前国务卿希拉里·克林顿在民主党全国代表大会的开幕之夜，她将副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯描绘成一个能够打破障碍、达到她在自己的政治生涯中未能达到的顶峰的人，这让观众兴奋不已。
“我们一起在最高、最坚硬的玻璃天花板上制造了许多裂缝，”克林顿在芝加哥联合中心受到人群热烈欢迎后发表了激动人心的讲话。"今晚如此接近一劳永逸的突破."
哈里斯将是继克林顿之后第二位接受主要政党总统提名的女性，克林顿在2016年的竞选创造了历史，但最终在大选中输给了唐纳德·特朗普。
克林顿首先感谢乔·拜登总统的领导，感谢他让白宫恢复了尊严。但她很快改变话题，讲述了导致这一时刻的历史性进展，回顾了雪莉·齐索姆的总统竞选和杰拉尔丁·费拉罗成为第一位被提名为副总统的女性。
“然后，在2016年，接受我们党的总统候选人提名是我一生的荣幸，”克林顿谈到自己的经历。将近6600万美国人投票选择了一个梦想没有上限的未来。后来，我们拒绝放弃美国。数百万人游行。许多人竞选公职。我们着眼于未来。”
“好吧，我的朋友们，未来就在这里，”她在欢呼声中说道。
克林顿说，她希望她的母亲和哈里斯的母亲能看到他们，并相信他们会告诉他们“继续前进。”观众随后回喊着，“继续!”
随着哈里斯在拜登决定退出后的几周内加大了她的运作，克林顿和哈里斯的竞选活动开始出现比较。
几位民主党人告诉ABC新闻他们对哈里斯的候选人资格以及她如何重振该党感到鼓舞，但担心在八年前与克林顿发生的事情之后，他们对特朗普过于自信。
希拉里在2008年首次竞选总统，但在初选中输给了巴拉克·奥巴马，在2016年击败独立参议员伯尼·桑德斯后成功获得提名。
特朗普和克林顿之间爆发了激烈、丑陋的大选竞争。特朗普开始称克林顿为“邪恶的希拉里”和“魔鬼”。克林顿称特朗普的一半支持者是“一群可怜虫”，批评者称这是一个错误，疏远了一些选民。
周一，在克林顿发表民主党全国委员会讲话前几个小时，特朗普发出了一封筹款电子邮件，强调了她过去“令人遗憾”的评论，并声称她“即将对MAGA发动地狱。”
在演讲中，克林顿抨击特朗普被判34项重罪(他发誓要上诉)，称他“创造了自己的历史”，“在自己的审判中睡着了”。
在这些评论之后，人群爆发出“把他关起来!”对此，克林顿微笑着点了点头。特朗普在2016年的竞选中多次呼吁监禁克林顿，并以“把她关起来!”电话经常出现在他的集会上。
2016年的民调显示，克林顿在选举日之前领先，但当结果出来时，他们显示特朗普通过抓住几个关键的战场州，以令人震惊的方式领先。第二天早上，克林顿承认了。
克林顿在演讲中提到了民意调查，并指出尽管哈里斯对特朗普的民意调查优于拜登，但民主党人不能踩油门。
“不管民意调查结果如何，我们都不能松懈，”她说。“我们不能被疯狂的阴谋赶下兔子洞。我们必须为真相而战。我们必须为卡玛拉而战，因为她也会为我们而战。因为你知道吗?它仍然需要一个村庄来养活一个家庭，治愈一个国家，赢得一场运动。”
克林顿在2017年的回忆录《发生了什么》中更详细地讲述了她的失败以及她的竞选出了什么问题。她写道，她最终对输给特朗普负有责任，但她表示很难克服刻板印象。她还指责前美国联邦调查局导演詹姆斯·科米在选举前11天重新调查她的私人电子邮件服务器。
2016年大选后，克林顿一直保持相对低调，直到2020年拜登在民主党初选中获胜后，她为拜登竞选。
克林顿在2020年民主党全国代表大会上发言说，她希望特朗普是一个“更好的总统”，并称赞拜登的性格和他选择哈里斯作为竞选伙伴。她说，他们是一个能够“把我们的国家从悬崖边拉回来，重建得更好”的团队
最近，她在《纽约时报》撰写了一篇专栏文章，就如何在6月CNN摊牌前与特朗普辩论向拜登提供建议。克林顿称特朗普是一个在2016年辩论舞台上“跟踪”她的恶霸，并敦促拜登“直接而有力”。
拜登退出竞选后，很大程度上是因为他在辩论中的糟糕表现引发了民主党对他年龄的担忧，克林顿在《纽约时报》上写了另一篇专栏文章，全力支持哈里斯。
克林顿说，哈里斯可以击败特朗普，但警告说，她将面临类似的偏见——这是她在民主党全国委员会演讲中继续的主题。
“在她出庭的第一天，卡玛拉说了五句话，至今仍指导着她。希拉里提到哈里斯作为检察官的记录时说:“卡玛拉·哈里斯是为人民服务的。
“这是唐纳德·特朗普永远不会明白的事情，”克林顿接着说。“所以，他在卡玛拉的记录上撒谎也就不足为奇了，是吗?他在嘲笑她的名字和她的笑声。听起来很熟悉。但我们现在已经让他跑了。”
克林顿将哈里斯描述为“永远支持我们”的人，称赞副总统在生育权、支持军人和致力于法治方面的工作。
有时，当她说话时，人群中的一些人显得情绪激动。
希拉里说:“我希望我的孙子和他们的孙子知道，此时此刻我在这里，我们在这里，我们与卡玛拉·哈里斯同在。”。“这是我们的时代，美国。这是我们站起来的时候。这是我们突破的时候。未来就在这里。它在我们的掌握之中。让我们去赢得它。”
Hillary Clinton, in DNC speech, says Kamala Harris can break 'hardest glass ceiling'
Former Secretary of StateHillary Clintonelectrified the crowd on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention as she portrayed Vice President Kamala Harris as someone who could break barriers and reach a pinnacle that eluded her throughout her own political career.
"Together, we've put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling," Clinton said in her rousing remarks after receiving a warm welcome from the crowd at the United Center in Chicago. "And tonight so close to breaking through once and for all."
Harris will be just the second woman to ever to accept a major party's nomination for president following Clinton, whose monumental 2016 run made history but ended with a general election loss to Donald Trump.
Clinton began her remarks by thanking President Joe Biden for his leadership and for returning decency to the White House. But she quickly switched gears to lay out the historic progress that's led to this moment, recalling Shirley Chisholm's presidential run and Geraldine Ferraro being the first woman to be nominated as vice president.
"And then, there was 2016 when it was the honor of my life to accept our party's nomination for president," Clinton said of her own experience. "And nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams. And afterwards, we refused to give up on America. Millions marched. Many ran for office. We kept our eyes on the future."
"Well, my friends, the future is here," she said to cheers.
Clinton said she wished her mother and Harris' mother could see them, and believed they would tell them to "keep going." The audience then echoed back shouts of, "Keep going!"
Comparisons of Clinton and Harris' campaigns have begun to emerge as Harris ramped up her operation in the weeks after Biden's decision to step aside.
Several Democratstold ABC Newsthey are feeling buoyed by Harris' candidacy and how she's reenergized the party, but are worried about being overconfident against Trump after what transpired with Clinton eight years ago.
Clinton, who first ran for president in 2008 but lost in the primary race to Barack Obama, was successful in 2016 in clinching the nomination after defeating independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.
A bitter, ugly general election contest ensued between Trump and Clinton. Trump took to calling Clinton "Crooked Hillary" and the "devil." Clinton called half of Trump's supporters a "basket of deplorables," which critics called a mistake that alienated some voters.
A Trump fundraising email sent out Monday hours ahead of Clinton's DNC remarks highlighted her past "deplorables" comment and claimed she was "about to unleash hell on MAGA."
In her speech, Clinton took a shot at Trump for being convicted on 34 felony counts (a verdict he's vowed to appeal) saying he "made his own kind of history" and "fell asleep at his own trial."
After those comments, the crowd broke into chants of "Lock him up!" to which Clinton smiled and nodded her head. Trump called for Clinton to be imprisoned multiple times in the 2016 campaign, with "Lock her up!" calls frequently emerging at his rallies.
Polls in 2016 had shown Clinton ahead leading up to Election Day, but when results came in they showed Trump leading a stunning upset by grabbing several key battleground states. Clinton conceded the next morning.
Clinton referenced polls in her speech, noting that while Harris has been polling better against Trump than Biden, Democrats can't take their foot of the gas.
"No matter what the polls say, we can't let up," she said. "We can't get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes. We have to fight for the truth. We have to fight for Kamala as she will fight for us. Because you know what? It still takes a village to raise a family, heal a country and win a campaign."
Clinton recounted her loss in greater detail and what went wrong with her campaign in her 2017 memoir "What Happened." She wrote that she bore responsibility ultimately for the loss to Trump but described it being difficult to overcome stereotypes. She also directed some blame at former FBI director James Comey for reopening the investigation into her private email server 11 days before the election.
After the 2016 election, Clinton maintained a relatively low profile until 2020 when she campaigned for Biden after his success in the Democratic primaries.
Clinton spoke at the 2020 Democratic National Convention, saying she wish Trump had been a "better president" and praised Biden's character and his choice of Harris to be his running mate. She said they were a team who could "pull our nation back from the brink and build back better."
More recently, she penned a New York Times op-ed offering Biden advice on how to debate Trump before the June CNN showdown. Clinton called Trump a bully who "stalked" her on the debate stage in 2016 and urged Biden to be "direct and forceful."
After Biden dropped out of the race, in large part because his poor debate performance ignited Democratic fears about his age, Clinton wrote another Times op-ed offering a full-throated endorsement of Harris.
Clinton said that Harris can defeat Trump but warned she will face similar prejudices -- a theme she continued in her DNC speech.
"On her first day in court, Kamala said five words that still guide her. Kamala Harris for the people," Clinton said, referencing Harris' record as a prosecutor.
"That is something that Donald Trump will never understand," Clinton went on. "So, it is no surprise, is it, that he is lying about Kamala's record. He's mocking her name and her laugh. Sounds familiar. But we have him on the run now."
Describing Harris as someone who would "always have our backs," Clinton praised the vice president for her work on reproductive rights, support for military service members and commitment to the rule of law.
At times, some in the crowd appeared emotional as she spoke.
"I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment, that we were here, and that we were with Kamala Harris every step of the way," Clinton said. "This is our time, America. This is when we stand up. This is when we break through. The future is here. It's in our grasp. Let's go win it."
