‘Out of many, one’: Area Democrats dominate third night of the DNC

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A number of area politicians featured in the prime-time lineup at the Democratic National Convention on its third day. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Sen. Cory Booker and Rep. Andy Kim of New Jersey and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware all addressed the crowd of more than 20,000 to support Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential bid.

E pluribus unum

Shapiro enjoyed a prominent position to follow former two-term President Bill Clinton and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The position was likely a prize awarded to him after coming in second in the “veepstakes” contest that Tim Walz — who spoke shortly after Shapiro — eventually won.

Shapiro focused his remarks on the history of independence, which was first declared “in Philadelphia,” adding that freedom is under threat by the possibility of another Trump presidency.

“Today, we find ourselves writing the next chapter,” he told the audience. “Will we be a nation defined by chaos or extremism? Or will we choose a path of decency, honor and continued progress?”

Calling Democrats “the party of real freedom” that fight for union rights, clean air and water and the right for Americans to marry who they want, Shapiro urged voters to fight to get Harris elected and “write this next chapter in our American story.”

“E pluribus unum — out of many, one — is not merely a motto from the past but a direction for our future,” he concluded.

Immigration nation

Sen. Chris Murphy, of Connecticut, focused on immigration, particularly an attempt by both Democrats and Republicans to pass a major border security bill that failed after Trump ordered GOP members of Congress to kill the measure. The sweeping $118 billion Border Act of 2024, which Murphy introduced in the U.S. Senate, included $20 billion for border security. Murphy said it would have given “the president the emergency power to shut down the border.”

Republicans have sought to exploit what they see as the Democrats’ vulnerability on border security issues — the number of asylum seekers and other migrants appearing at the southern border shot up during the Biden administration.

However, Democrats have shot back that the bipartisan bill would have provided the type of border control Republicans say they wanted.

Murphy said that a Republican colleague told him it would have passed “if it weren’t for Trump.”

“Trump killed that bill because he knew if we fixed the border, he’d lose his ability to divide us, his ability to fan the flames of fear about people who come from different places,” he said at the convention. “Trump says that a safe nation can’t be an immigrant nation. That’s flat wrong, and Kamala Harris knows it.”

Blunt Rochester gave a short speech about “bright hope,” a reference to the Philadelphia church her grandmother attended.

The first woman and the first person of color to represent Delaware in the House of Representatives, Rochester is running for the Senate seat currently held by retiring Tom Carper. If she wins, she would make history again in the Senate.

“It’s not just a name, it’s how I approach my life,” she told the crowd. “It’s how I’ll lead as Delaware senator, and it’s how Kamala sees the future of America. Now, there are some who think our politics are too broken for bright hope, but if you want to see hope, just look bright. Hope is record numbers of Black and brown entrepreneurs starting businesses. Bright hope is an opportunity economy where we invest in our communities and build affordable housing.”

Bringing joy

“Joy!” Booker exclaimed as he took the podium. “Our nominees — Kamala Harris and Tim Walz — bring joy.”

Booker pointed out that Trump’s politics, in stark contrast, “is the politics of smear and fear, not inspiration and elevation. He speaks more of American carnage than American compassion. But in America, you can’t lead the people if you don’t love the people.”

Booker, who also played emcee for much of the prime-time lineup, called America “the land of heroism and hope” and “the land of courage and compassion.”

“I believe in America because King dared to dream an impossible dream, because Neil Armstrong went to impossible heights, and because a Black woman in the White House will soon never seem impossible again.”

Kim, who is running for the U.S. Senate seat from New Jersey recently vacated by Bob Menendez following his bribery conviction, addressed the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“When I was a kid, my parents brought me to the Capitol and taught me that it’s sacred ground, a symbol of our democracy,” he said.

He recounted how, after the “unimaginable — a mob tearing down flags, assaulting police officers,” he walked into the rotunda, saw the damage and thought, “How did it get his bad?”

“I refuse to believe our kids are doomed to grow up in a broken America,” he said. “There is a hunger for a new generation of leadership.”