6 minute read
My Week in Chicago at the 2024 Democratic National Convention
Tom McInerney
As a lifelong political junkie and progressive political activist, I’ve been fortunate to participate in and attend many memorable political events over the years. In college I volunteered at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, where Mario Cuomo gave his iconic “A tale of two cities” speech and Geraldine Ferraro was the first female nominated for Vice President. In 2004 in Boston, as a John Kerry-appointed member of the DNC’s Rules Committee, I was present for Barack Obama’s national introduction with his powerful keynote preaching how there “there is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America — there's the United States of America.” And I was honored to be a delegate four years later in Denver when Obama accepted his historic nomination at a packed Mile High Stadium.
But none of those experiences topped the thrill of representing Marin County and the rest of the Second Congressional District at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 19-22, as we nominated our Northern California native daughter, Kamala, as our candidate for president.
Since returning from Chicago a lot of my friends and colleagues have asked a form of the same questions, “How was it? Was it incredible?” How do you answer these questions? Yes, of course, it was incredible. But most of my friends and colleagues watched it at home, most likely from a much more comfortable position than the crammed United Center, and they heard more real-time reaction and commentary during the convention than I experienced. Ultimately, the thrill for me came from the knowledge that I was there not just for my own experience, but to represent the hopes and dreams of fellow citizens from our relatively small part of the world and to show Kamala Harris and her running mate, MN Governor Tim Walz, that we were behind them and would do whatever it took to make sure they were elected.
How did I become a delegate? The delegate selection process is an arcane process governed by rules set by the national party and the California Democratic Party. Elected members of Congress, including our Congressman Jared Huffman, as well as governors, senators, and party leaders, are automatically eligible to serve as delegates, as are individuals selected by the nominee, including union and other senior party activists. However, the bulk of the roughly 500 CA delegates were selected as part of an on-line voting process by Congressional District and open to registered Democrats who registered for an on-line vote in April 2024. This process is not widely publicized, and those individuals with a track record of progressive activism usually have an inside shot at garnering sufficient votes. California always sends a very diverse group. Indeed, joining me as Harris delegates from California this year was the guy who played Bowzer in Sha-Na-Na (yes, I’m dating myself), and Tony Hale, who played “Gary” on the TV show Veep and “Buster” on Arrested Development.
What was the experience like? Simply amazing. Because Kamala Harris is a Californian, our delegation was placed right in front of the podium, garnering a lot of jealous comments and dirty looks from delegates from New York and other non-battleground states. Because our seats were so good, there was usually a mad scramble every day to get to the United Center early enough to stake out a seat before vultures (i.e., staff members of elected officials) grabbed seats belonging to delegates. During the roll call I was sitting about 10 feet behind Governor Newsom, and a number of my family members and friends texted me photos they took of me from CNN and MSNBC as I stood nearby waving a sign. Our seating was usually crammed, and if you got up to go to the restroom there were times you were blocked from reentry, a particular challenge for me as I enter my sixth decade. Two of the days I sat with our very own Congressman Jared Huffman, who usually had an excellent view since he’s about a foot taller than me.
What were the most memorable experiences? First, the key speeches, including Harris’ powerful acceptance speech, Michelle Obama’s frank and funny speech, and the Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff’s speech regaling us with how he was set up on his first date with our future Vice President. Second, the music was incredible, including Jason Isbell’s performance of “Something More than Free,” Stevie Wonder singing “Higher Ground,” and Pink’s performance (including at a pre-session sound check) of “What About Us.” I’ll admit that I was not familiar with Lil Jon’s body of work, but I was right there jamming with everyone else as he ran down the aisle next to me during the roll call vote rapping, “Turn out for what.” Ok, we didn’t get Beyonce or Taylor Swift, but the entertainment was still top notch.
And probably the best part of the convention (at least for me) are the lesser-known acts or appearances. Between many of the speeches the DNC shows short films that are very powerful, including some that interviewed Republicans about why they were not voting for Trump again, and a short film on Tuesday night that provided an irreverent look at Doug Emhoff. Particularly powerful speakers included the parents of the recently murdered Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin and members of the wrongly convicted Central Park Five. These moments were balanced out by Mindy Kaling’s hilarious set describing her “outing” Kamala Harris as Indian in an Instagram cooking video, and SNL’s Kenan Thompson reading from an oversized book intended to replicate Project 2025. And, of course, there were Oprah (being Oprah) and Warriors’ Coach Steve Kerr bringing the house down in the arena where he played with the Bulls.
I was also thrilled that I got a chance to experience the convention with my son Joe, a second-year law student at Northwestern, who finagled a volunteer job on the convention floor as a delegate security official near the Minnesota delegation, complete with walkie talkie and earpiece.
The one downside was, inevitably perhaps due to the crammed quarters, I returned from Chicago with a mild case of Covid-19, as did many other delegates from various delegations. Fortunately, that was short-lived and a small price to pay for a lifetime of inspirational memories.
