Aug. 19 (UPI) — The Democratic National Convention opened Monday in Chicago with a surprise cameo from Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and a standing ovation for former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as the former Democratic nominee urged Americans to “send Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the White House.”
“It’s something we’ve worked for and dreamed of for a long time,” Clinton added before paying tribute to President Joe Biden.
“First off, let’s salute President Biden. He has been democracy’s champion at home and abroad. He brought dignity, decency and confidence back to the White House. And he showed what it means to be a true patriot,” Clinton said.
“And now we are writing a new chapter in America’s story,” Clinton said as she referenced her mother — who did not have the right to vote — Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro and her own acceptance of the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.
“Nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams,” Clinton said. “And afterwards, we refused to give up on America. Millions marched, many ran for office. We kept our eyes on the future.”
“Well, my friends, the future is here!” Clinton said. “I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see us. They would say, ‘Keep going!'”
“Women fighting for reproductive healthcare, say, ‘Keep going!'” Clinton added, before turning her attention to former President Donald Trump, who defeated her in 2016.
He is “the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions,” as the crowd started chanting “Lock him up,” a phrase Trump used against Clinton during their race eight years ago.
“In America, you can go as far as your hard work and talent can take you,” Clinton concluded. “And on the other side of the glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States.”
Harris also took the stage Monday night to greet the crowd and honor President Biden, before he was to speak later.
“Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation and for all that you will continue to do. we are forever grateful for you,” Harris told the crowd at Chicago’s United Center, as her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz cheered her on from the audience.
“And looking out at everyone tonight, I see the beauty of our nation: people from every corner of our country and every walk of life are here, united by the shared vision for the future of our country,” Harris said in her brief cameo. “And this November we will come together and declare with one voice as one people, we are moving forward!”
Biden — who topped the Democratic ticket last month — will take the stage to close out Monday night at the convention and make the case for Vice President Harris to lead the nation for the next four years.
The convention opened hours earlier with a stirring rendition of the National Anthem sung by the Soul Children of Chicago, as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was among the first to welcome everyone to the “greatest city in the world.”
“The city of hard work and caring people who will celebrate President Joe Biden and nominate Kamala Harris for President of the United States of America,” Johnson said Monday night.
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., took the stage next to deliver a fiery speech about civil rights activist Fanny Lou Hamer and urged the country to elect Harris as the next president of the United States in November.
“In that moment, all of us from New York to Pennsylvania, from Arizona to California, we can ask ourselves, ‘Is this America?'” Waters asked. “And we will be able to say loudly and proudly, ‘You’re damn right it is!'”
The Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., 82, who has Parkinson‘s disease and can no longer speak clearly, was wheeled onstage by his family and Al Sharpton Jr., to a rousing welcome. The civil rights leader blew a kiss and waved to the crowd.
Many of Monday’s speeches focused on the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and former President Donald Trump’s response, as they credited Biden and Harris — who were elected in November that year — for getting Americans vaccinated and turning around the economy.
Some speeches touted the Biden-Harris administration’s dedication to infrastructure, while others focused on abortion rights.
And Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass talked about the Democratic party’s commitment to children.
“Kamala Harris knows that each generation has an obligation to the next,” said Bass, who is the first woman mayor of Los Angeles. “We are sending a message to young girls everywhere that they too can lead.”
Other speakers included New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, United Automobile Workers president Shawn Fain and New York Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez.
Fain, who was wearing a “Trump is a scab” t-shirt, credited Harris for standing on the picket lines in 2019.
“Donald Trump is all talk and Kamala Harris walks the walk,” Fain said.
“In Kamala Harris, we have a chance to elect a president who is for the middle class, because she is from the middle class,” said Ocasio-Cortez. “She understands the urgency of rent checks and groceries and prescriptions. She is as committed to our reproductive and civil rights as she is to taking on corporate greed.”
Biden will deliver keynote remarks to close out Monday night to the more than 4,000 convention delegates less than a month after ending his re-election bid. He is also the first Oval Office occupant since former Democratic President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 to announce that he was not seeking another term.
The president’s speech will come after the appearance onstage of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, the former first lady and 2016 nominee for the presidency and first American woman ever nominated by a major U.S. political party for the top office in the land.
The convention will have a celebrity host for each of its four nights. However, a full official schedule for the week has not yet been released.
Television programming for each night of the DNC will begin at 7 p.m. ET, or 6 p.m. CT, through Thursday.
DNC events will be held at two different venues. The United Center in downtown Chicago will be the site of speeches and other evening events, while McCormick Place will host meetings or other official party business.
Harris, now only the second woman in U.S. history nominated by a major political party to be the nations’ chief executive, earlier this month solidified her status on the presidential ticket after the Democratic National Committee held a virtual roll call in which the former senator from California received a needed majority of convention delegates. But the ceremonial roll call still will take place.
The first day’s convention theme is being called “For the People,” and the nearly 2 dozen speakers are widely expected to pay tribute to Biden, beginning with the convention’s committee chair, Minyon Moore, and DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison of South Carolina.
Peggy Flanagan, the current lieutenant governor serving under the vice presidential nominee, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, also spoke as well as two House members, Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif.
The American labor movement will be represented on stage with labor leaders Lee Saunders of AFSCME, SEIU’s April Verrett, Brent Booker of LiUNA, Kenneth Cooper from IBEW, with Claude Cummings Jr. of CWA and the AFL-CIO’s Elizabeth Shuler, who will join together in their own remarks.
The president’s wife, first lady Dr. Jill Biden, will be third from last speaker and is expected to express her support for Harris while asking Americans to join together “with faith in each other, hope for a brighter future, and love for our country,” a source familiar with her remarks told CNN.
Her speech will center on Biden’s strength and character “in a way that only a spouse of nearly 50 years can do.”
After that will be the appearance of their daughter, Ashley Biden, who will introduce her father, sources say.
