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We have a couple of readers who are delegates to the Democratic National Convention, and who have agreed to send in reports as time and energy allows. Today, A.S. in Fairfax, VA, has a report on the goings on this weekend:
Greetings from Chicago! I thought readers might like to know about the pre-Convention festivities. However, I first thought it necessary to provide recognition to the DNC and the amazing volunteers for this convention. There are volunteers at both airports, the train stations, and every hotel helping delegates get where they need to be. And the communication has been excellent. They've had to plan this event for 4 years, had to re-plan everything just a month ago, and had to manage a virtual nomination process in the meantime. And yet, I still know exactly where I need to go each day, how to dress, what to bring, etc. Just incredibly well organized.
I also wanted to address the questions raised on Saturday by P.J. in Quakertown and M.H. in Council Grove, because I've seen them come up a lot lately. Many of us in the Virginia delegation have kept in touch since we were all elected, and we were initially fired up to formally nominate President Biden. Then the debate happened. I personally received several calls and messages from friends—strong Democrats—asking if I had any alternative in my vote. Our local Democratic committee office received multiple calls a day from voters expressing the same sentiment. The delegates themselves started asking those questions, enough so that at a virtual information meeting, we were told that the rules state that we must vote for our pledged candidate "with all due conscience." Long before Biden withdrew, the delegates discussed what would happen if he did... and it did not take long for a clear consensus to emerge: There was one person who was specifically selected and elected to fill in for the president if he was not available, Vice President Kamala Harris.
For sure, not every delegate was entirely immediately on board, but there was a clear majority that was. When Biden announced his withdrawal, Harris was already very likely to receive the majority of delegates, but one thought did occur to some of us delegates, "if Biden doesn't endorse her, does that mean he doesn't think she can do the job?" So while I can understand that, from the outside, it looks like the party poohbahs just declared Biden out and Harris in, it was much more organic than that and the party's outward presentation matched the delegates' sentiment pretty well. And Biden's endorsement was crucial to confirming our consensus that Kamala is the best candidate to win in 2024 and to serve as our president for the next 4—or, hopefully, 8—years.
Anyhow, night zero is now in the books. The first thing I'm realizing is just how many events there are all around town and many do not require one to be a delegate. I started the day at the Progressive Democrats of America's "Progressive Central" conference. We heard from Congresspersons Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Danny Davis (D-IL) and Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), among other progressive policy experts and state and local elected officials. The difference in public speaking skills and techniques between experienced elected officials and other presenters was staggering.
From there, it was time for the welcome parties. Each state delegation appears to have had its own welcome reception. Our Virginia delegation took over the hotel bar, and from there we had to commute to the end of the Navy Pier for the DNC's welcome reception. Shuttles were provided from each of the eight delegate hotels; however, protesters made their mark, as several shuttles had to be diverted because of the disruption. A 10-minute shuttle ride instead became a half-hour walk for those of us willing to make the trek. The DNC welcome reception was a mini-concert with an open bar, lots of different Chicago delicacies (the hot dogs were a big hit), and a few surprises. After DNC Chair Jaime Harrison welcomed us, he brought out Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. Hamill gave a great speech supporting Vice President Harris and then offered to take selfies with every delegate in the room. One of the downsides about having so many events around town is that you feel the need to try to get to as many events as you can, and unfortunately for me, this meant sacrificing a selfie with my childhood Jedi hero to get to the Human Rights Campaign's welcome event in a different part of town. We ran into the protesters again as we tried to get from the reception venue to our rideshare, but police seemed to have things completely under control and things seemed relatively peaceful.
Overall it was a great night leaving many of us excited to get to work tomorrow, when we'll vote on the platform and affirm the nomination of our vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz.
Thanks, A.S.! We look forward to your subsequent reports. (Z)