From a late-night sendoff from President Joe Biden to former First Lady Michelle Obama’s decision to no longer “go high,” when it comes to Republican nominee Donald Trump, the first two days of the Democratic National Convention have shown that the gloves are coming off.
President Joe Biden embraces Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris as first lady Jill Biden hugs second gentleman Doug Emhoff during the first day of Democratic National Convention, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
By Denise Clay-Murray
After getting a little sustenance during the Pennsylvania Delegation breakfast at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Wednesday, City Councilmember Curtis Jones summed up much of the convention over the last two days.
Although the party faithful would have worked equally as hard if President Joe Biden had remained the Democratic nominee, the nomination for president of Vice President Kamala Harris, which was confirmed through the Roll Call of States on Tuesday night, has lit a fire under Democrats, Jones said.
The excitement is palpable.
“It’s been like a bolt of energy,” Jones said. “Three months ago, this would have been a wake. People would have been valiant, but in their heart of hearts, not as hopeful. We’re hopeful today, and we have reason for hope.”
“Kamala [Harris] has re-energized the party,” Jones continued. “Joe Biden did the most heroic, selfless thing I’ve seen in my lifetime. And so, all of that has come to this place, Chicago, and all of us are looking at each other, saying, ‘Let’s do the work.’ It’s not about pomp and circumstances anymore. We’ve got, what, 75 days? It’s time to go to work.”
Over the last two days, the Pennsylvania delegation has been told, “Let’s get to work,” both during their delegate breakfasts and on the convention floor itself.
After a Monday breakfast that featured visits from Democratic Vice-Presidential nominee Tim Walz, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the delegation has played host to Minnesota’s First Lady, Gwen Walz, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, and Harry Dunn, one of the Capital Police officers injured during the Jan. 6 riots.
With few exceptions, Democrats have embraced the change at the top of their ticket from President Joe Biden, who spoke at the end of Monday night’s program to Harris, who will deliver her acceptance speech as the party’s nominee on Thursday night.
President Biden speaks during the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Following a speech from First Lady Jill Biden, President Biden, who was introduced by his daughter Ashley, gave the first, last, and only speech he’ll ever deliver at the DNC as the current president of the United States.
During the speech, Biden repeated his reasons for stepping down as the party’s nominee, and also said that he wasn’t angry he had been approached about that. But by the same token, the country requires you to step up on Harris’s behalf to get her and Walz over the finish line, Biden said.
“It’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president,” he said. “I love the job, but I love my country more, and we need to preserve our democracy. In 2024, we need you to vote. We need you to keep the Senate. We need you to win back the House of Representatives. And above all, we need you to beat Donald Trump and elect Kamala and Tim president and vice president of the United States of America.”
“They’ll continue to lead America forward, creating more jobs, standing up for workers, growing the economy, lowering the costs for American families so they just have a little more breathing room,” Biden continued.
While Jill Biden’s speech focused more on her husband’s relationship with Harris and why she’d make a good president, the two Democratic First Ladies that preceded her, Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama, set their sights on the Republican nominee for president, Donald Trump.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during the Democratic National Convention, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Former Secretary of State Clinton, who ran against Trump in 2016, spoke about how a victory for Harris would represent something her candidacy started that’s been a long time coming.
“Together, we’ve put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” she said. “On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States. When a barrier falls for one of us, it clears the way for all of us.”
But it also wasn’t lost on Clinton that the man whose rallies featured chants of “Lock her Up!” directed at her during the 2016 election had been spending more than his share of time in court himself of late.
While she didn’t join the audience in its chants of “Lock him up!” Clinton did appreciate the irony of Trump having to face a stint at the Graybar Motel.
“Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial,” she pointed out. “When he woke up, he’d made his own kind of history: the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.”
Although Clinton’s swipes at Trump connected, they were nothing compared to Michelle Obama’s. While the former First Lady was best known for telling Americans not to take Trump’s bait during the 2016 election, she decided to keep it real during her speech.
Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta speaks during the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
In a speech that reflected the frustration that comes with having someone distill your family’s existence into a series of bad stereotypes, the author of the phrase “When they go low, we go high” became instead, the Black Daenerys Targaryen.
She broke out the dragons and aimed them all at Trump, using some of his own words as their fuel.
“His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black,” she said. “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?”
Former first lady Michelle Obama speaking during the Democratic National Convention Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
By the end of her speech, you almost felt bad for her husband, a prolific orator in his own right, because he had to follow her, something Barack Obama alluded to in his speech.
Tonight, Vice-Presidential nominee Tim Walz gives his acceptance speech following a tribute to Minnesota native and Oscar-winning composer Prince led by John Legend and an address from Secretary Clinton’s other half, former President Bill Clinton.
The Democratic National Convention concludes Thursday night with Vice President Kamala Harris’s acceptance speech as the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to be a major party’s standard bearer as president.
As part of the Lenfest Institute for Journalism’s Every Voice, Every Vote campaign, the. SUN has 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 Philadelphia Sunday Sun and Philadelphia Hall Monitor’s coverage of the 2024 Democratic National Convention is also sponsored 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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