Tim Walz, Kamala Harris, and Oprah Winfrey – The Case for Common Sense over Descendence and Respect in Democratic Presidential Primaries
Conventions are always events that feature not just the ticket running in the current election cycle, but a chance for potential future candidates to shine, to stand out and make a name for themselves before a large audience.
On Wednesday night before the crowd of faithful in the arena in Chicago and also to voters watching at home, Gov. Tim Walz did not just talk about his own run for Secretary of State, but also about why he wanted to join the ticket with Vice President kalam Harris.
Those audiences also heard, though, from President Biden, the Obamas, the Clintons, even Oprah Winfrey, as well as several other speakers before Harris herself takes the stage Thursday night.
Democrats have had a problem coming across as being arrogant and head over heels for people. Even though he was introduced as the pick, he showed that he and Harris have a common touch by mentioning it in his first speech. The ticket with Ivy League degrees is Trump-Vance and not Harris-Walz. The first president since Reagan who did not have an Ivy League degree was Joe Biden.
Whether it was Oprah – someone who Donald Trump once said in an ideal world, he would want to be his vice president – Bill Clinton, Pete Buttigieg, Walz, or the handful of Republicans who spoke, Wednesday arguably was about appealing to undecided voters and persuadable independents and Republican to give them a permission structure to vote for Harris.
Oprah noted that she’s a registered independent and called on “all you independents and undecideds” to vote for Harris. “Decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024,” she said, adding, “Common sense tells us that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can give us decency and respect. … Let us choose common sense over nonsense.”
The case for Democratic ideas, not as radical as Republicans have tried to make, but as mainstream, was made by Walz.
They were certainly on display Wednesday night with speeches by not just Buttigieg, but also people like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore – three names the country is likely to hear again in Democratic presidential primaries in either four or eight years.
The Democratic National Convention is over. There were a lot of speakers at the event, but Vice President Harris accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for president.
There were two meanings to those chants of, “Thank you, Joe.” Thank you for being president, but also for getting out of the race. In the valedictory speech, Biden made it clear why Democrats were nervous about his candidacy.
After her speech, Barack Obama said that he may be the only person dumb enough to follow her. She brought the house down. Her speech was a litany of things she was holding back saying for at least eight years. She delivered searing lines about the “affirmative action of generational wealth,” and that Trump tried to stoke fear about her and her husband because he was threatened by two highly educated and successful people, “who happened to be Black.”
A lot has been made of the fact that Harris would be the first woman to be president, the first Black woman and first South Asian descent to serve in the office. That would be a major historical feat. It is unusual to see a man rounding edges of his spouse, who is running for president. It’s also very different from what Bill Clinton did for Hillary Clinton in 2016, the only other time this kind of speech was delivered. The Clintons had a child with a well-known former president.
Emhoff, on the other hand, is someone far less known and his family’s story showed a lot of new things on a political stage. It highlighted an interracial marriage and the complexities of step parenting. Millions of Americans can identify with blended families, because a lot of marriages end in divorce.
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She agreed or didn’t agree with the direction Harris wants to take the country. She looked at the part, stuck to the script and mostly listened to the facts. She laid out a vision that was in stark contrast to what Trump wants to do.
“Confusion is understandable,” Washington said on the oft-repeated mispronunciations of the vice president’s name. “Disrespect is not. We are going to help the people get it right.
Former President Trump has repeatedly mispronounced Harris’ first name. At one rally in July, he said: “I couldn’t care less if I mispronounce it. I couldn’t care less.”
Harris’ niece, Meena Harris, joined her stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, and her goddaughter, Helena Hudlin, on the DNC stage Thursday to share how the vice president has been a source of encouragement for them. They said that she was an inspiring leader and would serve the country with care.
“Like a lot of young people, I didn’t always understand what I was feeling,” Emhoff said. No matter what, he was always there for me. She’s never stopped listening to me and she’s not going to stop listening to all of us.”
Hudlin added, “To me, her advice means everything. Whether it is pursuing my passions, making an impact, or finding hope when the world doesn’t feel so hopeful. She taught me that making a difference means giving your whole heart and taking action.
All three said Harris would give everything to the country as president — from fighting for economic opportunity, protecting LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice and reproductive freedom.
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Meena — a lawyer, theater producer and author — told CNN in 2020 that it was Kamala and Maya who inspired Meena to write “Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea,” a children’s book about how two sisters effect change by working with the community.
In recent weeks, Emhard came to the attention of the public after the Republican vice presidential contender said Harris was a cat lady and she wrote on her social media that she loved her parents.
“I could just see her smiling saying how proud she is of Kamala,” she said. “And then, without missing a beat, she’d say, ‘That’s enough. You have more work to do.
Five black and brown teens were wrongly convicted in a rape case. Trump took out ads in the newspaper calling to reinstate the death penalty.
“On one side of this race is Donald Trump, a fellow New Yorker I’ve known for 40 years. Only once — once — in that time did he take a position on racial issues,” Sharpton said.
She had to connect with people who are undecided about her, but not sold on voting. She tried to do that by inverting what former President Donald Trump does in othering certain groups of people. She tried to make her story — one of a child of immigrants from India and Jamaica — a typical and relatable American one. She’s the child of divorce, brought up working class, raised by a mother who dreamed big and taught her daughters to dream big, but also stressed critical all-American values — work hard, don’t complain and “do something,” a nice rhetorical coda to former first lady Michelle Obama’s speech two nights ago.
Gun violence, race, climate change and, of course, Donald Trump were themes of Night 4, along with “joy” and chants of “we’re not going back,” which have been throughlines of the convention.
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Warren and Harris were both candidates for president in 2020. Harris dropped out in 2019 and Warren dropped out after a bad showing on Super Tuesday.
The Interior Secretary took the stage after a video showed rising temperatures and the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
It was the first Native American woman to hold the role and she argued that an American president needs to lead the world in tackling climate change. The crowd was reminded by Haaland that Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate that sent the IRA to Biden’s desk.
“Kamala Harris has lived a life like ours, she knows us,” Whitmer told the crowd. “Donald Trump doesn’t know you at all. Do you think he knows that it is hard to get to work when your car breaks down? No. His first word was probably ‘chauffeur.'”
“You think he’s ever had to take items out of the cart before checking out? Isn’t it absurd to think that he’s never been to a grocery store? That’s what the chauffeur is for.”
Democrat Representative Adam Kinzinger: The First Democrat to Suffocate the Soul of the Republican Party and the Case of Sandy Hook
Turning against his party’s presidential nominee Donald Trump, former Republican representative Adam Kinzinger delivered a prime-time speech supporting Harris.
The only Republican to speak at the DNC on the final day, Kinzinger said that the former president had “suffocated the soul of the Republican party.”
In a passionate speech, the Florida representative argued that Harris is the candidate who will address climate change.
The 26-year-old is the first member of Generation Z to serve in Congress. Frost was elected in 2022. He has a background in organizing, first getting involved in the gun violence prevention movement after the Sandy Hook mass shooting in 2012 while he was in high school.
Following joint remarks from the loved ones of shooting victims, gun safety activist Gabby Giffords addressed the DNC crowd to recount her own experiences with gun violence.
“For five years I served in Congress from a swing district. Everybody called me a rising star,” said Giffords, who was joined onstage by her husband, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.
Giffords was almost killed by an assassination attempt but she fought back to serve in the House of Representatives. There were 18 other people shot. Six were killed.
Source: WATCH: DNC Night 4 speeches from Harris, Whitmer, Sharpton, Kinzinger and more
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Among other things, he criticized Trump’s past remarks on Russia. He went after Trump for not getting involved in the invasion of Ukraine as well as his lack of commitment to NATO.
And she pledged that she and President Biden “are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.”
Democrats flipped the script in this convention by attacking the GOP on a lot of occasions. The appeal was small-c conservative value, who stood up for veterans, and redefined “freedom.”
This was the first time that a black woman and a person of South Asian descent accepted a political nomination.
Instead of being a radical California liberal, Harris painted herself as a normal blue-collar kid who understood the needs of people and the value of hard work and discipline.
Democrats flooded the United Center in Chicago with flags instead of coming across as unpatriotic and unhappy with America. They had Republicans like former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., attest to their patriotism and decency, and they brought veterans to the forefront on the stage and in speeches.
The week was well produced and the campaign pulled off a high-wire act to tie the convention with a crowd in Milwaukee at the very arena where it was held.
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“Yes, Kamala and Tim are doing great now,” Michelle Obama said. “We’re loving it. arenas are being packed across the country People are excited. We are feeling good. But remember, there are still so many people who are desperate for a different outcome.”