Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, governor of Minnesota, takes the stage to speak during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
CHICAGO (AP) — Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accepted his party’s nomination for vice president on Wednesday and used his speech at the Democratic National Convention to address the packed arena for “Bring joy” to an election that was changed by the appointment of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris.
“We are all here tonight for one simple, beautiful reason: we love this country,” said Walz.
Democrats gathered at Chicago’s United Center hope to build on the momentum Harris has brought since she assumed the party’s presidential nomination last month, seeking to capitalize on the Democratic exuberance that followed President Joe Biden’s resignation while making it clear to their supporters that they face a bitter battle with former President Donald Trump.
Many Americans had never heard of Walz until Harris picked him as her vice presidential candidate. In the early weeks of his campaign, he charmed supporters with his background, helping to balance Harris’s coastal background as a cultural representative of the Midwestern states whose voters need her this fall.
But Walz has also come under scrutiny, in part for whitewashing his past. His wife clarified this week that she did not undergo IVF, as Walz has repeatedly claimed, but had used other fertility treatments. Republicans also criticized Walz for a 2018 remark about carrying weapons in war. Although he served in the National Guard for 24 years, he was never deployed to a war zone.
Benjamin C. Ingman, one of Walz’s former high school students, introduced the man whom many speakers – and sometimes Harris – called “Coach Walz.” At Ingman’s suggestion, many of Walz’s former players from the 1999 high school state championship team he helped coach – many in their red and white jerseys – came on stage to introduce him.
Walz’s speech followed that of former President Bill Clinton, who returned to a place familiar to him: the stage of the Democratic National Convention to condemn Donald Trump as selfish and praise Kamala Harris for focusing on the needs of Americans – and to breathe new life into his party with his typical spontaneous outbursts.
Clinton was expected to add weight to the third night of the DNC, which culminated in the introduction of vice presidential candidate Tim Walz to a national audience.
“For me, we have a pretty clear choice. Kamala Harris, for the people. And the other guy who has proven even more than the first time that he cares about me, myself and me.” said Clinton.
Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States and a member of his party’s convention for decades, was once elected “Secretary for Declarations” by Barack Obama, whose chances of re-election in 2012 were strengthened by a candidacy against Clinton at the DNC of the same year.
Clinton is now 78 years old – the same age as Trump – but his speech was sometimes halting, his movements slower, and he mispronounced Harris’s first name twice. His left hand often shook when he wasn’t using it to grip the lectern.
Nevertheless, he made several memorable, down-to-earth announcements, including a question. “What is your opponent doing with his voice? He talks mostly about himself. So next time you hear him, don’t count the lies, count the ‘I’s.”
Winfrey, who has long hosted her signature Chicago talk show, took up one of the Democrats’ favorite topics of late, mocking Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance, who once mocked “childless female cats” He argued that Americans should have more children.
Winfrey said that when a burning house “childless cat lady”, Neighbours would still help and “Try to get the cat out too.”
“We are beyond ridiculous tweets, lies and stupidity,” she said of Trump, before responding to a recent statement he made to his supporters that they only need to vote once – for him – and never again.
“You see a registered independent who is proud to vote again and again because that’s what Americans do,” she said. “Voting is the best thing about America.”
The theme of the evening was “a fight for our freedoms”, The program focused on access to abortion and other rights that Democrats want to make the center of their campaign against Trump. One speaker after another argued that his party wanted to defend freedoms while the Republicans wanted to take them away.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis used a prop that has become a convention staple: an oversized book meant to represent the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a sweeping list of goals to shrink government and move it to the right if Trump wins. Polis even ripped a page out of the ceremonial book, saying he would keep it and show it to undecided voters.
The former president has distanced himself from Project 2025, but key authors include his former top advisers. His running mate, JD Vance, wrote the foreword for the Heritage Foundation CEO’s new book.
Florida State Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz told the story of a woman in her state, which passed new abortion restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. One woman was forced to carry a terminally ill child to term, only to watch the newborn die just hours after birth.
Dana Nessel, Attorney General of Michigan and an openly lesbian woman, stated: “I have a message for Republicans and the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court: You can rip this wedding ring out of my cold, dead, gay hand.”
Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi spoke about the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. He chaired a congressional committee investigating the mob that overran the Capitol and said: “They wanted to prevent the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history.”
“Thank God they didn’t succeed,” said Thompson.
Trump criticized the convention as “Farce” and pointed out that he had been a frequent topic of conversation. He also picked up on his predecessor Obama for a highly critical speech on Tuesday evening at the party convention, saying that Obama was “evil.”
A recognition of the hostages of October 7
Democrats recognized the hostages still held by Hamas following its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people. Jon and Rachel Goldberg-Polin moved some in the arena to tears as they paid tribute to their son, Hersh, who was kidnapped in the attack.
Hostage rescue “is not a political problem. It is a humanitarian problem.” Jon Goldberg-Polin said, adding: “In a contest of pain there are no winners.”
The war between Israel and Hamas has divided the democratic base. Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrated outside the United Center and several speakers this week recognized the civilian casualties of the Israeli offensive in Gaza. According to local health authorities, more than 40,000 people have died in Gaza.
