Kamala Harris’s Main-Character Energy

There were a lot of big names at the Democratic National Convention. Night 1 had the unprecedented send-off of a sitting president. Night 2 had not one but two Obamas (plus a raucous roll call of states feat. Lil Jon). Night 3: You get Oprah! And you get Oprah!

There were whispers and reports all day on Thursday that the biggest, most special secret guest of all would appear at the climax. Was it Beyoncé? Taylor Swift? Mitt Romney?

At the end of the night, after a typical program of endorsements and character witnesses, Roy Cooper, the governor of North Carolina, wrapped up and yielded the stage to …

Kamala Harris?

The rumors, it turned out, were just that. Ms. Harris was the surprise star of her own show.

But in a way, that had been the theme of the entire convention. As a TV production, the event was designed to build on the Kamalanomenon and magnify it. It expressed not a platform but a vibe.

Ms. Harris’s ascent was of course politically extraordinary, a whirlwind of less than a month from replacing President Biden to the convention. But it was also unprecedented as a media phenomenon — at least in politics, where images are usually built over years.