IPM’s Christine Hatfield reports from Grant Park in Chicago.
CHICAGO — Thousands of activists are expected to converge on Chicago this week for the Democratic National Convention, hoping to call attention to abortion rights, economic injustice and the war in Gaza.
Things kicked off Sunday on the convention’s eve with a march along Michigan Avenue against the war in Gaza and for abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. The march began in late afternoon and stretched into the night.
Police lined the march route and there were no signs of major conflict. At one point, anti-abortion activists staged a small counter-protest.
Police did not immediately respond to an email asking if there had been arrests more than three hours into the march. – Associated Press
Harris arrives in Chicago
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrived at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Sunday night. She was greeted on the tarmac by Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-IL).
The Democratic National Convention will lean into the party’s potential to make history. Harris vies to be the first woman, the first Black woman and the first person of South Asian descent to reach the Oval Office.
“I wasn’t sure I would see this particular moment in my lifetime, to see a Black woman who is now on the cusp of becoming our next president,” said Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, one of the nation’s highest-ranking Black women elected officials.
Democrats will keep abortion access front and center for voters, betting that the issue will propel them to success as it has in other key races since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago.
Every living Democratic president and first lady will appear this week, except for the ailing Jimmy Carter, along with a long list of federal, state and local officials and activists.
It’s set to be a contrast to last month’s GOP convention in Milwaukee, where former President George W. Bush and former vice president Mike Pence, among other well-known Republicans, stayed away from the event given Trump’s antipathy toward them.
Expected to speak this week is former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican who investigated Trump’s actions around the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection and has endorsed Harris. – Associated Press
Biden will get his farewell Monday
Part of introducing Harris and Walz will be first giving a graceful exit to the 81-year-old incumbent president, who is slated to deliver the keynote address Monday.
The Democratic Party likely would have been in a far worse state if Biden had continued to cling to the nomination. He faced growing concerns about his mental and physical acuity after struggling to complete sentences at the debate.
By deciding to step aside and endorse Harris, the 81-year-old president will instead receive a hero’s welcome in his final turn in the spotlight 52 years after being elected to the Senate from Delaware.
Biden is planning to give a lengthy endorsement of Harris and sharply criticize Trump before he leaves Chicago and makes way for the program to focus on the vice president he chose four years ago. – Associated Press