Tom Cronin and Bob Loevy
What a turnaround. Democrats, meeting at their convention in Chicago, showed President Joe Biden some affection, but also showed him the exit door.
Democrats feared a divisive convention with multiple presidential candidates and the possibility of pro-Palestinian uprisings in the streets of the Windy City. This did not happen.
Humorist Will Rogers is said to have joked, “I’m not a member of an organized party – I’m a Democrat.” But not this time. The Democrats in 2024 are remarkably well organized and form a “big” political party with diversity of all kinds.
The Democrats just pulled off the best convention in their history, in many ways surpassing the impressive Republican convention held in Milwaukee last month.
Here are our thoughts on notable events:
Vice President Kamala Harris, the official nominee of the Democratic Party, had to introduce herself to the American people while differentiating herself from incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden. She also had to emphasize that she has impressive credentials and is a patriotic, freedom-loving American.
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Most importantly, she showed that she can be a tough, strong and vigilant commander in chief.
She did all this in a crisp, elegant acceptance speech. Compared to former President Donald Trump’s long-winded, angry and clumsy acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, her speech was a slam dunk.
Vice President Harris spoke with joy, humor, and a toughness and poise few Americans have ever seen. She has come a long way since her unsuccessful and ineffective run for the Democratic presidential nomination four years ago in 2020.
She has learned and evolved, and looks set to be a more serious contender for Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton was in 2016. She will be a stronger candidate than the aging and ineffective communicator incumbent President Joe Biden has become over the past year.
One news commentator compared Harris to a backup quarterback who helped the Democrats save a seemingly embarrassing defeat in the November presidential election.
Almost like a fairy tale, Harris came off the bench and turned the game around, or at least scored enough touchdowns to tie the game midway through the fourth quarter.
Harris has engineered the most remarkable political turnaround in modern American political history, but it is not complete and will remain so until the final votes are counted in the general election in November.
The 2024 Democratic National Convention honored former party leaders, with former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson saying his grandfather was looking forward to voting for Harris. Carter, who served as president from 1977 to 1981, turns 100 on October 1.
John F. Kennedy was president from 1961 to 1963. His grandson proudly supported Kamala Harris as a presidential candidate in 2024.
Michelle Obama, wife of former President Barack Obama, gave one of the best speeches at the convention, urging party activists to organize and campaign effectively for Harris.
Barack Obama himself took the stage at the convention, as did former President Bill Clinton. Both gave their blessing to the new presidential candidate and affirmed the “Yes, we can” spirit that permeated the convention.
Celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Steph Curry, Steve Kerr and Stevie Wonder supported Harris and entertained the convention delegates.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz was a surprise choice two weeks ago. He has emerged as an unexpected asset for Harris’ campaign. Walz sometimes seems like a character from a Frank Capra movie, especially when members of his former high school team that won the state championship joined him on stage and sang their high school fight song.
On the eve of the convention, Walz gave a much better acceptance speech than vice presidential candidates usually do.
The Democrats did poorly among farmers and rural voters in the last election. Waltz has rural roots and will try to help the Midwest and other rural parts of America. But it will be a difficult challenge.
The Democrats have increasingly become a party with a presence in the suburbs and cities. The Democrats have also been doing poorly with white working-class men recently. Maybe Walz can help there? Maybe not.
Gus Walz, Tim Walz’s son, provided one of the most heartwarming, spontaneous highlights of the convention. Caught on camera as his father walked on stage to accept the vice presidential nomination, Gus Walz stood, cried, and shouted “That’s my dad” with a pride and joy that was unmistakable and sustained.
Tim Walz’s 17-year-old son Gus was diagnosed with a nonverbal learning disorder. His emotional reaction to his father’s moment of success melted hearts and went viral on social media.
This was a well-staged convention. The ratings were much higher than the Republican convention held a month earlier in July. The Democrats danced and sang a lot and did their best to reclaim patriotic values such as the American flag and the emphasis on freedom and independence.
At the same time, Democrats tried hard to portray their Republican opponent, Donald Trump, as a herald of a bleak, dire and frightening future for the United States.
Liberals and liberalism received significant airtime. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave powerful liberal speeches. African-American leaders such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were present and celebrated. Labor leaders received prime time.
But the convention also featured Democrats who strongly support NATO, oppose Russia’s attempt to take over Ukraine, and want a stronger U.S. military. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave an excellent speech calling for the United States to recommit itself to global leadership.
Adam Kinzinger, a former Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois, gave one of the convention’s most memorable speeches. He is still a Republican and a proud conservative, but was censured by the Republican National Committee for voting to impeach Trump for his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2001.
Kinzinger told Democrats that Trump’s actions had “suffocated the soul of the Republican Party.” He said he supported Harris for president.
Kinzinger said he believes Democrats love their country and democracy as much as Republicans do. “Democracy knows no party,” he concluded, and this election requires a candidate who respects fair elections, a peaceful transition of power and respect for the law.
Most of the Democratic convention was understandably geared toward motivating the party’s grassroots activists, but the speeches by Panetta and Republican Kinzinger were aimed squarely at the crucial swing voters who will cast the final vote in this November’s election.
Democrats have surprisingly redefined this election, saying it is now a case of Democratic optimism versus Republican pessimism, reproductive rights versus abortion, and pro-Ukrainian commitment versus isolationism.
Democratic candidates Harris and Walz are almost certain to gain several points in the polls, at least in the short term. Trump, for his part, could see some boost from the surprise support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who dropped out of the race this week.
The Democrats have managed to turn things around – unexpectedly and gratifyingly.
But this is likely to be a hard-fought and probably ugly presidential campaign. Democrats still need to convince independent voters and fiscal conservatives that they understand the dangers of increased immigration at the all-too-porous southern border and a dangerously high national debt.
The Democrats, as we’re seeing under President Biden, are spendthrifts. Yes, this spending is important when it comes to building bridges, boosting manufacturing, and providing basic grants for cancer therapies and quantum computing. But fiscal integrity is also a national priority.
Few observers would have believed that Democrats could pass the torch from Biden to Harris so effectively and then make us forget Biden so quickly. There were also unfulfilled predictions that there would be protracted unrest in the streets of Chicago over the Israeli-Palestinian situation.
But the Democrats passed the torch and avoided street riots with their previously little-noticed replacement quarterback – Vice President Kamala Harris. And she delivered.
But that is in the past. The main political season, the campaign for the presidential election in November, is only just beginning.
Tom Cronin and Bob Loevy are news columnists who cover Colorado and national politics. They attended 10 national gatherings in various ways.
