(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — All eyes will be on the podium Thursday night as Vice President Kamala Harris accepts her party's nomination in a much anticipated speech. However, party officials are also thinking about the short campaign season ahead.
The final delegate breakfast of the week usually has the lowest energy and the fewest delegates – some were up late partying – but the gathering at the Royal Sonesta Hotel was still spirited.
State treasurer Michael Frerichs said the Illinois delegation knows the assignment.
“There's a lot of excitement. There was momentum today but we can't just coast, we can't just glide. We've got to go out. We've got to tell our stories. We've got to knock on doors. And if we do that, we can be successful,” Frerichs said.
But it is fair to ask what could go wrong in the next couple of months.
“Any number of things. If you just look back five weeks ago, there were a lot of people probably here at this convention who thought the election was over. They were despondent, they were down.
“Political wins can change really quickly but they're less likely to change if you're out there working.”
Getting out there and working is the assignment after the DNC.
Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski told the delegate breakfast that there are counties in the state that used to vote democratic that are now solid red.
“There's a lot of talk about how Democrats have lost touch with rural America with working class voters. And I will be the first to tell you that we do have a lot of work to do but that we need to tell our story.”
For example, she says she and other Democrats have brought in high tech development to what she's calling “Sili-corn Valley.”
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