DNC says farewell, Mr. President: Democrats celebrate Biden’s legacy and hope for a new future

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In an inspiring and powerful night for Democrats, party figures and even everyday folks took the stage of the first night of the Democratic National Convention. Party icons, including former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and upstart Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, spoke to persuade Americans that Vice President Kamala Harris is their choice to lead the nation.

While attendees eagerly partook in the festivities, a surprise appearance of the presidential nominee herself stunned the crowd. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, pushed in a wheelchair, was presented a video tribute for his dedication to the party replete with highlights of his own presidential run.

But the most anticipated moment of the evening was Scranton, Pennsylvania-born President Joe Biden, whose address could be described as a passing of the torch and leadership farewell to the Democratic Party. Since Biden won his race for U.S. Senate in 1972, Biden’s half-century of service was celebrated, as delegates chanted “Thank you, Joe!”

For his own part, in a speech that went more than 50 minutes, Biden talked about his record but also powerfully conveyed his support for Harris in what he called the fight to “preserve American democracy.”

“She’ll be a president respected by world leaders, because she already is,” he said as the vice president watched. “She’ll be a president we can all be proud of, and she will be a historic president who puts her stamp on America’s future.”

‘We thank you’

The current senator from Delaware, Chris Coons, gave his own farewell to the president that seemed to capture the delegation’s sentiments.

“Mr. President, you were my senator, you are my president, and you will always be my friend,” Coons said from the podium at the United Center in Chicago. “On behalf of our country, Joe, for your courage in fighting for our democracy, we thank you. On behalf of our Democratic Party, for your loyalty and for our values, we thank you.”

Mayor Cherelle Parker said she was moved by the president’s speech but added that Biden had built a legacy for Harris and future Democrats to follow.

“Today it’s great to hear the president proudly affirm his record and to see the response from everyone here, excited thinking about what we will get accomplished with a President Harris and Vice President Walz,” she told WHYY News. She said that it wasn’t about an individual or a slogan, but rather, “this is about the substance, the outcomes, the prescription drugs, the student loan debt, the funding for HBCUs. Those are tangibles that people can see, touch and feel.”

Pennsylvania state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, who represents North Philly, called the night a celebration of Biden’s 52 years of service.

“The record of accomplishments for Joe Biden is so long, so robust that frankly you could spend days going through all the different ways that he has made life better for people,” he told WHYY News. “He literally changed the course of this country and healed this nation in a moment where we really needed it.”

Keep building bridges

One of those accomplishments Democrats point to is the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, which budgeted hundreds of billions of dollars for infrastructure projects around the country, including many in Pennsylvania.

That was the subject of discussion for Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who told the audience that Pennsylvania — with the help of Washington — fixed the collapsed portion of Interstate 95 in Philly and Fern Hollow Bridge in Pittsburgh “in record time.”

Davis made the case that investing in infrastructure is investing in children, including his daughter Harper.

“It means replacing millions of lead pipes,” he said. “It means providing clean air, clean water, safe roads and bridges, not just for us, but for generations to come. That’s the legacy that President Biden is leaving our children. Let’s keep building bridges to the future with Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

‘So many cracks in the glass ceiling’

It was something of a homecoming for Hillary Clinton, who was born in Chicago but who was nominated at her own convention in Philadelphia in 2016. She lost the general election that year, but Democrats are optimistic that Harris won’t share that same fate.

“It’s all the excitement we had about 2016 nominating Hillary, but now we’ve put so many cracks in that glass ceiling that it feels even more achievable,” said Pennsylvania delegate Aubrey Montgomery, a fundraising consultant from Philly.

Kenyatta says those cracks were made by the people who were inspired by Clinton’s run.

“There are a lot of people who are running and being engaged in the process because they’re seeing that the water is warm,” he said. “You have seen younger people running for office, more women running for office since 2016, more people of color running for office. When I ran, I became the first openly LGBTQ person of color in the state House and only the second openly LGBTQ person elected in Pennsylvania. Now you have seven members of the LGBTQ caucus.”

Recent polling in Pennsylvania provides some support for that optimism. They still show a very close race, but some have Harris winning, such as a new Quinnipiac poll showing Harris up by three points, and a New York Times poll has her up four points.

‘Take us seriously or lose’

However, not everyone visiting from Pennsylvania was as positive about Harris’ nomination. Evoking echoes of the 1968 Democratic convention, where thousands protested the war in Vietnam, thousands took the street in Chicago to protest another war — this one in Gaza, for which they blame the Biden-Harris administration.

Among them was Mike Wilson, a contractor from Philly who says that Harris will have to show an effort to find peace in the Middle East before she will earn his vote.

“She has to come with a comprehensive plan of action that gets on the road to creating a two-state solution and demand that Israel respects it,” Wilson told WHYY News. “That’s the only way out or otherwise we will find [ourselves] here over and over and over.”

Calling the conflict in Gaza a “U.S.-funded genocide,” Wilson said that he would vote for Donald Trump in order to stop the Democrats from winning in November.

“She better take us seriously or she might find herself on the losing end in November, and those are the facts,” he said.