By Tomas Vera, former PCDCC Chair
I decided to attend the 2024 Democratic National Convention. What a convention it was! Here are some of the highlights.
Welcome to Chicago
This year's convention was held in Chicago, Illinois. You may remember that the 1968 convention and Chicago was quite eventful. This year, the convention threatened to be upended by protests regarding the war in Gaza, similar to the protests seen at the California state convention in November 2023. Although protesters were allowed to protest, they were kept at a safe distance from the convention facilities.
Convention delegates were treated to a welcome party on Sunday evening. The party was held at the famous Navy Pier and delegates were met with food, music, a beautiful skyline, and eventually some fireworks. It turned out to be the best opportunity to meet delegates from across the nation. For me, the highlight was getting a picture taken with The Bob Newhart statue at the end of Navy Pier (Newhart was a favorite of mine while growing up and well into adulthood).
Convention sites
The National Convention is organized similarly to the California Democratic Party (CADEM) conventions I've attended in the past. There are business meetings and caucus meetings. In Chicago, the caucuses occurred during the day and the business meetings occurred at night, which is opposite of what happens at CADEM meetings.
There were three main sites at which convention events took place: the California delegation hotel (Hyatt Regency Chicago), McCormick Place convention center, and the United Center arena.
Delegation hotel
First, was the delegation hotel: The Hyatt Regency Chicago. Here, every morning, the California delegation received breakfast and heard from some wonderful speakers.
Monday: US Senator Laphonza Butler and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Tuesday: Governors Josh Shapiro, Gretchen Whitmer, and host J.B. Pritzker
Wednesday: US Senator Alex Padilla, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg
Thursday: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
We were warned that this might be the only meal of the day, and we were encouraged to get a good breakfast. I did. And it was. McCormick Place
Following breakfast, delegates took shuttles to the McCormick Place convention center where the caucus meetings took place. Caucuses are groups focused on a specific area of interest. Typical caucuses include the Hispanic caucus, veterans, environmental, rural, and seniors. At the convention, they're used to host panel discussions, question/answer sessions, and to hear speakers who are addressing the main topic at hand.
I attended the Hispanic Caucus. The caucus was addressed by Tim Walz. This was my first time hearing him speak.
McCormick Place also hosted DemPalooza, a fair-style gathering of local and national businesses and organizations. It was an excellent opportunity for delegates to get to know Chicago better via its merchants, and it was an excellent opportunity to get information on some new electioneering technology.
After the caucuses were completed, delegates took shuttles back to the delegation hotel to prepare for the evening's program.
United Center
The delegates then boarded shuttles which took us to the United Center arena where the evening's program was taking place. The United Center is the home of the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago Blackhawks. Each night it was packed to the rafters with delegates enthusiastically hearing from the evening's speaker lineup.
The room was packed with delegates, elected officials, and all of the mainstream media personalities.
Admittedly, part of the fun was trying to get on television. To make it easier for my family and friends to spot me, I always posted the ‘fit (outfit) of the evening to Facebook. That way, it would be easier to be spotted by family and friends.
Evening events
Because California is not a swing state, our delegation is often located at the periphery of the event hall. This year, however, because the Presidential nominee is from California, our delegation was seated directly in front of the stage. Because we were nearly 500 delegates strong, we took up the entire central part of the arena floor.
Rally signs
I never realized the orchestration that goes into making the visual presentation of the convention exciting for people watching from home.
We have all seen the rally signs being waived at these conventions. Throughout the evening, an army of ushers would bring signs apropos to the speech being delivered and distribute them to the delegates. With sign in hand, the delegates would waive the signs at the appropriate times. For example, when President Biden was giving his address, we received one that said “We ❤️ Joe.”. Towards the end, we received a sign that said “Thank you Joe.” The delegates waved them enthusiastically over the course of the evening.
Speakers
Over the four nights of the convention, we heard from a tremendous array of speakers. Clearly the highlights were: Oprah, President Biden, First Lady Michelle Obama, President Barack Obama, President Bill Clinton, Coach Tim Walz, and finally Vice President Kamala Harris. There were many other great speakers, but the list is too long to include here.
Roll call
The most unexpectedly enjoyable event was the roll call of the votes. While this is normally a dry, straightforward event, at this convention the organizers made it a wonderfully entertaining part of the program. As each state was due to report their votes, state-appropriate theme music was provided by a DJ. When it was time for Georgia to present their roll call, rapper Lil Jon gave an unexpected rendition of his hit “Turn Down for What.”
California's roll call was delivered by Governor Gavin Newsom.
On Tuesday evening, my view of the convention was partially blocked by being directly under the media platform with the teleprompter for the stage. My best view of the roll call was on the Jumbotron overhead.
After parties
Conventions are known for their after parties. Due to the lateness of the events, I didn't attend any of the events going on, except for the California Bash.
The California Bash is hosted by our delegation on Wednesday evening. This was a lavish party held at the House of Blues in Chicago. Singer John Legend served as a presenter for US Senator Laphonza Butler. Actor/comedian Anthony Anderson served as a host as well. It was an excellent opportunity for everyone to let their hair down a bit, enjoy an adult beverage or two, hear some music, and shake their booty.
Extra activities
Chicago is known as a tremendous city when it comes to food and events. Because the convention was in Chicago, I added an extra day before and after the business meetings to play tourist in the windy city.
On the Sunday before the convention, I made my way to Wrigley Field to watch a Cubs game, buy a cap, and to eat a Chicago dog.
On Friday after the convention, I made my way down to the Chicago River. I took the Riverwalk tour and I took an architectural boat tour to look at the historic and very impressive architecture in the downtown Chicago area.
Do it again?
Of course, not everything went according to plan. The shuttles took too long to move between venues, and there weren't enough seats for all the delegates in our delegation. Worse, there were no opportunities to sample any of the fabled Chicago cuisine (breakfast was the only meal we could count on).
Overall, this was a tremendous experience. If you're passionate about our Democratic Party, I encourage you to look into becoming a delegate. You won’t regret a single minute.