The third day of the Democratic National Convention did not quite reach the emotional intensity of the previous two nights, but it kept the party’s momentum going ahead of Vice President Harris’s big speech on Thursday.
Harris’s vice-presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), was the headline attraction on Wednesday. The other major names included former President Clinton, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — as well as a surprise appearance from TV legend Oprah Winfrey.
Here are the big takeaways.
Walz rose to the occasion on the biggest night of his political career.
His chief political asset is his persona as an unpretentious, plain-spoken Midwesterner.
That image was underlined from the moment he came on stage at the United Center to the sounds of John Mellencamp’s “Small Town.”
Walz spoke about his upbringing in Nebraska, his 24 years of service in the Army National Guard and his career as a social studies teacher who doubled as his school’s football coach.
The audience waved “Coach Walz” signs through much of the speech.
Trump’s allies have sought to cast Walz as a radical figure, citing a record as governor that includes backing a bill that requires schools to provide products such as tampons to “all menstruating students” without specifically stipulating girls.
But Walz emphasized less contentious elements of his record, including mandating free breakfasts and lunches in schools.
“While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” he said.
He insisted that he was focused on “making a difference to our neighbors’ lives” with policies such as providing paid family and medical leave.
The speech also had a striking emotional moment. His children, Hope and Gus, grew tearful as he spoke about the fertility problems he and his wife Gwen had encountered.
Walz may not have the rhetorical polish of some politicians, but Wednesday’s address demonstrated his feisty and combative appeal.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), perhaps the single most important figure in pushing Biden to step aside from his reelection quest, navigated her way through the potentially awkward moment of her convention speech.
Pelosi praised Biden for his achievements and for his “patriotic vision of a fairer America.” She contended his tenure had been “one of the most successful presidencies of modern times.”
She then moved on to talking about having known Harris “for decades” and praising her for “quickly securing the nomination with dignity and grace and choosing Tim Walz as our vice president.”
Pelosi spent much of her relatively brief speech talking about the danger that had been displayed during the Capitol riot of Jan. 6, 2021.
“We must choose leaders who believe in free and fair elections and who respect the peaceful transfer of power,” she said.
The most ardent Biden loyalists harbor hard feelings toward Pelosi. But the seismic increase in Democratic enthusiasm and optimism with Harris as the nominee tells its own story.
Former President Clinton helped make the case for Harris on Wednesday.
But his hoarse-voiced, 28-minute speech was a reminder of his advancing age.
Clinton noted to the crowd that he turned 78 on Monday, though he emphasized “I’m still younger than Donald Trump.”
His reference to himself as “The Man from Hope” — a slogan from his 1992 campaign that played on his Arkansas roots — seemed an echo of a now long-ago era, even as he suggested Harris could carry forth a similar message as the “president of joy.”
Clinton was reported to have rewritten his speech at the last minute to better meet the moment and reflect the excitement in Democratic ranks. At times, he showed that his capacity to connect with an audience still exists.
He honed in on the central message of the Harris campaign, casting this year’s contest against former President Trump as “a pretty clear choice: Kamala Harris for The People’ or the other guy who has proved, even more than his first go-around, that he’s about ‘Me, Myself, and I.’”
Clinton repeatedly mocked the GOP nominee’s narcissism, telling the audience that the next time they heard Trump speak they should not “count the lies” but instead “count the ‘I’s.”
Looking ahead to November, the former president appeared to make passing reference to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 shock loss to Trump when he said, “We’ve seen more than one election slip away from us when we thought it couldn’t happen."
Oprah Winfrey delivered the surprise appearance of the evening, insisting that “decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024” and arguing that the electorate must choose “inclusion over retribution, common sense over nonsense.”
She received a rapturous reception in the city that was her home during her long and successful daily talk-show run.
Winfrey has long since left behind her early reluctance to get involved in partisan politics. Her stance on that score changed around the time she endorsed then-Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in his 2008 presidential campaign.
Back then, Winfrey seemed ill at ease with aggressive attacks even as she advocated strongly for Obama.
On Wednesday, there was no such discomfort as she laid into GOP vice-presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance (Ohio) for his comments about “childless cat ladies” and — in a plain reference to Trump — insisted, “We are beyond ridiculous tweets.”
Winfrey was one of several celebrities who appeared on Wednesday, including musicians Stevie Wonder, John Legend and Sheila E., comedian Kenan Thompson and actress and comedian Mindy Kaling.
The conflict in Gaza is the most contentious issue within the Democratic Party.
A march by pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday was smaller than expected. But tensions on the issue erupted again on Wednesday.
During the Democratic primary process, significant numbers of voters — 19 percent in Minnesota and 13 percent in Michigan — cast ballots for “Uncommitted” in a protest vote against Biden’s policies on Israel and Gaza.
Nationwide, the Uncommitted movement won 30 delegates to the convention.
But supporters of the movement were angered anew on Wednesday when it emerged that convention organizers would not let any Palestinian speak from the stage.
Protesters began a sit-in at the site of the convention on Wednesday evening with the aim of getting that decision reversed. They were joined at one point by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn).
Separately, another big march is planned for Thursday.
