Why the 2024 DNC Has Me Anxious—and Optimistic

I got here to Chicago early as a result of I used to be anxious. Nervousness has been my go-to emotion throughout this vibes-based election cycle and one which absolutely received’t go away by November, no matter polls trying considerably higher for the Democrats. I took a stroll by this Midwestern metropolis, surrounded by glittering skyscrapers and attractive retailers. On Saturday I arrived at O’Hare, which was embellished with Harris-Walz indicators and brimming with cheerful volunteers. Chicago was heat and wet and full of vacationers. On Sunday, I visited the United Middle, the cavernous stadium being ready for delegates, buzzing with the low-hum chatter of conference volunteers.

The occasion has gathered right here a pair instances within the not-too-recent previous. On the 1996 conference, the place then president Invoice Clinton was nominated once more, town’s mayor on the time, Richard M. Daley, appeared set on erasing the reminiscence of the violent 1968 conference, which had occurred beneath the tenure of his father, the “final of the big-city bosses,” Richard J. Daley. The 1996 conference wasn’t marred by protests, solely by an ill-fated video of the conference attendees doing the Macarena. However the Nineteen Nineties, no less than in hindsight, have been a giddier, extra hopeful time in American life. The Clinton administration benefited from a sort of sunny, if barely detached-from-reality optimism that Barack Obama—taking the helm amid two overseas wars and on the heels of a monetary crash—couldn’t get pleasure from fairly the identical approach.

Nonetheless, it’s not all good vibes on the streets of Chicago. Some inns are utterly barricaded, reminding me of making an attempt to get into the UN after September 11, and roads are closed off, with lengthy traces of cops on bikes snaking by the streets. A part of town resembles a battle zone (minus the battle), with huge cement buildings blocking roads like a modern-day Stonehenge. Right here, there was an eerie quiet and few individuals, but loads of wire fencing and grey concrete, a bodily manifestation of the collective nervousness surrounding the conference, the anticipated protests, and this consequential election.

Democrats could also be happy with how properly Kamala Harris is polling since ascending to the highest of the ticket, however it’s not possible to overlook the massive stakes of this election, as one other Donald Trump presidency might result in an unraveling of American democracy in a approach many people by no means imagined. Harris’s ascension has been the intense spot in what has been a soul-crushing 2024 cycle. She has utterly remodeled the election, injecting pleasure and optimism into the race and placing the occasion in place to really tackle Trump. And but it hasn’t even been a month since Joe Biden stepped apart and the occasion shortly coalesced behind her. That is all nonetheless so new.

Republicans guarantee us that that is her honeymoon interval. However Harris has confirmed to be assured, clear-eyed, forward-looking, and very comfy talking earlier than large crowds on the marketing campaign path. As I used to be wandering by Chicago, she and Tim Walz and their spouses have been touring on a bus by the must-win state of Pennsylvania. Throughout a cease at a gasoline station, Harris took questions from reporters, one thing that Trump has regularly, with out proof, urged she is incapable of doing. Trump “truthed” shortly after she took questions, asking, “Why received’t Kamala communicate head to head with the American individuals with out a teleprompter and simply reply some fundamental questions? It’s actually bizarre.”

Maybe Trump didn’t see Harris inform reporters, “I very a lot take into account us the underdog. We have now loads of work to do to earn the vote of the American individuals.” Or possibly Trump simply tunes out a politician talking with humility fairly than boasting incessantly.

At a celebration Sunday night time, I bumped into former CNN host Don Lemon, who’s now doing a sort of gonzo journalism. He’d pushed from New York to Chicago, interviewing voters alongside the best way. He instructed me he was shocked at what number of Trump supporters he encountered. For a minute, the magic of the polls slipped away. On condition that polls are, at greatest, snapshots of the citizens, it’s attainable that Trump voters are being undercounted. It’s laborious to shake off the expertise of 2016, when Hillary Clinton was seen because the overwhelming favourite heading into Election Day.

The doorway of the Garland Constructing in Chicago is boarded up forward of the DNC.Bloomberg

Regardless of such unshakeable nervousness, there’s additionally one thing extremely liberating taking place in American politics. Trump has been flailing on the marketing campaign path, making an attempt to replay the hits as assaults which may have labored on Biden, like questioning his psychological acuity, however that aren’t going to equally land on the 59-year-old Harris. This previous weekend, Trump resorted to insisting at a rally that he’s “higher trying” than his Democratic opponent. There’s an previous vaudevillian high quality to the 78-year-old candidate’s speeches, although outdoors of the core MAGA crowd, it appears unlikely that beating listeners over the pinnacle with the identical previous shtick will probably be efficient.

Sure, there’s a feeling in Chicago, a vibe if you’ll, that Democrats are in a stronger place than ever this election cycle, and if anybody can beat Trump, it’s Harris. Despite the fact that Nikki Haley is lengthy gone from the 2024 race, one factor she mentioned nonetheless rings in my ear, “The primary occasion to retire its 80-year-old candidate goes to be the one who wins this election.” Haley has been flawed about a lot, however this, this can be proper.