Observations from the reporter
I was sent by Illinois Times to cover the entire Democratic National Convention. I was one person from a local newspaper competing with more than 15,000 journalists, many of them part of well-staffed operations numbering in the dozens. We operated out of a media city that included a city-block-size white tent and our own separate food truck park for meals.
The convention itself was so thoroughly covered by domestic and foreign media, plus hundreds of influencers, that Illinois Times editors and I decided to focus our coverage on something unique, the members of the Illinois delegation. I was able to secure a rare, random lottery pass to actually go on the convention floor for half an hour while the convention was underway and interview and photograph Illinois delegates.
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Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the presidential nomination on Aug. 22 at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago amid a kaleidoscope and cacophony of balloons, waving signs, music and a roof-raising roar from the party faithful.
A recurring theme throughout the convention had been the words that Harris always used in the courtroom when serving as a prosecutor, "Kamala Harris, for the people," and she echoed those words when accepting the nomination: "On behalf of the people, I accept your nomination for president of the United States."
Some of those people who were right there on the convention floor, 177 of them, were from Illinois, serving as nominating delegates who pledged their votes to Harris. It was the first national political convention for many of them.
Dixon resident Sarah Bingman was a first-time delegate and was looking forward to an exciting week.
"I have already had a great time meeting up with people and feeling the energy, excitement and joy of this occasion," Bingman said. "It's wonderful because I live in a red area of Illinois, and we're seeing a major shift that we hope filters down to our other candidates."
It was also the first convention for Jay Briney of Havana.
"The town I come from is little, there's like 3,400 people and two stoplights, so coming here is overwhelming," Briney said. "Mason County is a rural farm community and farmers are usually strong Republicans. But I've had calls from a lot of people wanting to help who have not wanted to help before, which is good. Having a woman on the top of the ticket with this vice-presidential candidate is a great team, and I think they're going to connect with the voters."
Few Illinois towns are as small as the Greene County community of Rockbridge, but a resident of that town, Jimmy Naville, was experiencing his first convention. He liked the message being put forth by the candidates but said it will be an uphill battle to win in November.
"People are going to have to see how we are going to affect their daily lives, how they are putting food on the table," Naville said. "We need to stick with the message about creating jobs, getting grocery prices down, helping everybody take care of their families."
First-timer Vivian Robinson from Carbondale added, "It's fantastic, the power in the room, the excitement. Everybody is really fired up for this election."
Galesburg resident Pamela Davidson would have attended the 2020 Democratic National Convention, but it was instead held virtually that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Being here in Chicago is just mind-blowing," Davidson said. She added, "It's going to take us knocking on doors in Knox County, telling our stories, especially in the rural areas. We take for granted that all Republicans think the same way and they vote all Republican, but we have Democrats in the county, too."
Ken Mejia Beal from Bloomingdale was thrilled to be there in the middle of the four days of action and excitement and was pleased with the game plan for election success that was being laid out during the convention.
"I think they have a great strategy," Beal said. "Keep pushing the economy, pushing freedom, pushing equality for all, and I think everything is falling into place."
"Tell the story of what we've done."
There were other DNC participants from Illinois who were veterans of previous conventions, but they all seemed to agree that 2024 in Chicago was something special.
"This is my fourth convention, and this outpaces any of the others. This really helps send us back home to get the work done," said state Sen. Doris Turner of Springfield. "I've been doing this for a while in Sangamon County, and it's looking more and more purple. No one thought I would win my election but here I am."
Sangamon County Democratic Party Chairman Bill Houlihan opined, "I've been to several of these conventions over the years and I've never seen one that has been running more magnificently. The speeches have been more to the point and letting us know what we need to do over these next 70-plus days," he said.
State Rep. Katie Stuart of Edwardsville, who represents the 112th District, said she will take home a game plan from her first convention.
"The voters of Madison County need to understand the story of what Democrats bring to them: a living wage, paid leave for all so people can take care of their families, protecting women's rights," Stuart said. "We have to make sure we tell the story of what we've done."
Former southern Illinois congressman and gubernatorial candidate Glenn Poshard said despite the hoopla of the convention, getting Democratic votes may be tough in some areas of Illinois.
"The Democratic Party is going to have to enact some policy considerations for rural areas to try to win back Democrats again," Pochard said. "We need to pay more attention to our hospitals which have closed in rural areas. Thankfully, the infrastructure improvements that the governor and the president are putting forward have been incredible."
Chicago Federation of Labor President Bob Reiter was an alternate convention delegate for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and was pledged to support Joe Biden in 2020.
"This is an incredible experience being on the floor and hearing the amazing speakers that come from different parts of the Democratic Party," Reiter said. "New delegates should cherish the experience; it really makes you feel connected to the party."
"Take it from an actual billionaire."
Illinois' statewide elected officials took center stage, some of them literally, during the DNC.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker's prime-time speech Tuesday made repeated digs at Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Pritzker, one of the wealthiest politicians in America, quipped that "Donald Trump thinks we should trust him on the economy because he claims to be very rich," he said. "But take it from an actual billionaire, Trump isn't rich, except in stupidity."
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin also spoke from the stage, and later told an Illinois delegation breakfast crowd, "We've had fun here, but now we have to roll up our sleeves and go to work. Go home and rest for 24 hours, but no longer, and go out and make a difference."
Next up on Tuesday night was U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, who walked on stage using crutches with her artificial legs in full view. Duckworth is an Iraq war veteran who lost both of her legs in combat. But it wasn't her combat experience that Duckworth focused on in her remarks. It was her two daughters and the struggles that Duckworth and her husband had in starting a family, which eventually required in vitro fertilization.
"My struggle with infertility was more painful than any wound I earned on the battlefield," Duckworth said. "So how dare a convicted felon like Donald Trump treat women seeking health care like they're the ones breaking the law?"
The largest crowd reaction came when former First Lady Michelle Obama delivered an impassioned speech about the upcoming election, and she also did not hold back on Trump.
"We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. We don't have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead," Obama said. "We need to vote in numbers that erase any doubt. We need to overwhelm any effort to suppress us."
Michelle's husband, former President Barack Obama, elicited uproarious laughter as he talked about Trump's obsession with crowd size and used an unscripted hand gesture to indicate something very small.
Although they may not have spoken from the convention stage, other Illinois elected officials sounded optimistic notes about the convention and the party's chances in November.
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza is no stranger to politics or political conventions. Her first as an attendee was the 2000 convention that nominated Al Gore for president.
"Thursday night my husband and my son are going to be in one of those cheap seats up there, but any seat in this place is going to be the best place to be in the world," Mendoza said. "What an amazing thing for my little boy to get to see a woman in that type of power position talking about all the beautiful things that make our country great."
Thirteenth District congresswoman Nikki Budzinski observed that "people are really desperate for more joy and hope. Elections are about the future, not the past," she said. "It's showing up in all of the communities, a willingness to listen to people and understand that we all have different perspectives and we don't have to agree on everything 100% of the time."
Illinois state Treasurer Michael Frerichs acknowledged that the hard work had to begin the day after the convention ended.
"I think the message of freedom and joy is in complete contrast to the hate, rage and bile that we saw out of the Republican National Convention," Frerichs said. "I've talked to a lot of people who feel confident right now, but I remind them that things change very quickly in politics."
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias added, "I think from a messaging perspective the convention is as close to perfect as you can imagine."
Kwame Raoul, the Illinois attorney general, served for 14 years in the Illinois General Assembly. "I valued my relationships with people on the other side of the aisle," he said. "I'm a Democrat but I wish to see a stronger Republican Party that's gone back to its principles, not extremism."
Illinois state Senate President Don Harmon said the party must work hard in the coming weeks to send the Democratic message across Illinois.
"We really need to invest in all corners of Illinois. We've got great Democrats in every county, but it's still hard," Harmon said. "We used to elect Democrats in the Senate from downstate districts like John Sullivan's or Gary Forby's."
Videos were played each night during the convention of former Trump voters who were switching to support Harris this year. Former Illinois congressman Adam Kinzinger, a Republican, spoke from the podium on Thursday about why he now supports Harris.
"Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party," Kinzinger said. "You Democrats are just as patriotic as us."
"Mind your own damn business."
The unofficial star of the DNC was Minnesota governor, former schoolteacher and football coach Tim Walz, the party's vice-presidential nominee. He was a frequent presence in caucus meetings and made his way through the delegations on the convention floor, posing for selfies with the attendees.
"I love this guy, Tim is the kind of person who should be in politics," former President Barack Obama said. "Born in a small town, served his country, taught kids, coached football, took care of his neighbors."
Following a speech by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, who said of Walz that "in Minnesota we love a dad in plaid," one of Walz's former students introduced him on Wednesday night by bringing members of his state champion football team on stage, many wearing their original jerseys.
In his acceptance speech, Walz admonished that his Republican opponents should "never underestimate a public school teacher," and said of GOP efforts to control reproductive rights, "We've got a golden rule in Minnesota, mind your own damn business." Walz and his wife, Gwen, had one of their children through IVF, something that is targeted in the GOP playbook Project 2025.
Walz was a surprise guest at the Tuesday morning Women's Caucus at Chicago's McCormick Center, where he received a standing ovation after proclaiming, "People ask me why I am successful as governor. It's because I surround myself with competent women."
Gwen Walz also made the caucus rounds on Tuesday. Gwen and Tim are both teachers by profession, and she told the Rural Caucus, "Tim and I share a belief that education can be transformative, particularly in small communities. We see the value in every single person and don't classify them in groups."
Then it was on to the Veterans and Military Families Caucus, where Gwen talked about her husband's 24-year service in the National Guard, including one long deployment.
"Our daughter, Hope, was two-and-a-half and I had candy in a jar. Every day we took a piece of candy out and I told her daddy would be home when the jar was empty," Gwen Walz said. "I had to refill that jar several times. Luckily, she didn't figure out what I was doing."
Roll call dance party
The roll call, a normally dull convention procedure where all 50 states and U.S. territories cast ceremonial votes for the presidential and vice-presidential nominees, was turned into a rolling carnival atmosphere on Tuesday night with a live DJ as each delegation took to the microphone to boast about their states while pledging their votes. Republican commentators derisively called the spectacle the "roll call dance party."
As the tens of thousands of convention delegates streamed out of the United Center each night, small groups of people behind the security barricades could be heard shouting, "Fuck Joe Biden!" The reply from those who chose to engage them was, "You idiots, Biden isn't even running."
On Monday night, punctuated by chants of "We love Joe" and "Thank you, Joe," President Joe Biden recited a lengthy list of his administration's accomplishments while comparing it to the record of Republican nominee Donald Trump. Before key portions of his speech, an army of volunteers passed out placards and signs to each seating row so the convention attendees could wave them in unison while cheering. That volunteer army kept supplying new signs throughout the convention, including those that said "USA," "Coach Walz," "Kamala" and "Doug."
Doug Emhoff, Kamala Harris' husband, charmed the crowd on Tuesday with his reflections on their life together, including an embarrassing voicemail he left his future wife when he was trying to set up a blind date with her. It's a message that Harris replays every anniversary, and Emhoff noted that he would hear it again on Thursday, their 10th anniversary and the day that Harris accepted the party's nomination for president. One of the first things that Harris did during her Thursday acceptance speech was to wish her husband, "Happy anniversary, Dougie."
The Project 2025 book that was written by numerous former Trump advisers became a recurring theme each evening of the convention, with several speakers carrying the giant tome on stage, slamming it down on the podium and reading excerpts from it. The most memorable was a skit that "Saturday Night Live" alum Kenan Thompson performed, complete with live video links to individual people across America.
David Blanchette is a frequent contributor to IT who previously worked in communications for numerous state agencies, including the Capital Development Board and Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. He also served as deputy director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum and the Springfield spokesperson for Gov. Pat Quinn.