What REALLY happened at the recent Democratic National Convention?
Democrats opened their convention in Chicago recently by sending off Joe Biden. And then, the president closed the night with a hand-off to Vice President Kamala Harris. His passing of the torch revealed the shift for Democrats.
The party, which was deeply cracked just last month as pressure mounted on Biden to withdraw from the race, was united Monday night behind Harris and against her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.
Key highlights were discussed, including in personal and historical terms – the potential for Harris to become the first woman to win the presidency. That’s not all, though. Here are 5 takeaways from the first night of the Democratic National Convention.
GOP speakers had something to say
Democrats weren’t just working to appeal to their party. The Democratic National Convention featured former Republicans making the case for independents and Trump critics to vote for Kamala Harris.
One of the prime-time speaking slots went to Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, a self-declared lifelong Republican who said the Biden-Harris administration had delivered results for his conservative community.
“I have an urgent message for the majority of Americans who, like me, are in the political middle: John McCain’s Republican Party is gone, and we don’t owe a damn thing to what’s been left behind. So, let’s turn the page. Let’s put country first.”
Giles’ speech ended a series of appearances by Republicans, or people who’d left the party, rallying support for Kamala. In a short video, three former Trump voters said they believed the former president didn’t respect the Constitution and blasted his felony convictions.
On stage, Kyle Sweetser said he voted for Trump three times before growing concerned about his tax policies. Stephanie Grisham, a former chief of staff to the former First Lady and White House press secretary, described herself as a “true believer” who spent her vacations at Mar-a-Lago.
But she quit in January 2021, after Trump failed to move to stop his supporters from attacking the US Capitol. Grisham used her remarks to condemn Trump behind closed doors, telling the audience that he mocks his supporters in private and has called them “basement dwellers.”
“He has no empathy, morals, and fidelity to the truth,” she declared.
An emphasis on abortion rights
Among the most emotional moments of the convention came as Democrats slammed Trump for appointing conservative Supreme Court justices who helped undo Roe v. Wade’s protections for abortion rights, resulting in a state-by-state blend of reproductive rights laws.
Support for abortion rights has been Democrats’ most powerful issue at the ballot box since Roe v. Wade’s reversal a few years ago.
Hadley Duvall’s story was featured last year in a powerful ad by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat who won reelection in one of the country’s most heavily Republican states in large part by highlighting his support for abortion rights.
“Donald Trump brags about tearing a constitutional right away from Hadley and every other woman and girl in our country,” Beshear said during the Democratic National Convention.
Did the Democrats downplay the war in Gaza?
Few issues have divided Democrats – by ideology, by age, sometimes by identity – than Israel’s continuing war in Gaza. But you wouldn’t have known it from watching the Democratic National Convention.
In Chicago, it was Joe Biden who spoke the most about Israel and Gaza, striking a sympathetic chord for all involved, from Israelis killed by Hamas to civilians in Gaza now. Biden declared: “Those protesters out in the street have a point.
A lot of innocent people are being killed on both sides.” His remarks ended a day in which anti-war protesters filled the streets outside the convention.
Ceasefire advocates from the Uncommitted National Movement, so far unsuccessful in grabbing a speaking slot from convention organizers, held a sanctioned panel about the issue earlier. And activists in the hall unfurled a banner demanding the US government “STOP ARMING ISRAEL.”
But for most prime-time speakers, the conflict in Gaza barely earned a mention. Pro-Palestinian voices were missing, as were, for the most part, mentions of support for Israel or condemnations of the antisemitism that has occurred during some protests.
It seems as though this is an issue Democrats see little electoral upside in highlighting.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive lawmaker most likely to address the matter, largely kept on message during her comments, only shifting into talk of Gaza to praise Harris’ work to end the fighting, stating, “She’s working tirelessly to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and bringing hostages home.”
Spotlight on “Project 2025”
Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow stepped onstage at the Democratic National Convention with a large prop: a book containing the conservative Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” agenda. What’s the big deal? It was so big that it barely fit on the podium.
The moment reflected how eager Democrats are to tie Trump to the so-called “Republican blueprint for a second Trump term.”
Though the former president has denied it, Democrats have framed Project 2025, a 900-page playbook for a second Trump term drafted in part by six of his former Cabinet secretaries and at least 140 people who worked in his administration, as the former president’s agenda.
McMorrow highlighted one portion of the agenda that would give the White House more control of nonpolitical government jobs. Another, she said, would allow Trump to weaponize the Justice Department and “turn the FBI into his own personal police force.”
“That’s not how it works in America,” she declared. “That’s how it works in dictatorships. And that’s exactly what Donald Trump and his MAGA minions have in mind: an expansion of presidential powers like no president has ever had or should ever have.”
… For more on the Democratic National Convention, you may find this read from Amazon fascinating: Chicago, 1968: Policy and Protest at the Democratic National Convention (Reacting to the Past™)
An introduction to Tim Walz, the happy warrior
Before his selection as Kamala Harris’ running mate, Tim Walz had never delivered a high-stakes speech in front of a national audience and never even used a teleprompter!
So, in a Democratic National Convention filled with former presidents, celebrities, congressional leaders, and more, he opted to be something else altogether.
He’s a former congressman and two-term governor, but he leaned into earlier portions of his resume as a high school teacher, football coach, neighbor, and hunter. He used his address to make the case that Democrats are the party of freedom.
“In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the choices that they make. And even if we wouldn’t make the same choices ourselves, we’ve got a golden rule: Mind your own damn business,” Walz said.
Walz praised Harris’ policy positions on issues like homeownership, health care, and abortion rights. And he did so in populist manners at times reminiscent of the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone.
“When we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people you love. Freedom to make your own health care decisions. And yeah, your kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot in the hall,” Walz said.
After his speech, Walz left the stage as Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World” burst through the United Center.
Worth mentioning is that Neil Young had personally allowed the Harris campaign to use it, and four years earlier, he’d sued Donald Trump’s campaign to stop it from doing so.
Did you watch the Democratic National Convention? Please feel free to leave a comment and let us know if you think Kamala Harris has a chance of winning the presidency.
Meanwhile, if you found this article interesting, we also recommend reading: 6 Biggest Lies About Kamala Harris (and the Truth)
