The four-day Democratic National Convention (DNC) kicked off in Chicago on Monday, Aug. 19. Kamala Harris’ candidacy was announced shortly after Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21. The convention marked the first event of this magnitude for the party since Kamala Harris’ candidacy, with a number of prominent Democrats speaking at the event. Some of these speakers included Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, as well as President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris themselves.
Vice President Harris
When Harris walked onto the stage to deliver her acceptance speech, she was met with three minutes of applause from a joyous audience.
Harris told the crowd how her mother moved to the United States by herself and instilled values in Harris that she lives by today.
“She taught us to never complain about injustice, but do something about it,” Harris said.
“On behalf of everyone whose story could only be written in the greatest nation on Earth, I accept your nomination to be the president of the United States of America,” Harris said as the crowd cheered.
She talked about how her history as Attorney General of California – going after banks, predators and cartels – will help her fight for America as president. She also mentioned Donald Trump’s history of encouraging rioters on Jan. 6, 2021, his criminal convictions and the danger of giving him the powers of the presidency now that the Supreme Court has ruled he could have immunity from prosecution.
Harris continued on to list her campaign promises, comparing them to what Trump did or what he intends to do in a second term. Topics mentioned included Harris’ intentions to protect women’s reproductive rights, cut taxes for the middle class, and sign border security legislation into law.
“It is now our turn to do what generations before us have done. Guided by optimism and faith to fight for this country we love, to fight for the ideals we cherish, and to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth. The privilege and pride of being an American,” Harris said as her speech came to a close.
President Biden
In his energetic speech Monday night, Biden recalled his inauguration on the Capitol steps. “In front of me was a city surrounded by the National Guard. Behind me, a Capitol just two weeks before had been overrun by a violent mob. But I knew then,” that “there is no place in America for political violence,” he said.
Biden went on to describe the state of racial inequity and pandemic destruction that he entered his presidency in, but strongly emphasized that there is a bright future ahead.
“Justice is achievable, and our best days are not behind us, they’re before us… with a grateful heart I stand before you now on this August night to report that democracy has prevailed, democracy has delivered, and now democracy must be preserved.”
Governor Walz
Walz was the headlining speaker on Wednesday, delivering a speech that both introduced himself to the country and warned what will happen if Trump wins this election. The vice presidential nominee mentioned his accomplishments as governor of Minnesota, a list that includes lowering taxes, making prescription drugs more affordable, and ensuring that students have access to free breakfast and lunch during the school day.
“So while other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” Walz said.
“We know, if (Trump and Vance) get back in the White House, they’ll start jacking up the costs on the middle class. They’ll repeal the Affordable Care Act. They’ll gut social security and medicare. And they will ban abortion across this country, with or without Congress,” Walz said.
Walz contrasted this image of a second Trump administration with praise for Harris and a description of what she will do as president. The audience cheered ecstatically as he listed off how Harris will enact changes such as lowering taxes and making homes more affordable.
“Kamala Harris is tough. Kamala Harris is experienced. And Kamala Harris is ready,” Walz said.
Governor Beshear
Monday featured speeches from Democrats on the national and state level including Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who followed an address from abortion rights activist Hadley Duvall. Duvall was raped and impregnated at the age of 12 by her stepfather. She received an abortion, and has since become outspoken against restrictions on the procedure.
During his six-minute speech, Beshear said of her, “Hadley Duvall is one of the bravest people I have ever met. I am amazed at the courage it takes to share her pain, to share her truth.” He went on, “…yet Donald Trump rags about tearing a constitutional right” away from women and girls in America, and “…that is why we must tear away any chance he can ever be President again.”
Former President Barack and Michelle Obama
Michelle and Barack Obama gave the keynote speeches Tuesday night. Both have been outspoken for Democratic causes in their years since leaving the White House.
The former First Lady spoke before her husband, rousing the audience with a speech contrasting Donald Trump, a billionaire, and Kamala Harris, who she believes represents everyday Americans. She repeated the phrase, “do something” throughout her address, using it to tell the crowd to persevere in the months before the general election.
“So if they lie about (Harris)—and they will—we’ve got to do something. If we see a bad poll—and we will—we’ve got to put down that phone and do something. If we start feeling tired, if we start feeling that dread creeping back in, we gotta pick ourselves up, throw water on our face, and what?” she asked, to which the audience replied, “do something.”
In response to Donald Trump’s unfounded accusations that immigrants are taking “Black jobs,” Michelle Obama said to applause, “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?”
“I am feeling ready to go even if I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama,” Barack Obama said, following his wife’s speech. Echoing her message, when the crowd booed against Trump for not supporting a border bill because having a safe border would hurt him in the election, Barack Obama said, “do not boo. Vote.”
He emphasized unity, and the importance of taking the time to get to know those whom we disagree with.
“As much as any policy or program, I believe that’s what we yearn for: a return to an America where we work together and look out for each other,” he said.
Former President Clinton
On Wednesday night, former President Bill Clinton gave a speech that praised current Democratic leaders and riled the crowd against Trump. Clinton spoke about Biden’s decision to terminate his presidential campaign earlier this summer, noting how difficult it is in politics to step away from power.
He mentioned Harris’s rise from working at McDonald’s and growing up in a middle class family to where she is today.
“When she was young, she worked at McDonald’s, and she greeted every person with that thousand watt smile and said ‘How can I help you?’ Now she is at the pinnacle of power and still asking, ‘How can I help you?’,” Clinton said.
“We have a pretty clear choice, it seems to me. Kamala Harris, for the people, and the other guy, who has proved even more than the first go round that he is about me, myself and I,” Clinton said.
The DNC and the Gaza war
Throughout the convention, in the hours before the evening programming began, about 6,000 pro-Palestine and pro-Israel protestors gathered outside the convention hall, illustrating the disagreement over the crisis that still divides the Democratic Party. Pro-Palestinian protestors chanted to opposing Democratic lawmakers and delegates, “quit your job.” Police in riot gear stood on watch, and barricades were set up to protect conference attendees. After a group of roughly 50 attempted to breach a metal gate outside of the arena, four protestors were arrested and one was detained.
“Those protesters out in the street, they have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides,” Biden said of the demonstrators. He assured the public that his administration is working to negotiate a ceasefire deal.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of Hersche, one of the hostages being held by Hamas, also spoke at the DNC on Wednesday. They entered the stage to applause and chants from the audience to “Bring them home.”
Their speech described how their son was taken hostage after attending the music festival in Israel that Hamas attacked in 2022. There are 109 hostages yet to be released, including their son. The couple beseeched leaders to bring these hostages home, with Polin saying that, “In an inflamed Middle East, we know the one thing that can most immediately release pressure and bring calm to the entire region: a deal that brings this diverse group of 109 hostages home and ends the suffering of the innocent civilians in Gaza.”
Project 2025
Speakers at the convention repeatedly criticized Project 2025, the plan for a second Trump term created by the Heritage Foundation and other conservative think tanks. At least thrice, speakers brought physical copies of the 900-page manifesto to read sections aloud to deride them.
“If Donald Trump has his way, he’s going to push through his extreme agenda: Project 1825. I mean, I’m sorry, I can roll that back. I got that wrong: Project 1925. Oh, I’m sorry, Project 2025,” said United States Senator Cory Booker during a speech Wednesday night.
Later in the evening, comedian Kenan Thompson, like Michigan Senator Mallory McMorrow and Pennsylvania Representative Malcom Kenyatta, came on stage carrying a copy of Project 2025.
“You ever seen a document that can kill a small animal and democracy at the same time?” Thompson asked the audience.
Thompson continued on to talk to a series of voters with various backgrounds, explaining how Project 2025 would relate to their lives. From a LGBTQ+ woman to an insulin user to a Department of Education employee, Thompson had bad news from Project 2025 to tell every one of them. The crowd booed as they heard how Project 2025 calls for actions such as the eradication of the Department of Education and a nationwide abortion ban.
Conclusion
The purpose of the DNC is to choose the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees. Delegates from each state are sent to vote on who these people will be. The first DNC was in 1832, when Andrew Jackson was chosen for a second term. Now, nominees are typically chosen prior to the convention, and instead the event has become increasingly about rallying support for the party.
Delegates picked Harris as the Democratic nominee shortly after her announcement on July 21, but the convention still held a ceremonial roll call vote. Despite former President Donald Trump’s suggestion that Joe Biden would “crash” the DNC and reclaim the nomination, the vote went on unobstructed and Kamala Harris was made the official nominee. After a successful DNC, Democrats now hope to retain the enthusiasm surrounding her candidacy throughout the campaign leading up to the election on Nov. 5.
