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Kamala Harris kicked off her convention on Monday night with a brief appearance, sending a jolt of excitement through the Democratic delegates on hand.
“This is going to be a great week!” Harris said, before thanking President Joe Biden, who will speak later on Monday night. “We are forever grateful to you.”
Harris’ appearance followed a brief biographical video, narrated by Jeffrey Wright and accompanied by Beyonce’s song “Freedom.”
The vice president then gave way to emcee Tony Goldwyn, the actor who played the president on the ABC show “Scandal.” Goldwyn was among a handful of entertainers on stage, following Jason Isbell, who sang “Something More Than Free,” and Mickey Guyton, who performed “Ain’t We All American?”
Goldwyn promised that the week would offer an introduction to Harris and a clear contrast between Donald Trump’s agenda and her vision for the future.
“It is a message that’s joyful, not mean spirited,” Goldwyn said. “Public service — not self service, optimism and opportunity, not chaos and division. It’s a message that has woken us up to who we are.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of most anticipated speakers on the schedule. Earlier in the day, Donald Trump’s campaign sought to link Harris to Ocasio-Cortez’s positions on issues like defunding the police and the Green New Deal.
When it was her turn to talk, Ocasio-Cortez didn’t waste time attacking Trump as a plutocrat.
“I for one am tired of hearing about how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot than the woman who fights every single day to lift working people out from under the boots of greed trampling on our way of life,” she said. “The truth is, Don, you cannot love this country if you only fight for the wealthy and big business. To love this country is to fight for all people, working people, everyday Americans.”
Spotted in the basement of the United Center were Marisa Tomei, JJ Abrams and producer Bruce Cohen. They said they had “high hopes” for the campaign. Abrams and his wife, Katie McGrath, have given more than $3 million to Democratic committees this cycle. Cohen is also a prolific donor.
James Taylor is also on the schedule to perform, leading into Biden’s speech.
As Democrats got ready for opening night, downtown Chicago was humming Monday with flags, bunting, bootleg t-shirt vendors and all the usual trappings of a political circus come to town.
Delegates from all over the country took time out before the major speechifying at the United Center this evening to look around the city. A rally in support of Palestinians in Gaza drew about 15,000 people, organizers with the Coalition to March on the DNC told ABC News Chicago.
But generally speaking, the downtown scene seemed calm. Further south near the warren of hotels housing delegates, the scene was quiet even outside of the gleaming silver Trump Tower that looks out over the city’s Riverwalk.
Another hub of activity was on the east side of town at the sprawling McCormick Place center that the hosted DemPalooza showcase featuring a range of left-leaning organizations and causes. There were stages for discussions and Q&As but they were sparsely attended. The five-mile distance between McCormick Place and the United Center has obvious advantages for security and crowd control. But it also makes attendees heavily dependent on the DNC shuttles operating among the hotels and the two venues. The security perimeter around United Center is so large that ride share drivers and even public transit can’t get too close.
Elections are often defined in slogans and there was plenty of sloganeering displayed on the lapels, polo shirts and blouses of delegates, from “Remember Jan 6” to “Keep Kamala and Carry On,” “Another Cat Lady for Kamala” and “Make Lying Wrong Again.”
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