Convention Break

Today begins the Democratic National Convention. Many of our most active Democrats will be attending the four-day event at the United Center in Chicago. That means a break for the rest of us.

I am interested in the speeches. I usually watch the keynote address in which a rising star gets a chance for a national audience. This year, Joe Biden will give the keynote address. For those who have been following his rise to the presidency and administration, there will be no surprises as he mentions some of his many accomplishments and makes the case for electing Kamala Harris. I plan to watch Biden’s speech, if not live, then afterward.

In 1980 we heard Ted Kennedy’s concession speech. In 1988, in a surprisingly long speech, we heard from Bill Clinton. In 2004, the convention introduced us to Barack Obama. I don’t expect any memorable speeches this year as conventions have become carefully scripted. The challenges of the current campaign are formidable. There is no place for distraction or personal ambition. We must return to the words of Ted Kennedy:

I speak out of a deep belief in the ideals of the Democratic Party, and in the potential of that Party and of a President to make a difference. And I speak out of a deep trust in our capacity to proceed with boldness and a common vision that will feel and heal the suffering of our time and the divisions of our Party. (Ted Kennedy, 1980 Democratic National Concession Speech, Aug. 12, 1980).

Every indication is that Kamala Harris will do what Kennedy suggested. There is an energy behind her nomination and we hope it will carry us to every city and hollow, every village and farmstead, to turn out votes for the Harris Walz ticket.

Republicans have been hard at work creating restrictions on the ability to vote. On Sunday, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported on one part of a 2021 law that went into effect: moving any registered voter who missed voting in a single general election from active to inactive status. This is a sort of head fake in that an inactive voter can vote in the next general election. What we know is activists will work hard to find every potential voter, get them registered and to the polls, regardless of obstacles Republicans throw up. Try though they might, Republican election laws represent tinkering around the edges of a movement we hope will carry the election.

I have realistic expectations about Iowa. Our hope is three of the four Democrats running for Congress will be elected. We hope Republican attacks on public schools will yield us votes. We hope the newly approved law that bans abortion when a “fetal heartbeat” or cardiac activity is detected, before many people know they’re pregnant, will convert into votes from women to carry us back to majorities in the state house. Those are our hopes yet they may be dashed by the rough politics of 2024. Returning to Ted Kennedy:

And someday, long after this convention, long after the signs come down and the crowds stop cheering, and the bands stop playing, may it be said of our campaign that we kept the faith. (Ted Kennedy, 1980 Democratic National Concession Speech, Aug. 12, 1980).

May it be said of our party after the 2024 Democratic National Convention, we found our faith again.