CHICAGO (KYW Newsradio) — Democrats are gathered at the United Center in Chicago this week for their first in-person nominating convention since they met in Philadelphia in 2016. President Joe Biden will deliver a keynote address to delegates on Monday night, calling on the Party to unite behind Kamala Harris — and marking the beginning of the end of his presidency and his 50 years of public service.
“This is an exciting day,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chair Sharif Street, welcoming the state’s delegates Monday morning to breakfast.
Moments later, vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz paid the delegation a surprise visit as he made the rounds to all the battleground state delegations, declaring the “Blue Wall” of democratic-leaning states solid. For Pennsylvania, he had a message focused on civility, joy and empathy.
“Vice President Harris is bringing back what we all know — that politics can be not just against something but about a positive future, … and this idea that politics can be done with joy and kindness and decency,” the Minnesota governor said.
He exhorted the party loyalists who will be getting out the vote not to let down their efforts.
“We have 78 days. You can do anything for 78 days. We’ll sleep when we’re dead, when this is over, but not now.”
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also rallied the delegates. Shapiro was once himself a contender for the vice presidential nomination, but he declared Walz an excellent choice and Harris “battle-tested and ready.”
“If you can’t tell how skilled and determined and prepared she is, take a look at how Donald Trump has been acting. He is scared of Kamala Harris. You know what he’s really scared of? Powerful women,” the governor said.
Shapiro told the delegates they will be the foot soldiers in a battleground state that is crucial to victory.
“I know that these races are close, and I know that can make some people feel down, but remember: When we put our shoulder to the wheel, folks show up. When they show up, we win.”
Shapiro later angrily dismissed Republican assertions that he wasn’t chosen as Harris’ running mate because of antisemitism.
“Donald Trump is completely full of it, and he is using me and using other Jews to divide America further.”
Both men called Biden the greatest president of their lifetime and said they were looking forward to his keynote address and the chance for the party to thank him.
Honoring Biden while pivoting to Harris
Biden's decision to end his reelection bid released newfound energy in the Democratic Party. Part of introducing the Harris-Walz ticket will be first giving a graceful exit to the incumbent president. The opening night was designed as a handoff.
The DNC holds particularly high stakes for the party one month after the unprecedented mid-campaign switch from Biden to Harris. Democrats are looking to the weeklong event to slingshot Harris toward a faceoff with Republican Donald Trump, whose comeback bid for the White House is viewed by Democrats as an existential threat. Having taken over the ticket just one month ago, Harris must now win over a divided country that is viewing her more positively but still making up its mind about the election.
An early focus on the convention program was honoring the civil rights movement, with an appearance from Rev. Jesse Jackson, the founder of the Chicago-based Rainbow PUSH Coalition, who is ailing with Parkinson’s disease. There were several references to Fannie Lou Hamer, the late civil rights activist who gave a landmark speech at a Democratic convention in 1964.
Hamer was a former sharecropper and a leader of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, a racially integrated group that challenged the seating of an all-white Mississippi delegation at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. Hamer spoke on Aug. 22, 1964 — exactly 60 years before Harris is set to accept the Democratic nomination and become the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent to be the presidential nominee of a major party.
Pa. delegate state Rep. Joanna McClinton, the first Black woman to serve as speaker of the Pa. House, noted that the excitement she has seen in Philadelphia since Biden endorsed Harris is similar to that of 2008, when Barack Obama ran for president. She emphasized the importance of grassroots campaign work, social media marketing, and the enthusiasm of young voters in Pennsylvania to boost voter turnout.
"It's almost like 2008, where people want to be a part of something brand-new and exciting. How do I volunteer? How do I get involved? How do I participate?" she said.
Asked what it means to her that a biracial woman could be elected president, she said, "For me, that means more than time permits me to talk about."
McClinton says her mother grew up in segregated North Carolina and her grandmothers were low-wage workers.
Beyond the convention’s celebrations, the event comes as a pivotal moment for the party and its new nominee. A false step could hobble Harris at a moment when her candidacy has been enjoying a burst of money, momentum and even joy. And real questions loom about the depth of Harris’ newfound support, the breadth of her coalition and the strength of her movement.
Not even a month ago, Democrats were deeply divided over foreign policy, political strategy and Biden himself, who was holding on after a disastrous debate by claiming he had a better chance than any other Democrat — including Harris — of beating Trump.
A potential distraction will be thousands of protesters descending on Chicago to decry the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Harris’ allies hope the pro-Palestinian protesters will not overshadow the official program, which features a slate of current and former Democratic stars, plus what organizers describe as “everyday people.”
Among the speakers: United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain; Hillary Clinton; Reps. Grace Meng, Jamie Raskin and Jasmine Crockett; Sens. Chris Coons and Raphael Warnock; and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Also expected to perform are musicians James Taylor, Jason Isbell and Mickey Guyton.
Protesters break through police fence near DNC
A few thousand people marched toward the United Center on Monday afternoon to voice their opposition to the war in Gaza. And a group that called itself the Abandon Biden movement held an event to rebrand itself as Abandon Harris. The group argued the vice president's inability to differentiate herself from Biden's handling of the war was not acceptable.
As the larger group marched, a few dozen who broke away tore through a security fence set up by police near the site of the DNC. Some protesters, dressed in black with their faces covered, dragged pieces of the fence back to a park near the United Center.
Members of the crowd chanted “End the occupation now” and then “The whole world is watching!” just as anti-Vietnam War protesters did during the infamous 1968 convention in Chicago when police clashed with protesters on live television. Officers put on gas masks as some protesters tried to bring down a second fence set up in front of police.
The march happened just as Biden, the target of intense criticism from pro-Palestinian groups, including the marchers, was doing a walk-through of the largely empty arena.
“Biden, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide,” the marchers chanted amid the beating of drums. They also referred to him as “Genocide Joe” and lodged similar chants at Vice President Kamala Harris.