Barack Obama will seek to unite Democrats behind Kamala Harris on Tuesday as the former president deploys his political star power on the centre-left to overcome any divisions over her candidacy against Donald Trump.
The party has tried to paper over divisions on Middle East policy and bad blood surrounding the ousting of President Joe Biden from the top of the ticket in recent weeks, but Democratic leaders remain concerned about simmering frictions that remain just under the surface.
Although Obama, 63, has now been out of office for nearly eight years, he is among the party’s most popular and influential figures, and convention organisers hope his primetime address on Tuesday can help bring embittered activists back into the fold.