DNC Day 3: Stop gushing about the Obamas
Yes, they can! Do a speech well. But this isn't MSNBC. Dry off.
CHICAGO — Night 3 of the DNC is underway inside the United Center, where the race to exit the fortified arena is won by urban dwellers who take the Green Line back downtown and avoid the rideshare lot pile-up.
Get smart!, as they say.
First, three links to my coverage for McClatchy Newspapers.
Are DNC protests in Chicago nudging Kamala Harris toward a ceasefire in Gaza?
Still, while Middle East policy is not central to Democrats’ week-long messaging program, there’s evidence that demonstrators’ calls are being heard at the highest levels of the party. With the president himself acknowledging on the convention stage that “the protesters … have a point,” there are growing expectations that Harris will have to do more to outline her efforts to secure a ceasefire and mitigate human suffering in her nominating speech on Thursday night.
‘Stop Arming Israel’: How a Florida woman disrupted Biden’s speech
“I wasn’t really nervous. I was [only] nervous about getting caught before. But I felt like I took sufficient precautions to prevent that from happening,” Ahmad told The Miami Herald. “I didn’t expect that delegate guests who were in club suites behind me would be hitting me in the head with ‘I love Joe Biden’ signs.”
‘Don’t give up any state’: Along the ride on Andy Beshear’s breakfast battleground tour
The mood inside the Palmer House hotel fourth floor ballroom was decidedly groggy. After a late opening night of the Democratic National Convention, delegates from Florida picked over eggs and fruit early Tuesday morning. Clanking silverware on plates overwhelmed quiet conversations. In came Andy Beshear, who didn’t wait for formalities. He galloped onto the dais and introduced himself as the proud Democratic governor of Kentucky — with an intentional emphasis on the word “Democratic.” It was only minutes after 7:30 a.m. in Chicago, and Beshear served as a needed double shot of morning espresso.
We’re in the homestretch of the DNC, and one big picture takeaway I have is that there could be a lot of cuts to the nightly line-up. No offense to Kathy Hochul, Michelle Lujan Grisham or Chris Coons. But no voter is pining to hear ya gab.
A leaner convention — capped at 3 hours a night — would be a smarter, more focused convention. And I can’t imagine delegates objecting to hopping on buses to the afterparties early. There’s a reason dozens of people chose to stream out of Barack Obama’s address early — yes, I witnessed it, as I