To make progress on the things we care about,the things that really affect people’s lives,we need to remember that we’ve all got our blind spots and contradictions and prejudices.

At a time when our economy was reeling,we needed a leader with the determination to drive what would become the world’s strongest recovery: 15 million jobs,higher wages,lower healthcare costs.

I am feeling hopeful because this convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible; because we have a chance to elect someone who has spent her entire life trying to give people the same chances America gave her,someone who sees you and hears you and will get up every single day and fight for you,the next President of the United States of America,Kamala Harris.

But here’s the good news,Chicago: All across America,in big cities and small towns,away from all the noise,the ties that bind us together are still there.

Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican or somewhere in between,we have all had people like that in our lives. People like Kamala’s parents,who crossed oceans because they believed in the promise of America.

That sense of mutual respect has to be part of our message.

It is up to all of us to fight for the America we believe in.

An America that taps what Lincoln called on the eve of civil war,our “bonds of affection.” An America that taps what he called “the better angels of our nature.”

Despite what our politics might suggest,I think most Americans understand that.

If we hold firm to our convictions,we will elect Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States and Tim Walz as the next Vice President of the United States.

A Harris-Walz administration can help us move past some of the tired,old debates that keep stifling progress.