2nd night of DNC wraps up
Former President Barack Obama closed out the second night of the DNC with his rallying speech.
"Let's get to work," he told the crowd, to roaring applause.
The second night of the Democratic National Convention capped off with rousing speeches from former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, as well as a heartfelt tribute to Vice President Kamala Harris from her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who made an appearance at the United Center during opening night of the convention Monday, did not attend Tuesday night's events. Instead, they were hosting a campaign rally and DNC watch party in Milwaukee.
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Former President Barack Obama closed out the second night of the DNC with his rallying speech.
"Let's get to work," he told the crowd, to roaring applause.
Obama invoked the 2004 Democratic National Convention keynote that helped propel his career forward in national politics. It was an optimistic note.
"Here's the good news Chicago," Obama said Tuesday night.
"All across America, in big cities and small towns, away from all the noise, the ties that bind us together are still there," he continued. "We still coach Little League and look out for our elderly neighbors. We still feed the hungry in churches and mosques and temples. We share the same pride when our Olympic athletes compete for the gold. Because the vast majority of us do not want to live in a country that's bitter and divided."
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The lines were similar to what Obama said when he was just an Illinois state senator speaking on behalf of John Kerry at the 2004 DNC. One of his most famous lines discussed how Little League and religion occurred all across America:
The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
"You can tell those flannel shirts he wears don't come from some political consultant. They come from his closet, and they have been through some stuff."
— Former President Barack Obama
Former President Barack Obama blasted his successor, former President Donald Trump, for continuing to litigate a "stream" of various complaints.
"Here's a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago. It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that's actually been getting worse now that he's afraid of losing to Kamala," Obama said.
"There's the childish nicknames. The crazy conspiracy theories. This weird obsession with crowd sizes," he said to laughs, apparently using Democrats' new favorite attack line.
"It just goes on, and on, and on. The other day I heard someone compare Trump to the neighbor who keeps running his leaf blower outside your window every minute of every day. From a neighbor, that's exhausting. From a president, it's just dangerous. "
"History will remember Joe Biden as a president who defended democracy at a moment of great danger. And I am proud to call him my president, but I am even prouder to call him my friend."
— Former President Barack Obama
Former first lady Michelle Obama closed her rallying speech Tuesday night by introducing her husband, former President Barack Obama.
"Before I go, I have one more job tonight," she said as the crowd started to cheer.
"Thank you for all of the love, but it is now my honor to introduce somebody who knows a whole lot about hope, someone who has spent his life strengthening our democracy, and let me tell you as someone who lives with him: He wakes up every day — every day — and thinks about what's best for this country. Please welcome America's 44th president and the love of my life, Barack Obama."
They then hugged.
"It's good to be home," Barack Obama said to more cheers.
Toward the end of her speech, Michelle Obama did a call-and-response with the DNC crowd, saying, "Whether you are a Democrat or Republican or independent, this is the time to stand up for what is right."
The audience started to chant "Do something! Do something!," a callback to earlier in her speech when she said, "We put our heads down, we get to work. In America, we do something!"
"[Harris] understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We would never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don't get a second, third or fourth chance. If things don't go our way, we don't have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead. We don't get to change the rules so we always win. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don't expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top."
— Former first lady Michelle Obama
Former first lady Michelle Obama energized convention delegates on Tuesday by hailing Kamala Harris's record as a prosecutor, senator and vice president.
"From a middle-class household, Kamala worked her way up to become vice president of the United States of America," Obama said.
"My girl, Kamala Harris, is more than ready for this moment. She is one of the most qualified people ever to seek the office of the presidency. And she is one of the most dignified. A tribute to her mother, to my mother and to your mother too. The embodiment of the stories we tell ourselves about this country."
— Former first lady Michelle Obama, on Trump
Former first lady and Chicago native Michelle Obama was welcomed to the stage with a standing ovation.
"Something magical is in the air, isn't it?" she asked. "A familiar feeling that's been buried too deep for far too long — you know what I'm talking about. The contagious power of hope."
— Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, recalling his first phone conversation with Kamala Harris.
— Second gentleman Doug Emhoff
Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman of the U.S., addressed his wife directly from the stage Tuesday night.
"Honey, I can't wait for you to come back to Chicago because we're having a great time here," he said to Harris, who held a campaign rally and a convention watching event in nearby Wisconsin that night. "I love you so much. I am so proud of how you're stepping up for all of us."
"Kamala rises to the occasion," he told the delegates. "She did it for me and our family," he added. "And now that the country needs her, she's showing you what we already know: She's ready to lead. She brings both joy and toughness to this task. And she will be a great president we will all be proud of."
"We might not look like other families in the White House, but we are ready to represent all families in America."
— Cole Emhoff
In her combative speech at the DNC on Tuesday, Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois zeroed in on Republican opposition to in vitro fertilization (IVF).
"I went to war to protect America's rights and freedoms. So I take it personally when a five-time draft-dodging coward like Donald Trump tries to take away my rights and freedoms in return, especially when it concerns my daughters," she said, adding that they "would never have been born without reproductive care."
"After 10 years of struggling with infertility, I was only able to have them through the miracle of IVF," Duckworth added.
"But now, Trump's anti-woman crusade has put other Americans' right to have their families at risk," Duckworth said.
Angela Alsobrooks, the Democratic Senate nominee in Maryland and a longtime friend of Kamala Harris, got the convention delegates chanting that “we are not going back” after delivering a rousing speech about her prosecutorial record and their 14-year relationship.
“I’ve always been inspired by women like my grandmother, women who imagine a better future and then have the grit to make it a reality,” said Alsobrooks. “One of them is a friend, a mentor and a role model. That woman is Kamala Harris. Let me tell you about the Kamala I know.”
Alsobrooks met Harris after embracing some of the then-San Francisco district attorney’s policy approaches on crime. At the time, in 2009, Alsobrooks was also seeking a state’s attorney office in Maryland. She praised Harris as a “superbad district attorney” who could hold violent criminals accountable while also pursuing programs to end recidivism.
“Crime went down and economic growth went up,” Alsobrooks said. “Kamala Harris knows how to keep criminals off the streets. Come November, with your help, she’ll keep one out of the Oval Office.”
Alsobrooks is running against former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, one of Trump’s more prominent GOP critics. If she wins, she would be the first Black senator to represent Maryland and one of the only Black women in the Senate. (California’s Laphonza Butler is not seeking reelection this year, and Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester is also seeking the Senate in Delaware.)
Harris herself was the second Black woman to ever be elected to the Senate, in 2016.
John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Ariz., kicked off his DNC speech with a confession: "I'm a lifelong Republican.
"So, I feel a little out of place tonight," he said. "But I feel more at home here than in today's Republican Party," which Giles went on to describe as "the cult of Donald Trump."
"John McCain's Republican Party is gone," Giles concluded. "And we don't owe a damn thing to what's been left behind."
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker dedicated a good portion of his address to trashing Donald Trump as a "con artist."
Pritzker started off by quoting Bulls legend Michael Jordan, who once played in the Chicago arena where the convention is being held:
"Donald Trump once called Chicago embarrassing. To quote a great Chicagoan who won six world championships on these very grounds: 'We take that personally!'" he declared.
He had a few more zingers later in his speech as well.
"Illinois invested in clean energy and the jobs it brings. Donald claimed the windmills in the ocean made the whales a little batty," he said.
Pritzker, a billionaire in his own right, also added: "Donald Trump thinks we should trust him on the economy because he claims to be very rich, but take it from an actual billionaire, Trump is rich in only one thing: stupidity."