During the Democratic National Convention, Vice President Kamala Harris made history again by becoming the party’s nominee for president. But she can’t necessarily rely on that to get to the White House.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
By Denise Clay-Murray
CHICAGO — Throughout the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, one of the most popular of Pennsylvania’s delegates was Jim Harrity, one of Philadelphia’s at-large City Councilpersons.
The reason for his popularity, other than the fact that Harrity is one of the more jovial members of a body that isn’t always known for its joviality, was his ability to connect his fellow Pennsylvania delegates and their guests with just about anything they needed. You see, before Harrity became a member of City Council, he was the political director for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, which meant he had the kind of relationships within the DNC that might be helpful in that regard.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks as her grand-nieces Amara Ajagu, left, and Leela Ajagu watch during
But my guess is that not even Harrity could connect you with passes for Thursday night’s session of the DNC because that was the hottest ticket in town. That was the night that Vice President Kamala Harris became Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
With her acceptance speech, Harris became the first Black woman and first person of Asian descent to lead a major party ticket, which is why I’ll be making sure that I put my credentials for this convention in the same safe place where I have my credentials for the DNC in 2008 (Barack Obama) and the DNC in 2016 (Hillary Clinton).
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris hugs President Biden during the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
(Oh, by the way, a person can be both Black and Asian at the same time. It’s called being bi-racial. It’ll also be the subject of another column. Please keep up.)
The United Center was, literally, packed to the ceiling on Thursday night. Balloons had been taped to the ceiling for days in preparation of them being dropped when Harris finished her speech. Delegates and guests carrying “Kamala” and campaign signs for Harris and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz were all over the place.
The mood was raucous, with music being played by a DJ and performances from country artists The Chicks and Bucks County’s own Pink.
The only reason I was able to get a seat in a press section that usually had enough seats to allow journalists to spread out a little was because the police came to the section I was sitting in and informed the gentleman that had reserved rows of seats for the convention’s media logistics team that suggesting that people sit in the aisles wasn’t going to cut it.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s son Gus and wife Gwen react during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
The program featured everyone from the VP’s nieces — who instructed people on how to pronounce their auntie’s name — to former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who talked about how thoughtful a Commander in Chief he believed Harris would be.
(Although I am an Army brat, I thought that there was a little too much emphasis on the military Thursday night. To me, the segment on gun violence and how we can keep AR-15s out of the hands of, well, anyone not in the military, was more relevant. But that’s just me.)
By the time that Harris took the stage, the crowd, clad mostly in white to signify the suffragettes — who frankly did not initially fight for Black women to have the right to vote — was ready to hear what she had to say.
Pennsylvania delegate Dawn Chavous sheds a tear as she listens to the members of The Exonerated Five, during the Democratic National Convention Thursday, Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
After talking a little bit about her family and how they shaped her journey to her current position, Harris spoke about her vision for the country and how important this election is. America has a chance to do something different through this election, and it’s more than just electing a woman to the nation’s highest office.
“With this election, our nation has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism, and divisive battles of the past; a chance to chart a new way forward not as members of any one party or faction, but as Americans,” she said.
Having had to put together an entire presidential campaign in a very short time, Harris recognizes this is going to be a tough election to win, but giving up is not an option, she said.
America’s future is at stake, and to have the best future possible, keeping Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump from returning to the White House is key, Harris said.
“In many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,” she said. “But the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious. Consider not only the chaos and calamity when he was in office but also the gravity of what has happened since he lost the last election.”
Members of the Pennsylvania delegation cheer during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
“Donald Trump tried to throw away your votes. When he failed, he sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol, where they assaulted law enforcement officers,” Harris continued. “When politicians in his own party begged him to call off the mob and send help, he did the opposite. He fanned the flames. And now, for an entirely different set of crimes, he was found guilty of fraud by a jury of everyday Americans and separately found liable for committing sexual abuse.”
Harris also pointed out that pardoning the Jan. 6 perpetrators — or as Trump calls them, patriots — jailing journalists and political opponents and even deploying the military to certain places, wasn’t off the table should Trump return to office.
She spoke a lot about restoring the reproductive rights that were taken away when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and that her presidency would not only address the crisis in the Middle East, but that it was something that she and current President Joe Biden were still working on solving.
Considering she has had to pull together something in three weeks that she probably thought she’d have at least another year or two to do, the vice president has done a pretty good job presenting herself to the world. While she hasn’t rolled out a formal policy plan yet — something that I guess will be coming out soon — Harris has shown some differences the Harris /Walz administration will have from the Biden/Harris administration.
But that doesn’t always matter when lies come out of your opponent’s mouth the way water comes out of a firehose, and he has an entire network pushing out those lies.
On Friday, Trump received the endorsement of Robert Kennedy Jr., who had suspended his campaign for the presidency earlier that day. Now, we could point out the fact this scion of the Kennedy political dynasty has endorsed a man that his father’s Justice Department would have arrested a while ago, but that’s not as relevant as the fact that there were people that were ready to vote for Kennedy and will probably switch allegiances.
While that category doesn’t include a lot of folks, it includes enough to be concerned.
One of the things that I noticed during the DNC was just how important Pennsylvania was to people. Walz stopped by the Pennsylvania delegation breakfast on Monday, the day the convention started. Throughout the week, everyone from Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to Sen. Cory Booker visited Pennsylvania’s delegation.
(I’m surprised that there wasn’t an appearance from the Clintons, the Obamas, or both.)
Heck, Mayor Cherelle Parker was among the people in the vice president’s box as she gave her historic speech.
But that said, Pennsylvanians shouldn’t just vote and keep it moving in this election. The commonwealth has some serious problems. Philadelphia in particular has some serious issues that need to be resolved.
While it’s nice to be asked to help save the Republic every four to eight years, the commonwealth needs to get something for its trouble this time around.
During the DNC, I asked some of Philadelphia’s politicos what they’d like to see happen for the commonwealth. I’ll have those answers in a future column.
But right now, I’m going to sleep…
As part of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism’s Every Voice, Every Vote campaign, the. SUN teamed up with the PhillyCam show, Philadelphia Hall Monitor, to cover the DNC as part of our efforts to help everyone be as informed as possible about the 2024 Presidential Election. The Sun and Hall Monitor’s coverage of the 2024 Democratic National Convention was also made possible by The Chris Murray Report on WURD, Tyler Made Media, Richard Rodriguez and family, a donor that wishes to remain anonymous, and readers like you. Thank you.
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