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Key moments from the second day of the Democratic National Convention
go through Brad Ryan In Chicago and Rebecca Armitage
(ABC – Australia) The second day of the Democratic National Convention saw an outpouring of support for Kamala Harris, pointed attacks on Donald Trump and a lively dance party.
Only a few weeks After changing candidates to run with Trump On Election Day in November, Democrats hope to paint a picture of unity and joy for voters.
Party superstars Barack and Michelle Obama not only endorsed Harris in their speeches, but also called out Trump for his racist behavior during his time in the White House.
Since the formal proceedings for the event had already been scrapped during a virtual roll call earlier this month, organizers decided to hold a dance party instead.
This is the most important moment of the second day of the Democratic National Convention.
Michelle Obama criticizes Trump
The loudest applause of the night was reserved for former first lady Michelle Obama, who has never held elected office but remains one of the Democratic Party’s biggest draws.
At the 2016 Democratic National Convention, as Hillary Clinton faced off against Trump, Obama delivered a speech that would become a mantra for the Democratic Party for years to come.
“When someone is being cruel or acting like a bully, you don’t stoop to their level,” she said.
“No, our motto is: ‘When they go low, we go high’.”
Eight years later, Democrats are once again running against Trump, but this time he’s being labeled ‘weird’ in a popular campaign strategyall eyes were on the tone of Obama’s speech.
Will she continue to encourage Democrats to catch up, or will she finally take drastic measures?
The answer is – both.
The former first lady of the United States says Donald Trump attacked her and her husband because they are successful, educated African Americans.
Her speech was a full-throated endorsement of Harris, with Obama declaring that “hope is making a comeback.”
But she also claimed that when her husband, Barack Obama, was in office, Trump “did everything he could to make people afraid of us.”
“You see, his limited and narrow worldview made him feel threatened by the presence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who happened to be black,” she said, to loud applause.
“Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s looking for right now might just be one of those black jobs?”
This is a reference to Trump’s claim that illegal immigrants are crossing the border. Doing what he describes as “black people’s work.”
Obama also warned Democrats that they cannot become complacent despite the new energy injected into the campaign by President Joe Biden’s switch to Harris a few weeks ago.
“No matter how good we feel tonight, tomorrow or the day after, it’s still going to be a tough battle, so we can’t be our own worst enemy,” she said.
Michelle Obama’s husband Barack was also present
Former President Barack Obama was the headliner tonight and, in his own words, he was “the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.”
Early in his speech, he paid tribute to his “brother,” former Vice President Joe Biden.
He did not mention the role he played. A pressure campaign urged him to step down, but praised Biden for “doing that rarest of things in politics: giving up his own ambition for the national interest.”
Obama contrasted this with Trump, who he said “has never stopped complaining about his problems since he rode the golden escalator nine years ago.”
“There are childish nicknames, there are crazy conspiracy theories,” he said.
There was laughter when he added that Trump has “a weird obsession with crowd sizes.”
“I’ve heard people compare Trump to the neighbor who has a leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day,” Obama said.
Obama’s quip was warmly received by the audience. But when they booed, Obama said: “Don’t boo, vote.”
As his wife did before him, Obama seemed to want to warn people against complacency.
“Despite the incredible energy we’ve gathered over the past few weeks, despite the rallies and memes, this is still going to be a close race in a country that’s deeply divided along partisan lines.”
In endorsing Harris, he spoke of the pressure she put on him when she was California attorney general and he was in the White House.
“After the housing mortgage crisis, she pushed me and my administration hard to ensure that homeowners received a fair settlement,” he said.
Obama mixed in his inspiring speech with some sobering reflections on modern American life.
“We seek the approval of strangers through our phones,” he lamented.
“We build all kinds of walls and fences around ourselves, and then we wonder why we feel so alone.”
He said most Americans don’t want to live in a country that has become so bitter and divided.
“We want something better. We want to be better. The joy and excitement we see at this event tells us that we are not alone.”
Doug Emhoff’s quest to become America’s first gentleman
Harris may be well-known as vice president, but American voters are not very familiar with her.
On the second day of the convention, her friends and family gave speeches that introduced her to the United States.
Her husband, Doug Emhoff, and stepson, Cole, gave viewers a glimpse into the blended family they have created together.
“We may look different than other families in the White House, but we are ready to represent all families in America,” Cole said.
Doug also reminisced about the early days of his relationship with Harris, recounting the rambling, nervous voicemail he left her in an effort to set up their first date.
“‘Hey, this is Doug, I’m on my way to a morning meeting. Again, this is Doug.’ I remember trying to get the words out of my mouth and then putting them back in my mouth. And then after what felt like several minutes, I hung up,” he said.
“Kamala saved that voicemail, by the way. She makes me listen to it every anniversary.”
Harris’ campaign has heavily promoted Emhoff’s image on social media as a loving wife and mother, a goofball, a walking green flag bearer and a second-rate gentleman who is happy to cede the spotlight to the women in his life.
He has Campaign for greater abortion access for Americans And once said, “Improving the status of women and enabling them to play an important role is A very manly thing”.
The last woman to come this close to the presidency, Hillary Clinton, sometimes Struggling to control her husband, Bill, during the campaign.
Meanwhile, Emhoff emphasized in his speech that he will be cheering for his wife from the sidelines.
“She’s ready to lead,” he said.
“She brings joy and tenacity to the task, and she will be a great president that we can all be proud of.”
The roll call is no longer a formal vote count, but has become a star-studded dance party.
The traditional “roll call” was once the formal process for nominating candidates and the heart of the convention, but now the Democratic National Convention has become a dance party.
The actual roll call is done. Delegates — the people responsible for voting for candidates on behalf of their state’s political party — participate in the official online count.
A DJ made the event more interesting on Wednesday. As each state delegation was invited to take the oath of office to vote, Grammy-nominated DJ Cassidy played a song related to the state, starting with “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Texas had Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Idaho had The B-52s’ “Private Idaho,” and New York, of course, had Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind.”
When it was Georgia’s turn, Atlanta rapper Lil Jon burst into the stadium for a surprise live performance, with some lyrical changes. The lyrics of his hit song Get Low were changed from “to the windows, to the walls” to “Vice President Harris, Governor Waltz.”
Lil Jon wasn’t the only celebrity attending the party. Actors Sean Astin (Stranger Things), Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives), and Wendell Pierce (The Wire) all joined their respective state delegations (from Indiana, Texas, and Louisiana, respectively).
Earlier in the evening, singer Patti LaBelle and rapper Common performed.
Organisers make ‘adjustments’ in response to ‘huge applause’
Even though it may look perfect on TV Opening day of the conferencesomething went wrong behind the scenes.
Delegates and guests were stuck on stationary buses and lined up for hours outside the venue as security checks were blocked. Inside, too many speakers exceeded their allotted time.
This forced producers to make last-minute changes to the show’s schedule and remove some content, including a performance by singer James Taylor.
But Biden’s important speech still started 40 minutes late and failed to be broadcast on prime time television.
Organizers believe that this may be considered a rather unbelievable turn of events due to the overly enthusiastic cheering.
“As loud applause interrupted speaker after speaker, we ultimately skipped portions of the program to ensure we could reach President Biden as quickly as possible so he could speak directly to the American people,” convention officials said in a statement.
DNC Executive Director Alex Hornbrook said organizers are “working with our speakers and making some other adjustments” to ensure Wednesday’s event goes smoothly.
The official program started earlier and despite the “huge applause” everything seemed to go more smoothly.
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