THE ILLINOIZE: Free post! Dispatch from the DNC...Durbin, Underwood, Johnson all take the stage Monday...Pritzker, Obamas speak tonight
August 20, 2024
Good morning, Illinois.
I stayed up past President Biden’s bedtime to watch his speech last night, which didn’t start in earnest until after 10:30 CT and wrapped around 11:20.
I’ll have convention coverage on WMAY this morning, including a chat with former Madigan spokesman Steve Brown, who told me yesterday he’s been to 11 conventions.
Governor Pritzker speaks tonight. He did a funny sketch with The Daily Show yesterday. I’ve asked Pritzker’s campaign how many shots of Malört the Governor has taken in the lead-up to the convention. I’ll let you know what I hear back.
Our friend Tom LoBianco will handle the Illinois delegation breakfast for us again this morning. You’ll see below he’s way better at this than me. Go subscribe to his Substack 24Sight. Go subscribe. And if you see him at the breakfast this week, go say hello. He’s very un-DC that way.
We’re making this post free for everyone this morning, but if you aren’t a paid subscriber, most of the rest of our coverage of the convention this week will fall behind the paywall. Now is the time to join us, kids. It’s gonna be fun.
The Governor’s office has not released an official schedule as of this writing. Outside of his speech at the DNC tonight, his campaign hasn’t noticed anything either. We’ll keep you posted.
Let’s get to it.
ILLINOIS DEMS THRIVE WITH ENERGY, BUT WHERE WILL THEY SEND IT?
The message to Illinois Democrats on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was clear: fight, fight, fight to win.
House Speaker Chris Welch led a call and response, “Does anybody want to go in reverse?”
“No!” the Dems yelled back.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey delivered a thunderous preacher’s-style sermon to repeated applause.
Even Minnesota First Lady Gwen Walz, a surprise guest at the delegation breakfast before the first day of the DNC, noted she is 10 days new to the campaign trail, saying they only have 78 days left in the election. The former school teacher told the crowd, “I’m asking you to do the work that’s in front of us.”
Illinois’ top Democrats basked in the new enthusiasm which has surged throughout the party with the rise of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and coalesced in Chicago this week for the 2024 Democratic convention.
“We cannot change the nation and turn from a nation that's looking backward to a nation looking forward without fighting for that change,” said former longtime Illinois congressman Bobby Rush. “Change does not come unless there's a fight for change. It doesn't happen just accidentally.”
But in deep blue Illinois there’s not much left for Democrats to win over throughout the state – something Pritzker noted as he celebrated Democrats have held every statewide constitutional office and the state’s two U.S. Senate seats since 2017.
Democrats also control 14 of 17 of the state’s seats in Congress, and supermajorities in the state House and Senate.
And it is reliably blue for the top of the ticket, as Democrats have won every presidential election in the state since 1992.
Leading to the question – where do you put that energy?
“All roads in the Midwest come through Chicago,” said former Congressman Bobby Rush, a staple of Illinois Democratic politics, who was stopped often to take photos with assembled fans.
Their best efforts may run through neighboring Wisconsin and nearby Michigan, critical pieces of the Democratic “Blue Wall,” which both major party tickets see as central to a successful path to the White House. Vice President Kamala Harris has regained an edge in most recent polling of the two pivotal swing states, but vacillating Democrats who remember the shock of election night in 2016, have been reticent to leave any swing state to chance.
The repeated message to the delegates and activists eating breakfast at the Royal Sonesta in Chicago’s River North neighborhood, fighting has to translate to work – on the ground persuading voters and at the ballot box.
Amy Rueff, resource director for the Illinois AFL-CIO, said their members and her friends and family have already sent postcards and worked persuadable voters out of state, and she said there will clearly be more.
“They need to hear from us,” Rueff said. “It’s not just a fight, it’s put your feet on the ground and get it done.”
DNC DAY ONE PHOTOS
A few photos from Monday’s Illinois Democratic delegation breakfast, courtesy of Tom LoBianco:
DURBIN, UNDERWOOD, JOHNSON ALL SPEAK ON DNC NIGHT ONE
Three top Illinois Democrats made their case for Kamala Harris and against Donald Trump on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Monday.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (D-Naperville), and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin all received speaking slots at the DNC Monday.
Johnson opened the evening session of the convention with a full-throated endorsement of Harris.
“What will it take to build the middle class and make it easier for families to not only get by, but to get ahead?,” Johnson asked. “It will take someone with toughness to stand up for us. And let me tell you, America, Kamala’s got it.”
Underwood, a registered nurse, spoke on the Biden-Harris administration’s COVID-19 response and attacked Trump’s handling of the pandemic.
“[Trump] took the COVID crisis and turned it into a catastrophe,” Underwood said. “We can never let him be our president again.”
Durbin also used his time to attack Trump’s term in the White House, for job numbers and his handling of the pandemic.
“His record was defined by failure,” Durbin said. “Donald Trump reminds us of a boss we all had. The guy who thinks he’s a “very stable genius” but is driving the company into the ground.”
Durbin said the contrast in the election couldn’t be more clear.
“When we win, we help people [to] buy their first homes, send their kids to college, and retire with dignity,” Durbin said.
Governor JB Pritzker is expected to speak at the convention tonight, along with former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama.