Video by William Tong.
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong is keeping a daily diary for the Independent this week as he attends the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
I said yesterday that we needed a signature moment, one that shakes the floors and blows the roof off. We just got started, so I don’t want to pronounce the Kaboom too early and detract from a signature moment by saying that everything was a signature moment. But last night at the Democratic National Convention we had a couple of moments that certainly came close.
For me, I was taking a video of the United Center in the middle of prime time, panning from one side to the other and then Kaboom — Kamala Harris walks out onto the stage and the place erupts. It was one of those slow rolling, initially disorienting, what’s going on kind of movements until everyone realized she was walking out on stage.
Now to be honest, I am a bit old school and I used to look forward to the build up and the big reveal on Thursday; presumptive nominees used to wait to come out until after they are actually nominated by roll call vote and before the big reveal/speech on Thursday. In fact, nominees pre-Obama did not even come to the convention city before Thursday. But the heck with it — Kaboom!
There was a palpable electric warmth in the way the delegates received her, a very different quality than I’ve felt at prior conventions and major speeches. It wasn’t the kind of reception you’d expect if Springsteen or Tay-tay suddenly appeared on stage. Sure, it was a holy smokes, scream-like-nuts moment. But the connection was deeper than that. It was also like waiting for our long awaited relative to come home, our girl or our guy, the person we miss and need and she’s finally walking through the door. She was not just “relatable” but familiar. Heroic, but in a way that someone is a hero to her own people. Kamala responded with confidence and strength, and her remarks and her walk were comfortable, affirmative, and yes, joyous.
The President was strong and, it feels like to me, has reconciled with his responsibility to lead our party without being the nominee. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been for him, the First Lady and his family to come out there when the feelings about the last two months must still be raw. But the way the First Lady spoke about Kamala, again with familiarity and warmth and certainty, set the tone for the President. And then the President came out and threw firecrackers on the stage, making the case for Kamala Harris through the language of his and their record over the last three and a half years.
I also said yesterday I needed to see a coherent message. One clear message took shape last night: the prosecutor going after the felon. I know we have seen shades of it already, and I feel like in the early going the Vice President and her surrogates were testing it out. It was in full flower last night. As an Attorney General, you know I love that message, but still find it jarring that Trump is a convicted felon. Still shocks me, which I guess is why the message is so devastating. That is where we are. A former District Attorney and Attorney General, taking on and holding accountable someone who has broken the law over and over again and has no regard for the rules of law and our democratic institutions.
The author at work on the DNC diary.
A personal note: a little rough getting into the arena. My bus took an hour plus to get a short distance, no doubt due to some demonstrations and security slow-downs. Some waited on the bus for 3.5 hours, which I could not have endured after stupidly downing a bottled water before I got on the bus. But I had a great conversation with new friends — John Durso of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 338 and District Attorney Michael Morrisseey of Norfolk, Massachusetts — a few old school pols regaling each other with war stories from back in the day. Which means I am starting to show my age a bit, if I too have a few stories from back in the day…
To be continued…
See below for previous entries in this series: