Clinton, Biden pass the baton to Harris

In headlining speeches at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, the two leaders propped up Vice President Kamala Harris as the future of the party. Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recalled her own campaign against former President Donald Trump. She laughed as delegates chanted “lock him up” in reference to his 34 felony convictions and a phrase Trump and his used against her in 2016. She also said that the party is closer to electing the nation’s first female president in every cycle.

“Together we have put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling,” she said. “And tonight so close to breaking through once and for all.”

What did Biden say? At nearly midnight Eastern time, President Joe Biden took the stage. He was greeted by a standing ovation of over four minutes and chants of “Thank you, Joe,” a favorite refrain ever since he dropped his reelection campaign last month. He appeared emotional before beginning his remarks. Less than a month ago, he was the presumptive nominee.

His convention speech closely mirrored his former campaign speeches. He recalled his reasons for running and highlighted priorities such as abortion access, protections for undocumented immigrants, and building up the middle class. But he also offered more candid statements than in the past.

“I was too young to be a senator and too old to be president, but I am more optimistic about the future than I was when I was elected as a 29-year-old to the Senate,” he said.

What else marked the first day? Vice President Kamala Harris surprised delegates by speaking in the middle of the first session, again praising Biden’s leadership. Roughly 4,700 delegates will be at Chicago’s United Center through Thursday, though the convention already nominated Harris by a virtual roll call last week. Other speakers included Gov. Andy Beshear, who was on the short list to be Harris’ running mate. Outside the convention center, pro-Palestinian protesters participated in the March on the DNC. They demanded a cease-fire agreement and promised to withhold votes from the Democratic Party until that is achieved. When they neared the United Center, several protesters breached part of the security perimeter. Chicago Police arrested four demonstrators and pushed back the rest. More protesters briefly displayed a banner on the convention floor that read “stop arming Israel,” which several delegates blocked with other signs. Some Minnesota delegates and demonstrators turned their backs while Biden addressed the convention.

From the floor: The night quickly went off schedule, with some speakers finally starting their slots more than 90 minutes after originally scheduled. Convention organizers attributed the delay to overly long applauses and standing ovations. Delegates also complained about how long it took to get to the convention center. The convention is divided between two locations, and shuttles took more than an hour to traverse the five miles. Bottlenecks formed with delegates, guests, and reporters all in the same lines for hours, well past when programming started. I spoke to several people who left the convention center before Biden took the stage because it was already late and they were worried about making it back to their hotels. Biden was still speaking by 12:15 a.m. ET.

Dig deeper: Read more on what I saw at the anti-Israel protest in The Sift.