It’s not every day that a political party jams an NBA-size arena with supporters. But on Tuesday night, Democrats did it twice — in Chicago and Milwaukee.
One month ago, the thought of overflow campaign crowds for Democrats was a ludicrous concept, given President Joe Biden’s lackluster campaign. But when Biden gave up his bid for reelection — and was replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris — everything changed.
“I’ve seen a lot of chaos and confusion,” acknowledged U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Lithonia. “But all of a sudden, the clouds cleared away, and the sun started shining.”
One main reason the fortunes of Democrats changed so dramatically is simple: shifting from Biden to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz has given voters a new option for November that many Americans clearly wanted.
“People are excited about a change,” David Plouffe, a former strategist for Barack Obama now working for Harris, said as he frankly admitted the Biden-Trump rematch was not a winner for Democrats.
“We know the numbers, a lot of people weren’t excited about the rematch,” Plouffe told Georgia delegates. “They’re excited that we’ve got someone different.”
State Democrats say the response has been overwhelming.
“My work email, personal email, personal texts are unmanageable now,” Georgia Democratic Party Vice Chair Matthew Wilson said, “because everybody is reaching out saying, ‘What can I do to help?’ ”
But let’s remember one thing. That switch — and the meteoric rise of Kamala Harris in the past month — would not have been possible without Biden’s historic decision to step aside, plus his quick endorsement of Harris that snuffed out any internal leadership fight.
In his convention speech to delegates, Biden spelled out a somewhat ironic twist to his over 50-year political career.
“I was too young to be in the Senate,” Biden said, noting that he was elected in 1972 a few weeks before he turned 30 years old, “and too old to stay as President.”
The importance of Georgia’s 16 electoral votes was on display repeatedly this week in Chicago as party bigwigs implored state delegates to return home and get out the vote.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told Georgia Democrats. “Tim Walz says we can sleep when we’re dead.”
On the other side, Republicans could have tried to move on from Donald Trump in 2024. The GOP could have been the party offering a new candidate, generating fresh momentum, excitement and big crowds. Instead, Republicans are offering a repeat of 2016 and 2020.
“We’re not going back,” Democrats repeatedly chanted as they nominated Harris and Walz.
The voters will soon tell us if they agree.
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and Congress from Washington since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at http://jamiedupree.substack.com.
