On Night 3 of the Democratic Party’s convention extravaganza in Chicago, IL, speakers started outlining policy positions to distinguish Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz from their opposition. Top of the agenda were reproductive freedom and immigration — and some of the speakers on the latter were unconventional. Sharing remarks was everyone from the highest ranking Latino in Congress (Rep. Pete Aguilar) to former Republican Lt. Governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan, and even a sheriff from Texas (Javier Salazar). The speakers trod the line between Harris and the Democrats being tough on the border, and America being welcoming to immigrants, touting measures like a bipartisan border plan — which they blame Republicans for tanking — and the Biden administration securing status for immigrant spouses of American citizens.
Read more: Documented – Biden’s Keeping Families Together program starts accepting applications
Humor is clearly part of the arsenal for the Democrats, who have repeatedly declared at the DNC that “when we fight, we win,” and there was a hilarious segment led by SNL cast member Keenan Thompson who eviscerated the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 with the help of a few everyday Americans.
Reproductive freedom was again in the spotlight, including with a moving video that had people defining their vision of ‘freedom’ — which frequently elicited answers that included the word ‘choice.’ Surprise guest and hometown favorite, Oprah Winfrey, ragged on JD Vance’s infamous “childless cat ladies” insult, emphasizing that the Harris-Walz campaign offers a vision of America where people help out their neighbors regardless of their reproductive choices.
“If you cannot control when and how you choose to bring your children into this world and how they are raised and supported, there is no American dream,” she said.
While Former President Bill Clinton also spoke to the audience at the United Center (where he claimed that Democrats have created 50 million jobs since the Civil War, in comparison to one million by the Republicans), as well as Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, and others, the main event was the appearance of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. Walz got some of the biggest cheers of the night when he mentioned securing free lunches for kids in his state and summed up the Democrats open-tent philosophy with the saying: “mind your own damn business.”
The governor’s son, Gus Walz, gave one of the most heartwarming moments of the entire convention when he teared up and exclaimed, “that’s my dad!” as Walz expressed his love for his wife, Gwen, and children from on stage.
Despite the celebratory atmosphere inside United Center, outside, uncommitted delegates who are protesting the Biden-Harris’ funding of the war on Gaza launched a sit-in to challenge the party to allow a Palestinian-American speaker to appear on stage and deliver remarks.
“Our party’s platform states that every life is valuable: whether American, Palestinian, or Israeli. We will conduct a moral act of sitting in at the Convention to push our party to align our actions, instead of just our words,” the Uncommitted Delegates said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the parents of an American taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 delivered remarks at the DNC, in which they pleaded for all hostages to be returned home and called for a ceasefire in Gaza. The March on DNC is expected to descend on United Center Thursday, in conjunction with VP Harris’ appearance and formal acceptance speech, to continue the chorus of calls for the administration to end aid to Israel.
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