Coach Walz accepts Dem VP nomination
Harris takes center stage tonight at DNC
Also in today’s edition of ‘Regular Order’ for August 22, 2024:
Some frank words from a key Harris adviser.
Trump steams about DNC criticism.
Feds shrink job gains over last 12 months.
From Chicago, Illinois -
DEMS. Accepting his party's nomination for Vice President, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota played up his roots as a teacher and a high school football coach Wednesday night, going on offense against Donald Trump and Republicans. "I'm ready to turn the page on these guys," Walz said to cheers, as Democratic Party delegates repeatedly chanted, "We're not going back."
COACH. With delegates waving 'Coach' signs, Walz acknowledged he was a brand new face in the 2024 race. "I haven't given a lot of big speeches like this, but I have given a lot of pep talks," the Minnesota Governor said, peppering his remarks with football metaphors and references.
HARRIS. “Boy, do we have the right team,” Walz said of Vice President Kamala Harris, arguing she is more than ready to lead her party to victory in November. "Kamala Harris is tough. Kamala Harris is experienced, and Kamala Harris is ready," as the crowd roared its approval.
TRUMP. Walz also showed off his attack dog side, using his speech to criticize Trump over Project 2025 and more. "It's an agenda nobody asked for," Walz said. "Is it weird? Absolutely. But it's also wrong and it's dangerous.”
AVERAGE AMERICAN. What do Democrats see in Tim Walz? Let's get the view of Democratic pollster and strategist Matt McDermott:
Tim Walz is a transformational figure in American politics in a way most political pundits fundamentally don’t understand, because he’s just an everyday American trying to make this country do good for good people. That’s it. It’s salt of the earth goodness. We don’t need platitudes. Or rhetoric. Or someone who knows how to read a teleprompter. America just needs real people with real lived experiences who are trying to make life better for everyday people.
POLICIES. Walz didn't really talk about policies for Kamala Harris. But he did tick off a few things he's done as Governor - like paid family and medical leave, cutting taxes for the middle class, bipartisan compromise, and free breakfast and lunch for all public school students.
TONIGHT. There will be all sorts of other speakers on this final night of the Democratic convention, but the only one that will top the headlines is the speech of Vice President Kamala Harris, as she will accept her party's nomination for President. Her schedule says that address will begin at 10:45 pm EDT.
BUBBA. 28 years after standing on the same stage to accept his party's nomination for a second term in the Oval Office, Bill Clinton was back last night before delegates, making the case for Kamala Harris. "In 2024, we've got a pretty clear choice," Clinton said. "I know which one I like better for our country."
BIDEN. Clinton went out of his way to thank President Biden for his historic decision a month ago to step aside as the party's nominee. "He voluntarily gave up political power," Clinton noted, almost with a dash of disbelief.
AGE. Clinton also took a different kind of swipe at Donald Trump - which would not have worked if Joe Biden was still in the race. "Two days ago, I turned 78," Clinton said. "I'm still younger than Donald Trump." (Clinton though does not *sound* younger than Trump, that’s for sure.)
SNL. A familiar face from Saturday Night Live helped Democrats attack the GOP's Project 2025 last night. Comedian Kenan Thompson lugged the over 900 pages of policy plans from conservatives on stage, and reminded delegates what it would do - in a second Trump term.
KENAN. "Did you ever see a document that could kill a small animal and end democracy at the same time?" Thompson said to laughs as he wielded the big Project 2025 book. "You vote for him, you vote for all of this."
PROJECT 2025. Polls show Project 2025 is a big loser for the GOP - and that may be one reason that Donald Trump ran from it a few weeks ago. But look for Democrats to try to tie him to it as often as possible in the next 10-plus weeks.
TAR HEEL. As for Trump, he was on the road yesterday - again in North Carolina - expressing frustration about the slings and arrows he was taking from the Democratic convention. Trump was again using the full name of former President Barack Obama, which is always a tip off to Trump’s demeanor.
TRUMP. "Did you see Barack Hussein Obama last night? He was taking shots at your President," Trump said, sliding into a discussion about his staff. "They always say, 'Sir please stick to policy. Don't get personal.' And yet they're getting personal all night long. Do I still have to stick to policy?"
BIDEN. Trump remains aggravated by Joe Biden's departure from the 2024 race, as he used a Truth Social post to again rant about a host of Democrats, from 'Comrade Kamala Harris' to 'Crazy Nancy Pelosi.'
THURSDAY. Trump takes his campaign to Arizona today, as he will use a visit to the border in Cochise County to emphasize his call to crack down on illegal immigration. He’ll also hold a rally outside Phoenix.
MIDNIGHT. Trump was up very late last night posting about the Democrats - and himself. “I have done more for Israel than any person, and it's not even close,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social website.
BEHIND THE SCENES. Let’s circle back to the Democratic convention here and pull back the curtain again. I had to chuckle on Wednesday when some of the delegate meetings started a little late - and there were empty seats. Why? Because a lot of people had been out partying late the night before.
MAILBAG. One reader asked why there are daily delegate meetings. Before cell phones and email, these gatherings were held to hand out credentials and keep everyone up to date on who was speaking, plans for parties, and more. They are still a great way to build unity and promote cooperation for November.
RURAL. For example, I’ve heard a lot of talk from delegates about how best to grind out extra votes for Democrats in rural areas. Every vote counts - even in very conservative counties.
STATE OF THE RACE. Making the delegate rounds yesterday was David Plouffe, the former top strategist for Barack Obama, who is now working for Kamala Harris. One month after Joe Biden stunned his party by dropping out of the 2024 race, Plouffe didn't mince any words about why that decision helped Democrats and Vice President Harris.
PLOUFFE. "With all due respect to President Biden, one of the reasons she's got so much tailwinds now in the electorate is people are excited about a change," Plouffe said. "We know the numbers, a lot of people weren't excited about the (Biden-Trump) rematch. They're excited that we've got someone different."
NOT KNOWN. Plouffe had some interesting observations about voter impressions of Harris. Even though she's been Vice President, Plouffe said most voters are just 'kicking the tires.’ "She's auditioning right now," Plouffe told delegates, making clear how important this convention week is for Harris.
SPEECH. With that as background, imagine you are writing her acceptance speech tonight. If most voters see her as a blank slate - even after nearly four years as Vice President - what do you emphasize in that convention address? It will be the biggest political moment for Harris in her career.
IT’S THE ECONOMY, STUPID. Next door, former Bill Clinton strategist James Carville - clad in a camouflage LSU shirt - was discussing the same points with Virginia Democrats. "We feel something special," Carville said, though Carville has been a bit grumpy at times about the trajectory of the new Democratic ticket.
BENCH. I mentioned this week how Democrats suddenly have such a deep bench, and I got to see another example of that on Wednesday with Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland. His message was succinct. It’s time to work. "Victory does not happen by accident," Moore said.
FREE STATE. While Moore hasn’t reached the polished stump speech yet of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan - he may get there soon. Moore clearly connects with his audience. Only a small number of elected officials ever get to that point.
RESUME. If you don’t know Moore, it’s almost like he was made in a lab. At age 45, his resume includes a stint in Afghanistan in the 82nd Airborne. He was a Rhodes Scholar, and an investment banker. (Plus, he eloped to Vegas and was married by an Elvis impersonator.) People lined up for photos for a reason. He inspires them.
ESCALATOR PITCH. Sometimes there are innocuous moments out on the campaign trail which tell you a story. As I was walking through the bowels of one Chicago hotel yesterday, an older food service worker suddenly started talking to me. She wanted to say something about Michelle Obama's speech.
TV. "I was screaming at home," the woman told me without prompting and without hesitation, expressing her support for the former First Lady - and for Kamala Harris. "I'm a woman. I'm all for this woman power stuff."
OVAL OFFICE. That made me think. Something that hasn’t received that much attention is how Harris would be the first woman to become President. That could be a motivating factor for some female voters come November.
OBAMAS. During Tuesday night's DNC session, I sent out two tweets with quotes about the speeches by Michelle and Barack Obama. Most of the responses were grotesque, a bitter reminder of the GOP hatred for the Obamas, as the overtly racist remarks were still flowing a day later.
THRILL. I never got the 'thrill going up my leg' optimism from Chris Matthews about Obama. But I certainly never understood the unvarnished racism either. Barack Obama’s election uncorked something very unsavory in the American psyche which is still around today.
JOBS. The Labor Department made some big news yesterday, ratcheting back job creation numbers for the past year by 818,000 jobs. That means instead of about 2.5 million jobs created over the last 12 months, it was more like 1.7 million, a cut of about one-third.
REVISION. The original Labor Department figures show 16.2 million jobs have been added under the Biden Administration. Reducing that by 800,000 brings that down to about 15.4 million. (Last year in this same report, the feds revised job numbers down by over 300,000.)
GOP. Republicans reacted by accusing the Biden Administration of lying about their own jobs report - which doesn't make sense, given that the group which issued this yearly correction is the department in charge of the original count. "Kamala Harris' record job growth did not exist," said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA).
WALL STREET. How did the markets react? With a shrug. The Dow Jones was actually up slightly on Wednesday, still above 40,000.
MENENDEZ. A day after Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) officially resigned his seat, the Senate Ethics Committee announced it had closed its investigation of the New Jersey Democrat. The panel had been 'preparing a written report for the Senate' - but now, we won't see that.
GARDEN STATE. Wednesday brought the sad news that Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) - the good-natured but also irascible Democrat from New Jersey - had died after a short illness. He was 87. "His impact as a tireless advocate and public servant will not be forgotten," said Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA).
RAP SHEET. An Ohio man has drawn a 19 month jail sentence for assaulting police on Jan. 6. Matthew Honigford used a flagpole to strike one officer in the chest, and later used a metal bike rack to try to push back police lines outside the Capitol. At the time, Honigford was a member of the Ohio Army National Guard.
MUSE OF HISTORY. August 22, 1911. On this date, the Congress was getting ready to adjourn, and some Senators wanted to give a goodbye gift to the Senate pages. Sen. Carroll Page of Vermont (yes, his name was Page) proposed paying those Pages - on the payroll on August 1 - $75 to help reimburse them for 'extra services.' No vote was taken on the plan, as the House and Senate adjourned until December.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House is back for votes on September 9.
The Senate returns on September 9.
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Hard to make your pitch to undecided voters when your speech starts sometime in the middle of the night Eastern time. By 10::45 last night, despite being interested in hearing what Tim Walz had to say I gave up - I have a business to run and have to have sleep to have my "A" game each day. This above: "Her schedule says that address will begin at 10:45 pm EDT." - so Ms. Harris will be taking the stage around 11:30 EDT is what that means. Again, too late. Scheduling it for 10:45 even if the show runs on schedule is way too late. The on the fence voters are going to bed.
Happy to see you answered Morgan's question today! Looking forward to the statue answer next week.
Thank you for the late night coverage. I can't imagine staying up that late anymore.