My Week at the Democratic Convention
AOC at breakfast, Biden on the floor and Nancy Pelosi after dark
One Democrat who attended last week’s convention in Chicago remarked that it went “to a wedding from a wake” after President Biden suspended his campaign and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris. That seemed apt: there were good vibes, money and cool, minimal tension as well as a broad sense of optimism during the four-day gathering. As my colleague Molly Ball put it in The Wall Street Journal, “Democrats basked in their sudden good fortune after a long season of gloom, intoxicated by the prospect of victory that suddenly seemed newly possible.”
This was the fourth national convention that I’ve covered: I did both parties in 2012, the Democrats in 2016 and now a week in Chicago. Conventions are enormous affairs where you literally can’t do everything. Days start with delegation breakfasts, then move to mid-day programming by either the party or other groups, then the prime-time show (some of which is broadcast) and the after parties. It’s hard to do all of them every day. Here’s a smattering of my experience last week:
j++ I had a great seat in the convention arena on Monday night, when Hillary Clinton and President Biden gave some of the biggest speeches. Clinton spoke about putting cracks in the glass ceiling and teed up the potential barrier-breaking nature of Harris’s run. “It’s one of the best revenge speeches I’ve ever heard,” Judith Barnett, a longtime Clinton acolyte, told me later. “It was 180 degrees. We got to show her how much we loved her, and how she laid the foundation for where we are now.”
President Biden gave one of the longest speeches of the convention, mostly reciting his record in office. For April Fournier, President Biden’s 45-minute farewell was “a love letter back to the community.”
“Reflecting back on the last four years is important, especially when he made a big sacrifice in stepping back,” Fournier, a delegate from Portland, Maine, told me.
++ There was minimal tension in the arena, but several thousand people protested nearby — mostly over the Biden-Harris administration’s support for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. My WSJ colleagues covered the protests. I went to a press conference by some of the demonstrators who said they wouldn’t support Democrats unless Harris embraces a major policy shift.
“The only option for people of conscience is to abandon Harris—to punish her and the [Democratic] Party so that they know they can never put genocide on the ballot,” said Hassan Abdel Salam, a professor who started the Abandon Harris campaign.
++ Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez electrified members of the New York delegation at their Tuesday breakfast meeting. That’s right: AOC, who came to power by slaying a party stalwart is now welcomed on the center stage. She even praised Gov. Kathy Hochul’s organizing efforts.
“When that majority runs through the state of New York, do you know what that means? That means that we can govern the country on New York values,” including protecting abortion rights, upgrading water infrastructure and directing money to public housing, Ocasio-Cortez said.
Later, I asked her about her new non-pariah status. Emily Ngo caught the answer: “I think the shift we’ve been able to work towards in prioritizing working and middle-class New Yorkers is the thing that’s always been most important to me, so I’m encouraged.”
++ On Wednesday I went to a party on the 94th Floor of the John Hancock Building that was put on by four Democratic House members with national security backgrounds. It was a really cool space and an upbeat vibe. House Speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi (who someone on jokingly introduced as the “mother of dragons”) made a surprise appearance.
++ Each night of the proceedings, I paid special attention to rising stars within the party who are unknown to the larger public but on track to achieve higher office in the future. I also listened for references to Project 2025, the conservative policy playbook that was brought up with serious denunciations and comedic derisionby speakers on each night.
++ The weather in Chicago was perfect. I had a lovely time gawking at spectacular architecture, riding a bike along the lakeshore, running along the river walk and checking out a great Georgia O’Keeffe exhibit at the Art Institute before I flew home.
THE QUESTION: Who was the last U.S. president to be nominated at a convention in Chicago?
Know the answer? Drop me a line at jimmy.vielkind@gmail.com. Or just write with thoughts, feedback or to say hi.
THE LAST ANSWER: Robert F. Kennedy Sr. moved back to New York to run for the U.S. Senate in 1964.