CHICAGO (AP) — The second night of the Democratic National Convention featured the party’s former presidents, most notably Barack Obama of Chicago. Democrats also went all out in promoting a cross-party appeal, featuring a former spokeswoman for Donald Trump and a Republican mayor of Arizona.
Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, left Chicago for a rally just across the highway in Milwaukee, seeking to entice voters in the swing state of Wisconsin. It’s an acknowledgement that, regardless of the good vibes at the convention, Democrats expect this presidential election to be razor-sharp.
Here are some conclusions from the second evening of the conference.
The Ex-Presidents Club
If the Republican convention was all about Trump, Democrats on Tuesday wanted to place Harris in a pantheon of past presidents. It wasn’t just Obama who would make the vice president’s case. The convention turned to the grandsons of Jimmy Carter and John F. Kennedy to paint her as the natural heir to past Democratic leaders as well.
As groundbreaking as Harris’ candidacy is as the first woman of color to be nominated by her party, these speeches from a former president and her presidential progeny were primarily aimed at connecting her to a broader historical arc, creating a nostalgic message that can inspire an increasingly aging electorate.
“Kamala Harris carries the legacy of my grandfather,” said Jason Carter, the grandson of the 39th president. “She knows what’s right and she fights for it.”
Jack Schlossberg suggested that Harris continue Kennedy’s agenda.
“She believes in America the way my grandfather did,” Schlossberg said. “That we don’t do things because they’re easy, we do things because they’re hard.”
A message for Republicans: It’s OK to leave Trump
Democrats are trying to appeal to disaffected Trump voters, and they used one of his former White House aides to make their case.
Stephanie Grisham served in several roles in Trump’s White House, including communications director and press secretary, allowing Democrats to argue that those who know Trump best have seen him at his worst.
“He has no empathy, no morals, no commitment to the truth,” Grisham said. “I could no longer be a part of the madness. When I was press secretary, I was taken to task for never holding a White House briefing. That’s because, unlike my boss, I never wanted to stand on that podium and lie.”
Kyle Sweetser, a Trump voter from Alabama, told the convention that the former president’s tariffs made life harder for construction workers like him. Republican Mayor John Giles of Mesa, Arizona, was also scheduled to speak Tuesday about why he’s supporting Harris. Giles sees Trump’s policies as harmful to cities like his.
A weighty boost to get the Democrats’ message across about Project 2025
Each day of the DNC, there will be a speaker holding a large book representing the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 policy book.
On the one hand, Project 2025 is a typical Washington effort, where a bunch of nerds and activists band together to map out a possible agenda for the next president. In this case, the authors include many officials who served in the Trump administration and remain close to the candidate. Organizers say they’ve convinced dozens of conservative groups to sign on to the effort, making it far more meaningful than your average collection of policy documents.
Democrats are using Project 2025 as shorthand for their warnings about what could happen in a second Trump term, notably possible overhauls of civil service rules to ensure more of the federal workforce is loyal to the president. But it also contains page after page of other proposals that have been fodder for attacks from the convention stage.
On Tuesday, it was Pennsylvania State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta’s turn to brandish the big book. “It’s a radical plan to drag us back,” he declared.
Senator Gary Peters of Michigan did not use the initiative, but did mention it by name.
“Their Project 2025 agenda is still the same: eliminate overtime, cut health care programs, and give billions and billions in tax breaks to billionaires,” Peters said of the Republicans.
