© AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough |
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President Biden will pass the torch to the next generation of leaders Monday night in Chicago, as relieved and newly energized Democrats prepare to send him off in style. The convention marks the beginning of a bittersweet conclusion to a decades-long political career for Biden, who bowed out of the presidential race under heavy pressure from party leaders less than one month ago. -
Polls showed Biden was headed for an embarrassing defeat against former President Trump.
- Concerns over Biden’s age dominated in Washington after his disastrous debate performance, catching up to where public opinion over Biden’s age had been for many months.
- Vice President Harris stepped in and quickly won over disaffected Democrats, bringing new energy and enthusiasm to the presidential race and raising hundreds of millions of dollars in the process. In a stunning and swift reversal, Harris has caught or surpassed Trump in the polls.
In a sign of how quickly the ground moved under Biden, the official party platform Democrats will vote to approve Monday night still makes multiple references to “President Biden’s second term.”
Biden’s reward for stepping aside is a victory lap on the first night of the convention, which figures to be a showcase for the lame-duck, one-term president who has been dogged by questions about his age, unrest in the Middle East and voter dissatisfaction with the high cost of living.
Biden will give the keynote address Monday night following a parade of allies who will celebrate his presidency. He’ll then fly to the Santa Barbara area in California for a week-long vacation, before embarking on a prolonged farewell tour for his final five months in office. Tonight’s theme: “For the people” -
Democrats will make the case that they’re focused on ordinary Americans, arguing that Trump “puts himself first.”
- Democrats will highlight Biden’s “leadership and legacy as a historic president” who “put American people’s interest above his own,” as well as the results he achieved “with Vice President Harris by his side.”
Tonight’s speakers (in no particular order): - Biden (expected at 10:50 p.m. EST)
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First lady Jill Biden
- Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)
- Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.)
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Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.)
- Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Mo.)
- Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.)
- Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D)
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Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.)
- United Auto Workers president Shawn Fain
What to watch for: - Trump is sure to be a major focus. The former president is the great unifier for a Democratic Party that has been roiled by divisions this cycle. The Democratic platform mentions Trump 150 times.
- Potential disruptions by pro-Palestinian protesters. Thousands of left-wing protesters are in Chicago, putting Democrats on edge. Keep reading for more info on this.
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It’s going to be a spectacle. Among the celebrities who will be on hand: Kerry Washington, Mindy Kaling, John Legend, Jon Stewart, Lil John, and many more. There should be plenty of viral moments, with the convention set to livestream across more than a dozen platforms. It will be the first time in conventions history that organizers will host vertical streams across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube.
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How will Democrats discuss the economy? It’s the primary issue on the minds of voters, and widespread dissatisfaction with inflation was among the headwinds Biden faced when he was at the top of the ticket. Democrats will have to thread the needle in acknowledging voter economic pain, while making the case that Harris would improve on the Biden economy. Democrats were on the defensive over the weekend defending Harris’s polarizing proposal to “ban federal price gouging,” which Republicans have cast as a failed far-left gambit.
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The campaign goes on. Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz launched a bus tour across Pennsylvania on Sunday that will lead them into the convention hall at the United Center in Chicago by Monday night. The campaign plans to spend $370 million in ads after Labor Day.
Perspectives: -
The Boston Globe: One final humiliation for Biden.
- The Guardian: Resurrected Democrats look to convention with new hope.
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USA Today: Democrats are gaslighting voters about Harris.
- The Hill: 4 issues Harris must address for a successful convention.
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Slate: Democrats desperate to avoid conflict at convention.
- The New York Times: Dems put on a united front, despite resentments over Biden’s ouster.
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Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Jonathan Easley, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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Democrats brace for pro-Palestinian protests at DNC
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Will left-wing pro-Palestinian protests overshadow the newfound Democratic unity at Vice President Harris’s nominating convention?
Tens of thousands of protesters are expected to gather this week in the streets around Chicago’s United Center to voice their anger over the Israeli campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
While the focus on the pro-Palestinian faction has dimmed some with the switch from President Biden to Harris, the dissatisfaction on the left remains white-hot and could be a disruptive presence at the convention. -
So far, there have been two arrests and one minor disruption at a welcoming event for delegates Sunday evening.
Axios reports that House members are “very concerned” the protests could turn violent.
“We’re expecting large protests throughout the city for the rest of the week. We’re prepared for that,” Chicago Police Supt. Larry Snelling said at a press conference.
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Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who has emerged as an outspoken ally for Israel in the Democratic caucus, will not attend the convention. He gave an interview to the Free Press about his views, and then his communications director called reporter Peter Savodnik to break with her boss.
- How will the pro-Palestinian movement impact the general election? More than 100,000 Democrats voted “uncommitted” Michigan, a critical battleground state, to protest the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza.
The convention will also be full of sideshows: -
A mobile Planned Parenthood unit is offering free vasectomies, medical abortions and emergency contraceptives.
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Democrats are beaming messages onto the Trump Hotel on the Chicago River, such as “Project 2025 HQ” and “Weird as hell.”
Read more:
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Trump embarks on swing-states blitz; will visit border
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Former President Trump will tour the swing-states and visit the southern border while Democrats nominate Vice President Harris in Chicago. -
Monday: Trump delivers economic remarks in York, Pa.
- Tuesday: Trump delivers remarks on crime in Detroit.
- Wednesday: Trump delivers remarks on national security in North Carolina.
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Thursday: Trump delivers remarks on immigration in Arizona, followed by a visit to the border.
- Friday: Trump holds a campaign event in Nevada and a rally in Arizona.
Harris’s economic policy rollout has given the Trump campaign something concrete to attack. - Trump’s campaign has seized on Harris’s proposed ban on “price gouging” to accuse her of looking to set “price controls” at the supermarket.
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The campaign is referring to Harris as “Comrade Kamala,” and Trump shared an AI-generated image of Harris addressing a communist gala.
The new message coming from the top: Harris has been in the White House for nearly four years, so why didn’t she do the things she says she wants to do? Both Trump and running mate JD Vance made this case over the weekend:
“She says she’s going to lower the cost of food and housing starting on Day One,” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania. “But Day One for Kamala was three-and-a-half years ago.”
“The American people just don’t buy the idea that Kamala Harris, who has been vice president for three and a half years, is somehow going to tackle the inflation crisis in a way tomorrow that she hasn’t for the past 1,300 days,” Vance said on “Fox News Sunday.” “Giving Kamala Harris control over inflation policy … it’s like giving Jeffrey Epstein control over human trafficking policy.”
Republicans think that could be a winning message, if Trump can stick to it. Trump veered into more off-the-cuff personal attacks against Harris over the weekend.
“I am much better looking than her,” Trump told supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. “I’m a better-looking person than Kamala.” |
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© AP Photo/Mike Stewart/Julia Nikhinson/Adobe Stock Photo |
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Harris carries small polling lead into the convention
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Vice President Harris leads former President Trump nationally and has a slight edge in five of the seven battleground states, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling averages. The race is very close. Will Harris get a post-convention bump?:
National: Harris +2.3 AZ: Harris +0.3 GA: Trump +2.7 MI: Harris +2.1 NV: Trump +1.2
NC: Harris +0.7 PA: Harris +1 WI: Harris +3.6 It’s interesting to see how the candidates and strategists talk about polling with the election 78 days out: -
Harris is describing herself as the “underdog.”
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The Trump campaign has been disputing the findings of new polls that show Trump trailing, including in the newly-released Sun Belt surveys from The New York Times/Siena College. The Biden campaign disputed those same polls when they found him trailing Trump.
Trump’s running mate JD Vance told “Fox News Sunday” the campaign has to focus on broadening their reach, rather than what the polls say.
“We can’t worry about polls, we have to run through the finish line and encourage everybody to get out there and vote…We have to reach a broader group of voters, but I think that we’re doing exactly that.”
Democratic strategists are on edge, as polls in 2016 and 2020 routinely underestimated Trump’s level of support.
David Axelrod said Monday on CNN that Harris is the favorite to win the national vote, but that Trump may have an Electoral College advantage, given the make-up of the battleground states.
“Look [Harris] has made extraordinary progress… But this is still a very competitive race if the election were today, I‘m not sure who would win and I think it may well be President Trump because it‘s an Electoral College fight. And in those battleground states, we were looking at national numbers, right at the top of this program. That‘s I mean, it‘s misleading.”
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“Psychedelics are a mental health miracle. Why is the FDA holding back?,” by Leonard Gilroy and Greg Ferenstein for The Hill.
“We need to talk about taxes,” by Bloomberg’s editorial board. |
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The Democratic National Convention gets underway tonight. 22 days until the first presidential debate between Harris and Trump. 32 days until early in-person voting begins in Minnesota and South Dakota.
43 days until the vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz. 78 days until the 2024 general election.
154 days until Inauguration Day 2025. |
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Monday -
Biden gives the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago at 10:50 p.m.
Tuesday - Night two of the Democratic National Convention.
- Trump campaigns in Detroit.
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