After a bumpy and at times thrilling opening day and late night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention — which saw President Joe Biden’s emotional keynote speech pushed out of primetime due to the pitfalls of live television — the second night of the DNC, dubbed “A Bold Vision for America’s Future,” will feature speeches from two Obamas, First Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, Senators Bernie Sanders and Chuck Schumer, and other key figures in the Democratic Party.
A trio of well-known and quite popular white politicians took the podium midway through the second night of the Democratic National Convention: Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Senator Bernie Sanders and Chicago Governor Jay Robert “JB” Pritzker presented the crowd with their distinctive views on the state of politics, the threat of a second Trump administration and the woman of the day, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Schumer, who served with Harris in the Senate when she represented her home state of California on Capitol Hill, praised her as a champion for families and building an economy that can help Americans thrive. He also praised his own prediction that Democrats would keep the Senate in 2022, predicting the party would keep that majority and gain some seats in November. He may be right, as public polling numbers from FiveThirtyEight show that Republicans’ lead in some key races has shrunk since Harris moved up the ballot.
“More than half of our nominees are candidates of color. We’re making the Senate look like America now,” Schumer declared as he segued into a discussion of the makeup of the body and the GOP’s contribution to it. “Republicans in the Senate pretend to care about middle-class families, but they voted against expanding the child tax credit, and J.D. Banks didn’t even show up to vote on the Senate floor. Republicans pretend to care about the border, but they voted against the strongest border bill in a decade. Republicans usually care about freedom, but they voted against women’s right to self-determination, against protecting IVF, against birth control. So this is just the fall of their extreme agenda. Is that what we want for America?”
Sanders succeeded in reminding the crowd how he had started a movement with his presidential candidacy in 2016 and 2020 by recalling the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic when the Biden-Harris presidency was taking shape and they were implementing a plan to lead the nation out of those dark days.
“We passed the American Rescue Plan, which provides $1,400 to every working-class man, woman and child. We extended and expanded unemployment benefits. We provided emergency aid to small businesses so they could stay open, we guaranteed health insurance for millions of Americans, and we expanded Medicaid like never before,” Sanders told the rapt crowd.
“Thank you, President Biden. Thank you, Vice President Harris,” Sanders said. “Thank you, Democratic Congress. I say all this not to reiterate these difficult times, but to make a simple point: When the political will is there, government can work effectively for the people of our country.”
Governor Pritzker, who has led the state of Illinois since 2019, used the opportunity to sharply attack Trump and his billionaire status, which he questioned. The governor, a former businessman, is the richest politician currently in office with an estimated net worth of $3.5 billion.
“Donald Trump thinks we should trust him on economic issues because he claims to be very rich. But take it from a real billionaire, Trump is only rich in one thing: his stupidity,” he said. “I meet with business leaders all the time, and there is one universal thing they all need: people. They need more workers to fill all their jobs. But the anti-freedom, anti-family policies of the MAGA Republicans are driving workers away.”
The Trump-baiting continued when war veteran Tammy Duckworth called the former president a “five-time draft dodger and a coward.”
On Tuesday, the DNC was criticized for pushing Biden back so far on Monday, a day that a congressional staffer recounted The Hollywood Reporter was supposed to honor the president’s lifelong commitment to the public and capture the energy around Harris. Also removed from the program: Representatives Grace Meng (NY) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL) and James Taylor, the top musical guest of the first day at the United Center in Chicago. It is now unclear whether Taylor will return; Politico Reports have said that a member of Harris’ campaign staff has been on the phone all day with Democrats scheduled to speak at the convention, asking them to cut back on their remarks. But there is no indication from convention staff that a course correction is underway to limit some of the speeches.
“Due to the thunderous applause that interrupted one speaker after another, we ultimately skipped portions of our program to ensure we got to President Biden as quickly as possible so he could speak directly to the American people. We are proud of the electrifying atmosphere in our congressional hall and proud that our Congress is showcasing the broad and diverse coalition behind the Harris-Waltz ticket on and offstage all week,” DNC officials said. THR.
After the convention officially opened on Tuesday, remarks were heard from Jimmy Carter’s son and Pennsylvania Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, the latter of whom was tapped to speak about what Democrats often wield as a sword against Republicans: Project 2025. The Heritage Foundation’s initiative, also known as the “2025 Presidential Transition Project,” lays out a series of conservative and right-wing measures and is described as a “policy agenda, personnel, training and a 180-day playbook” to be implemented by the next Republican president “on day one.” The Harris campaign team links the plan to Trump every time it mentions it, as do several speakers at the convention.
“It’s a radical plan to set us back. They’ve destroyed the middle class and raised prices for working families like yours and mine. Under Project 2025, a family with just two children making just $75,000 a year will pay $1,800 more in federal taxes,” Kenyatta explained. “No, no, no, but there’s more, because on page 465, Project 2025 would prevent Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug prices and capping out-of-pocket costs.
“Now it’s our turn to make sure democracy doesn’t perish while we’re in office,” he added. “Now it’s our turn to make history, my friends, by electing Kamala Harris as the next President of the United States of America.”
The official roll call, in which states cast their votes in a ceremonial show of support, began around 7 p.m. CT. If DNC planners wanted to save time, this time-consuming tradition could be a good choice for the axe. States and delegates deserve moments in the convention spotlight — but does Lil John deserve it? The rapper appeared when Georgia was called and treated the stadium to his 2013 hit “Turn Down for What.” Yes, it was fun and unexpected to see the rapper (and former celebrity apprentice And All-Star Celebrity Apprentice Star), but it went on a few bars too long. However, it gave everyone a little taste of what was happening at the Georgia Democratic Party’s Southern Soul Party, the hottest event in Chicago this week, according to PoliticoViewers also caught a glimpse of legendary filmmaker Spike Lee in attendance as New York lawmakers cast votes for the state.
The roll call is expected to take up an entire hour of the convention. Let’s hope that the Obamas’ speeches are not thrown out of prime time as well.
This is an evolving story.
