Wednesday Reads

Good Morning!!

I’m on the third day of a some kind of stomach thing, so this post may be brief. I’ve been sleeping a lot, and last night I dozed off and slept through most of Doug Emhoff’s speech and all of Michelle and Barack Obama’s speeches. I’ll have to try and watch them later on. I did watch the ceremonial roll call of the states, and it was a lot of fun. The DNC played “walk up” songs and the state-by-state speeches were upbeat and enthusiastic.

NBC5 Chicago: DNC roll call playlist: Full list of each state’s ‘walk-up’ songs from night 2 of DNC.

Sure, there were big speeches from The Obamas, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention last night. But Tuesday at the DNC in Chicago felt more like a dance party than a buttoned-up political event.

DJ Cassidy strode on stage in a bright blue double-breasted suit and spun tunes for every state during the event’s ceremonial roll call, as they nominated Kamala Harris and Tim Walz to the Democratic presidential ticket. Minnesota got “1999” by native son Prince, Kansas got “Carry on Wayward Son” by, well, Kansas. “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen played as New Jersey weighed in.

See the whole list at the link. Unlike the Trump campaign, the Democrats got permission from all of the featured artists. In contrast, the Trump campaign yesterday posted a video with Trump walking from his plane to “Freedom,” by Beyonce, who gave Kamala Harris exclusive permission to use that song.

CNN with takeaways from last night’s speakers:

Barack and Michelle Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, delivering back-to-back speeches that eviscerated Donald Trump and urged Americans to reject the Republican nominee once and for all.

The former first lady, in one of the most memorable speeches in convention history, called on Democrats to drop the “Goldilocks complex” and work hard to elect Vice President Kamala Harris.

“We cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala, instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected,” she said.

Then, the former president — in a speech that evoked memories of his emergence into the American political consciousness and his own winning campaigns — said that the “vast majority of us do not want to live in a country that’s bitter and divided.”

“We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos. We have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse,” Obama said.

Their speeches closed a night during which Democrats had sought to introduce Harris in more personal terms to Americans who are only now learning about the vice president, just a month after she ascended to the top of the party’s 2024 ticket.

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff told the story of their relationship and why his children call the vice president “Momala.” Maryland Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks explained how Harris came to be someone she considered a friend and mentor.

CNN also summarized speeches by Republicans who now support Harris/Walz:

Throughout the night, the DNC featured former Republicans making the case for independents and Trump critics to vote for Harris.

One of the prime-time speaking slots went to Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, a self-declared lifelong Republican who said the Biden-Harris administration had delivered results for his conservative community.

“I have an urgent message for the majority of Americans who, like me, are in the political middle: John McCain’s Republican Party is gone, and we don’t owe a damn thing to what’s been left behind,” Giles said. “So let’s turn the page. Let’s put country first.”

Giles’ speech capped off a series of appearances Tuesday by Republicans, or people who’d left the party, rallying support for Harris….

Stephanie Grisham, a former Trump White House press secretary and chief of staff to former First Lady Melania Trump, described herself as a “true believer” who spent her holidays at Mar-a-Lago. But she resigned on January 6, 2021, after Trump failed to immediately move to stop his supporters from attacking the US Capitol.

Grisham used her remarks to condemn Trump’s behind closed doors, telling that audience that he mocks his supporters in private and has called them “basement dwellers.”

“He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth,” she said.

The one sour note was Bernie Sanders, who apparently has no sense of humor and rarely if ever smiles. According to the BBC, he didn’t “feel the Bern” from the audience.

BBC: Obamas, dancing delegates and other takeaways from DNC day two.

During back-to-back speeches, Barack and Michelle Obama mixed gags with serious exhortations to Democrats to get out and vote in November – pointing out that Ms Harris was in a close race with Donald Trump.

Mr Obama characterised the Republican presidential candidate as being selfish and dangerous, quipping that he was obsessed with crowd sizes.

And Mrs Obama mocked Trump for his use of the term “black jobs” on the campaign trail. She suggested that Trump might himself be seeking one of those jobs – in a reference to her husband’s previous tenure of the White House.

By contrast, Ms Harris represented “hope”, Ms Obama said, echoing her husband’s campaign messaging from 2008.

On Bernie Sanders:

Bernie Sanders gave his own speech on Tuesday night – but the energy in the arena was described as “minimal” by the BBC’s North America correspondent, Anthony Zurcher. A murmur of people talking could be heard at the same time.

That is in contrast to the hero’s welcome that the veteran senator received in 2016, the year he challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination. Then, his supporters streamed into the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Eight years later, Mr Sanders could still be witnessed railing against oligarchs and corporate interests, but the atmosphere was very different.

One explanation was that the building was filled with delegates who originally supported Joe Biden – rather than the Sanders faithful. But it could also signal that the senator has no clear successor to lead the Democratic progressive left.

The TV ratings for the first night of the DNC beat out the RNC. Deadline: Democratic National Convention Draws 20 Million On First Night, Surpassing RNC Viewership.

The first night of the Democratic National Convention averaged 20 million viewers across 13 networks, surpassing the audience for the initial day of the Republican National Convention, according to Nielsen.

The numbers are for the 10 p.m. ET to 12:30 a.m ET time frame, as the proceedings went way overtime, finishing with the address by President Joe Biden.

The DNC audience was greater than the first night of the party’s convention in 2020, when it drew 19.75 million viewers. But it was down significantly from 2016, when the DNC drew 25.95 million.

The first night of the DNC on Monday drew 15.32 million 55 and over, 3.51 million in the 35-54 demo and 851,000 aged 18-34, per Nielsen.

MSNBC topped the networks, drawing 4.6 million viewers, compared to 3.2 million for CNN, 2.8 million for ABC News, 2.4 million for Fox News, 2 million for CBS News and 1.8 million for NBC News. The figures are also Nielsen via MSNBC.

Harris and Waltz in Milwaukee last night

While the convention was taking place in Chicago, Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz appeared in Milwaukee a the same venue where the RNC was held–and it was packed to the rafters with an estimated 15,000 people. Harris gave her acceptance speech to both audiences simultaneously through a TV hookup.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kamala Harris, Tim Walz hold rousing rally at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Republican VP nominee JD Vance in Kenosha: Recap.

Vice President Kamala Harris held a rousing rally before thousands of supporters Tuesday night in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, while the second day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago was taking place.

Harris accepted the party’s nomination for president in Milwaukee after the roll call vote of delegates in Wisconsin’s neighboring state of Illinois at the DNC. It was the Democratic presidential nominee’s third visit to the state since she took over the top of the ticket in late July.

Meanwhile, Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance traveled to Kenosha for a press conference focused on crime and public safety.

Their appearances continue to show Wisconsin’s importance in the November presidential election.

The Journal Sentinel had live coverage from both the Harris/Walz and Vance events on Tuesday. Below are all the highlights from the political events in Wisconsin today.

Since the screen just outside Fiserv Forum that was supposed to show a stream of the DNC was malfunctioning, rally goers migrated to screens in the nearby Drink Wisconsinbly bar and the screen outside the Mecca Sports Bar and Grill to watch second gentleman Doug Emhoff speak out of Chicago.

They cheered as Emhoff left the stage and former first lady Michelle Obama was announced as the next speaker.

Gloria Boileau of Milwaukee said Harris brought “electric” energy inside Fiserv Forum. She spoke excitedly about the Harris-Walz ticket.“Knowing that they are the common people that we are and they will be in the White House representing us, that was electric,” Boileau said.

Read more from Milwaukee at the link.

The AP on tonight’s speakers: Tim Walz and Bill Clinton will speak at the Democratic National Convention’s third day.

Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz and former President Bill Clinton will headline the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, the third day of the party’s choreographed rollout of a new candidate, Kamala Harris, and her pitch to voters.

In a delicate balancing act, Harris and the parade of Democrats speaking on her behalf all week are looking to harness the exuberance that has swept over their party since President Joe Biden stepped aside while making clear to their supporters that the election will be a fierce fight and frustratingly close.

“So much is on the line in this election,” Harris said Tuesday in Milwaukee, where she spoke at a professional basketball arena in battleground Wisconsin as the convention continued 90 miles away in Chicago. “And understand, this not 2016 or 2020. The stakes are higher.”

And in Chicago hours later, former President Barack Obama offered his own caution: “Make no mistake, it will be a fight,” Obama said. For all the energy and memes and rallies that have defined the campaign since Harris became the nominee, Obama said, “this will still be a tight race in a closely divided country.” [….]

And while the theme of Tuesday was “a bold vision for America’s future,” the disparate factions of Harris’ evolving coalition demonstrated, above all, that they are connected by a deep desire to prevent a second Trump presidency.

Convention organizers dubbed the theme for Wednesday “a fight for our freedoms,” a nod to the concept around which Harris has organized her campaign. She frames Trump as a threat to abortion rights and personal choices, but also to democracy itself.

Walz’s job Wednesday when he accepts the nomination is to introduce himself to Americans who had never heard of the Minnesota governor until Harris plucked him from relative obscurity to join her ticket. His goofy, folksy, Midwestern dad aura has endeared him to Democrats and balanced Harris’ coastal background.

Harris continues to raise lots of campaign cash.

Reuters: Exclusive: Harris’ election effort raises around $500 million in a month, sources say.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris’ election effort has raised around $500 million since she became the Democratic presidential candidate, sources told Reuters, an unprecedented money haul that reflects donor enthusiasm going into the Nov. 5 election.

Four sources familiar with the fundraising effort told Reuters that figure had been banked for Harris in the four weeks since she jumped into the race on July 21.

Campaign cash is critical for advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts that help bring people to the polls and persuade undecided voters to swing a candidate’s way.

Harris entered the fray after President Joe Biden stepped aside from the top of the Democratic ticket, unleashing floods of funding that had dried up in the weeks after Biden’s disastrous debate against Republican Donald Trump.

Harris raised $200 million in the first week of her campaign while she quickly wrapped up support to become the party’s nominee.

Harris’ team raised $310 million in July, bringing the total amount of money raised by her and Biden before he dropped out to more than $1 billion, the most rapid crossing of that fundraising threshold in history, according to the campaign.

Trump’s campaign said it raised $138.7 million in July and had cash on hand of $327 million. The former president’s campaign outraised Biden in the second quarter.

Harris is also working to mobilize supporters to volunteer for the campaign. ABC News: Harris-Walz team has largest mobilization week of campaign cycle.

The Harris-Walz campaign effort to calcify the renewed enthusiasm from their party at the top of the ticket is seeing their biggest week of mobilization of the entire election cycle as the party’s national convention charges on in Chicago.

Ahead of the convention, the campaign launched what they characterize as a “weekend of action,” where over 10,000 volunteers barnstormed battlegrounds, making near 900,000 calls and knocking on more than 100,000 doors, contacting in sum over a million voters, per details first shared with ABC News. The campaign says that they were able to recruit over 24,000 volunteers.

Yet the most ambitious investments in organization will come at the latter half of the week — with the campaign hosting its largest telephone banking night of the cycle Wednesday, planning to launch 4,000 volunteers to work the lines.

On Thursday, the campaign will host 500 watch parties across the country in every state as Harris delivers her formal acceptance speech as the party’s newly minted nominee, a process that has come together in the short span of a month.

The campaign also held volunteer trainings and launched organizing resources on Monday and Tuesday….

These efforts are part of the campaign’s new efforts to mine the honeymoon buzz around Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, moving on turning any energy into action; mission critical with what continues to be a dead-heat race between Harris and former President Donald Trump several major battleground polls. This also comes as several grassroots voter groups host large-scale virtual telethons of sorts drawing big celebrity names to recruit volunteers and entice hefty donations, often netting millions of dollars each call.

More reads to check out, links only:

NOTUS on whining journalists: Accessibility and Access: Reporters Have Complaints About the DNC.

Meredith Shiner at The New Republic: Beware the Pundit-Brained Version of the Democratic Convention.

The Independent: How Kamala Harris became Donald Trump’s supertroll and found his weak spot.

The New Republic: Trump’s Latest Scheme to Beat Harris May Have Crossed Legal Lines.

Stephen Robinson at Public Notice: Trump sets the stage for another coup attempt.

The Hill: Republicans worry Trump blowing their chances for Senate majority.

Center for Politics: North Carolina Moves to Toss-up, Setting Up November Battle for Magnificent Seven Swing States.

The Daily Beast: Trump Surprised by Who Hurt His Feelings the Most at the DNC.

AP: Voters in Arizona and Montana can decide on constitutional right to abortion.

Have a great day everyone!!