Will there be a bounce? Takeaways from the Democratic convention

Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic presidential nomination in a speech Thursday infused with patriotism, presenting herself, not her opponent, as embodying their nation's best traditions.

The speech broke little policy ground, hewing to the Democratic Party's traditional centre-left lane: supporting NATO allies, expanding social programs, abortion access, and a middle-ground approach to border policy, migration and the Middle East.

It went heavy, however, on personality.

Its key objective: strike a contrast in values with Donald Trump. She compared her own working-class upbringing as the daughter of immigrants with an opponent she characterized as an egomaniac friend to billionaires.

It was wrapped in red, white and blue, in a convention that made a conscious effort to claim patriotic bona fides for Democrats, who repeatedly cheered, "U-S-A!"

"On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth," Harris said, "I accept your nomination for president of the United States of America."

She compared her own life path, as a prosecutor, to Trump's: "My entire career, I have only had one client, the people," she said. Trump is running, she added, to serve the only client he has ever had: "Himself."

Here are takeaways from the four-day affair that kicks off the general-election campaign, which will see Americans elect a president Nov. 5.  

It was already clear entering the convention that the switch atop the ticket had had a galvanizing effect. And it's not just because of a bump in the polls. There's a staggering fundraising surge: Harris raked in more donations in her first 10 days as a candidate than Joe Biden did in 15 months.

One convention-goer, Letitia Flowers, said she wasn't even going to vote for Biden, frustrated over his Gaza policy. Now? "I'm amped up," she told CBC News.

She plans to knock on doors for Harris — and is willing to give her time to define her own Mideast policy. Leaving the convention Thursday, Deirdre Harper of Chicago said: "I am optimistically excited. She brings joy."

After speeches by Barack and Michelle Obama on Tuesday night, one young man exiting the venue was shouting excitedly into his phone that other young people must get involved. That's what a party wants out of a convention.

Yes, Democrats still describe Trump as a threat to democracy, as Biden habitually did. There were searing videos about the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The campaign, however, is now targeting him more often by prosaic means: mockery. To tease him, make him seem small, petty, self-obsessed. It was a recurring theme.