President Joe Biden got a hero’s welcome on Monday, the first night of the Democratic National Convention, as he passed the torch to Vice President Harris, NPR reported.
“I made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you for 50 years,” Biden told the cheering Chicago crowd that gave him a five-minute standing ovation. At the beginning, his attempts to speak were repeatedly drowned out by cheers and chants of “thank you, Joe.”
NPR also noted that Harris also made a surprise early appearance to praise Biden, whose speech was largely a reflection on his legislative accomplishments since taking office.
The Up First newsletter also explained that thousands of protestors marched in Chicago against Israel’s war in Gaza as the DNC kicked off.
Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said the department had a respectful working relationship with protest leaders and looked forward to supporting the marchers’ right of free speech without a problem.
NPR’s Martin Kaste reported that things were calm until a group of masked protestors tried to enter the DNC’s security perimeter. Protestors took down several sections of a fence and then called other protestors to follow them through. Police closed in on them from opposite ends and arrested a handful of people.
Kaste found a long line of delegates and talked with some, but none of them had seen or heard any of the protests. More demonstrations were planned for the remaining three days of the DNC.
Day 2 and beyond
The convention continues this week until Thursday, Aug. 22.
Programming will be aired from the United Center in Chicago live on TPR from 8 to 10 p.m. CST, on all of its news stations.
The convention will also stream events on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok as part of an effort to expand its reach to younger voters and online influencers.
Harris will hold a rally Tuesday in Milwaukee, the same city where Trump accepted the Republican presidential nomination last month. The bus tour and the Milwaukee event are clear indicators from the Harris campaign that they’re keen on campaigning aggressively in so-called blue wall states that could help clinch the presidency.
But one of the biggest items traditionally on the to-do list for a convention — to officially nominate the party’s pick for president — has already been sorted after delegates convened for a virtual roll call vote earlier this month to get ahead of ballot certification deadlines in Ohio.
While Harris is technically already the nominee, the DNC will have to certify the vote, and Harris will formally accept the nomination by the end of the week’s events.
Harris and Walz, along with key Democratic leaders, are expected to further lay out their policy vision, including on their stances on price gouging and expanding the child tax credit, which they unveiled last week.
Texans at the DNC
Several Texans added their voices to the convention's first day.
Monica Ramirez Alcantara, the chair of the Bexar County Democratic Party, said on Monday that she expects Harris to stay on message with her keynote speech on Thursday.
Harris speaks on Thursday to party delegates gathered for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
"[S]he's talking about how we're gonna work in other to raise the wages for our working folks and how we're going to just kind of pull the country back together."
San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro said he felt optimistic about the progress of the Harris-Walz campaign.
"She took off with just a lot of spirit and energy and was able to unify Democrats," he said. "And I think you can feel that energy, but more importantly, you also see it in the polls, where she's pulled ahead of Donald Trump in some key states, and she's put other states, like North Carolina in play that, that honestly, we weren't really thinking we might have a shot in this time.”
Castro added that he likes Walz.
“He's a very down to earth guy, very earnest, and somebody that was willing to work with people across the aisle on good legislation," he said. "He did a lot of important work around combating military and veteran suicide.”
Looming over convention is the Republican agenda and Project 2025, the document Republicans are using as a blueprint.
Castro said that the plan is a warning for what may happen if Trump is re-elected.
“I think that we're going to go one of two ways in this country," he said. "I think with Kamala Harris and Governor Walz, I think we're gonna move forward as democracy, and if Donald Trump gets a second term, we're gonna move towards authoritarianism, and, I think, towards fascism."
He added: "This is my 22nd year in public service, and I've never been a kind of hair-on-fire type of legislator where everything is the end of the world, but I think people can listen to what Donald Trump is saying. They can read the agenda like Project 2025, and you can see what's coming if he wins.”
Wow. @texasdemocrats are fired up! Honored to be the first speaker of this morning’s Texas Dems delegation breakfast.
— Mayor Ron Nirenberg (@Ron_Nirenberg) August 19, 2024
Big week ahead of us. We’re not going back, y’all. #DemConvention pic.twitter.com/EQ4cWmN5qS
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg spoke in Chicago on Monday morning. He spoke to the Lone Star State's delegation to the convention.
“Here’s to a little more normalcy, and a lot more joy, to electing the first woman president in the United States," he said in a speech, as the audience applauded.
He added that Democrats must work to prevent a second Trump administration.
"Our message to Republicans is clear," he said. "In the spirit of [Tim Walz], stay out of our bedrooms. Keep your politics out of our exam rooms. Keep your weirdness out of our classrooms. ..."
Abortion rights took center stage during the primetime portion of the convention on Monday.
Texan Amanda Zurawski said she nearly died after she was denied medical access to an abortion because of the state's near total abortion ban.
She spoke about her experience and said reproductive rights will continue to be attacked under another Trump presidency.
"A second Trump term would rip away even more of our rights: passing a national abortion ban," she said, "letting states monitor pregnancies and prosecute doctors, restricting birth control and fertility treatments."
The Texas Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the state's abortion laws earlier this year.
Convention messages
The theme of the convention is “For the People, For Our Future.”
Democrats argued that a Harris-Walz ticket is in the best interest of the American people and their freedoms and future, while putting the accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration on display.
The Harris campaign will also contrast their ticket with Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, who they say would pull America backward.
The daily themes reflect that broader message:
- Monday: “For the People”
- Tuesday: “A Bold Vision for America’s Future”
- Wednesday: “A Fight for Our Freedoms”
- Thursday: “For Our Future”
Speakers
Political heavyweights have joined the convention, and more are coming, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, and the two top Democrats in Congress, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke on Monday.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will also speak at the convention.
Additionally, Veep actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus will host a panel with the Democratic Governors Association centered on female governors in the U.S.
The Republicans
The Republican National Convention was only a month ago, and so much has changed.
The Republicans were more united than ever during their convention, which was just days after Trump survived an assassination attempt. Biden was still in the race, and the Trump campaign was taking advantage of the divisions Democrats were facing over Biden’s bid.
But the tide seems to have changed in the Democrats’ favor — at least for now. There’s enthusiasm for Harris’ campaign in ways that Biden’s never had, and that’s reflected in the fact that Harris has gained ground in the same battleground states that Biden was behind in.
The Trump campaign announced Saturday that Vance, Trump’s running mate, will hold a press conference Tuesday on crime and safety in Kenosha, Wis., the same city where the shooting of Jacob Blake sparked civil unrest and mass protests in 2020.
Advisers to the Trump campaign also said in a press call Friday to expect more in the coming days on Trump and Vance’s policy plans.