Kamala without a level of guarantee of a policy change.”

Hallal points out that uncommitted voters make up a large portion in some swing states such as Michigan and Georgia.

But the prospect of people voting for a third candidate, such as the Green Party’s Jill Stein, or not voting at all, is not attractive either.

“We are dealing with the rising risk of another Trump presidency, which could drastically change the material conditions of the US at an accelerated rate for working-class people and people of colour,” Hallal says.

Pascalis, the Democrat Abroad, did not want to comment, but stressed that Harris “did talk about both protecting Israel and their right to exist” but also about “really trying to do everything to eliminate the suffering in Gaza”, and indicated that she is looking to secure a ceasefire as soon as possible.