Washington Wednesday: Handoff to Harris

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: It’s Wednesday the 21st of August.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Lindsay Mast.

NICK EICHER, HOST: And I’m Nick Eicher.

Time now for Washington Wednesday in Chicago.

ANNOUNCER: …the President of the United States.

The last time the Democratic National Convention was held in the Windy City was 1996. That’s when the party renominated President Bill Clinton ahead of his second term.

BILL CLINTON: Thank you! Thank you all!

It’s only been a month since Joe Biden left the 2024 race, and so more time’s been spent preparing the DNC for Biden than not. The party already had its platform written for a second Biden term.

But now with Kamala Harris at the top, how is the convention different from the original plan?

MAST: Joining us from Chicago to talk about it is WORLD’s Washington Bureau reporter Carolina Lumetta.

Carolina, good morning.

CAROLINA LUMETTA: Good morning from the Windy City

MAST: Going into this convention, we already knew who would be on the ticket thanks to a virtual roll call that took place earlier this month. It also seemed certain there would be protests. For months, groups unhappy with President Biden's support for Israel had been planning to march on the DNC in Chicago.

Carolina, you were there in the streets when the convention opened. What did you see and hear?

LUMETTA: Right, Lindsay. So, we knew that hundreds of protest groups were converging in Chicago this week, and they had their kickoff event on Monday, called the March on the DNC. There were 1000s of activists all protesting the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris as its nominee over her policy in Gaza.

PROTESTORS: Harris, Harris you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide…

They say that they are not going to vote for her or for other Democrats, even though they affiliate closely with the Democratic Party, because they've identified Gaza as their number one issue. And it's a contrast that we saw encapsulated a bit in something that Cornel West said when he arrived at the rally for some speeches before the March happened. And Cornel West has been running a Green Party candidacy for president. Here's what he had to say about Kamala Harris

CORNEL WEST: And we simply want to say, a black face in a high place in the same empire, the same predatory capitalist processes, the same policies of genocide, do not move us. (applause)

MAST: Well, moving inside. President Biden was originally scheduled to speak on Thursday night as the nominee, instead, he appeared on the opening night giving a speech in support of Kamala Harris. What did convention goers you spoke with have to say about that change?

LUMETTA: Well, delegates here are actually really excited about this change that has completely shaken up the presidential campaign this year. There's a huge party atmosphere, and they're very excited about Kamala Harris as their candidate now. The mood is actually very similar to the Republican National Convention last month, where Democrats now say that their party is the one with all the momentum and the energy.

I spoke with one Michigan voter, Marquan Jackson, who actually changed his plans to come to the DNC as soon as he heard that Kamala Harris was running,

MARQUAN JACKSON: The blend was perfect. Like, seeing the crowd erupt when Hillary Clinton came out, spoke to our past, but seeing how excited folks were when Kamala, when Vice President Harris came out, speaks to where we're going.

MAST: So Carolina, tell us a bit about Biden's message on Monday night.

LUMETTA: So he gave the keynote speech on Monday night specifically to endorse Harris. But we also saw a lot of the same material that he used in his previous campaign speeches, with the new angle that this was an emphasis on what his legacy is, rather than pushing for re-election.

He dabbed away a few tears from his eyes as delegates chanted, “Thank you Joe, thank you Joe,” which several told me that encapsulates how they feel about his administration. But notably, this chant didn't really surface as a popular theme until he dropped out of the race.

And a top moment on Monday night was when he quoted Norah Jones's American Anthem, and the final line in that song is "America, I gave my best to you."

JOE BIDEN: For 50 years, like many of you, I have given my heart and soul to our nation, and I've been blessed a million times in return by the support of the American people. I've either been too young to be in the Senate because I wasn't 30 yet and too old to stay as president. But I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you.

But of course, his entire purpose for being there was to pass the torch to the next candidate. He links Kamala Harris to a lot of what he called wins in his administration, and said that she was part of one of his top commitments that he followed through on to select the first black woman to serve as his running mate.

JOE BIDEN: Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made before I became, when I became our nominee, and it was the best decision I made my whole career.

MAST: Back in 1996 Hillary Clinton gave a speech at the DNC in Chicago as first lady. Then in 2016 she expected to be the first woman to become president. This time, she was on hand again to throw her support behind Harris, someone you could argue didn't work nearly as hard as Clinton to get where she is. So, what was the former Secretary of State's message to the DNC this time Carolina?

LUMETTA: Well, Lindsay, that was another really interesting part about the first convention night. Hillary Clinton used to be in Kamala Harris's shoes, making a nomination acceptance speech, and worked hard to become the first female president, but is now putting her weight behind Kamala Harris instead. We do know that Clinton and Harris are actually quite close. And the Clintons were some of the first ones to formally endorse Harris when Biden dropped out, but before she even said if she would run. Clinton revisited the theme of breaking through that glass ceiling in her speech supporting Harris on Monday

HILLARY CLINTON: Together, we've put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling. And tonight, tonight so close to breaking through once and for all.

MAST: Well, then on Tuesday night, headline speakers included former president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama, as well as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Any highlights there, Carolina?

LUMETTA: Well, the Obamas are known for giving these very statesmanlike speeches, and delegates were very excited to hear from them. They delivered just that last night to a very exuberant audience. And let me tell you, Lindsay, it got so loud during so many points during these two speeches.

MICHELLE OBAMA: America, hope is making a comeback.

I saw several delegates with tears in their eyes watching the jumbotron while former First Lady Michelle Obama spoke about expecting dignity from the President, something she said Trump simply doesn't have.

Back when President Biden announced his withdrawal from the race, the Obamas were slower than others to throw their support behind Harris, but by last night, they were all in.

MICHELLE OBAMA: Kamala Harris is more than ready for this moment. She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency.

Then to close out the night, former President Barack Obama addressed the convention, he spent some time first thanking President Biden for his service, and he praised Kamala Harris, before talking then about concerns with the opposition.

He highlighted this theme I've noticed of the convention so far that accuses Trump of caring only for himself that he doesn't care about and can't represent ordinary Americans.

BARACK OBAMA: We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos, we have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse. 

He then concluded his more than 30 minute speech with this audience-rousing vision for the future of the country.

BARACK OBAMA: Our job is to convince people that democracy can actually deliver. And in doing that, we can just point to what we've already accomplished. We can't just rely on the ideas of the past. We need to chart a new way forward to meet the challenges of today. And Kamala understands this.

MAST: Well before we go, is there anything that surprised you to discover while covering the convention?

LUMETTA: Well, I will say there does appear to be some lack of organization here compared to the Republican National Convention. For example, we have two completely separate locations for council and caucus meetings and the actual convention sessions all the way across town. There's not clear, delineated space for press. We have more than 200 invited social media content creators who are all over the place. There have been massive bottlenecks at security and really frustrated delegates at all of these kind of logistics. On the first night, speeches were running about 90 minutes behind schedule, which kicked Biden out of his East Coast prime time slot and canceled a James Taylor performance.

Yet last night was quite a bit smoother, but we've still got a lot of major news coming tonight. We'll hear from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to formally accept his nomination as running mate. We'll also hear from former President Bill Clinton. And then it all culminates on Thursday night, when, as we expect, Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept her nomination.

MAST: Carolina Lumetta covers elections for WORLD’s Washington Bureau. Thanks for this report!

LUMETTA: Thanks for having me.

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