Convention First Night Reviews and Previews

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Stephen Colbert goes LIVE from Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre following the first night of the Democratic National Convention, where VP Kamala Harris made a surprise appearance and President Joe Biden was honored for his half century of service to the country.

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116 thoughts on “Convention First Night Reviews and Previews”

  1. in case you missed the star of the show

    Watch former President Joe Biden’s full speech at the Democratic National Convention as he reflects on his presidency and passes the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris.

  2. talking heads’ review of above

    Rachel Maddow and her MSNBC colleagues, including Alex Wagner and Joy Reid from inside the United Center in Chicago, share their reactions to the President Joe Biden’s address to the Democratic National Convention, and the passion and energy of the first of the four-day event.

  4. Biden, Hillary Clinton and AOC boost Harris: key takeaways from night one of the Democratic national convention | Democratic national convention 2024 | The Guardian

    The Democratic national convention kicked off Monday in Chicago, just one month after Joe Biden withdrew his candidacy and paved the way for Kamala Harris to take over the ticket.
    The first night of the convention included speeches from Biden, Hillary Clinton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the convention. Here are key takeaways from the day:
    [continues]

  5. Shawn Fain, who I supported and voted for in the UAW International election, was on fire, and AOC had me up out of my easy chair and yelling at my TV, something I only did once during a big World Series play years ago.  All speakers were great and yeah, pushing Joe past 11:30 was not so good, but we all have ways to watch the speeches with morning tea or coffee.  As the Night Watchman, I am up all the time so I got to see it all live.  Joe just departed Air Force One in Santa Barbara for a vacation.  Time to get in a little surfing and a scenic trip up the PCH…or not.  I began to contemplate how one term Presidents felt in different circumstances, being turned out by the people, men such as Bush41, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford. And how did Truman feel when all that corruption in his administration forced him into retirement before the 1952 convention?
    WIKIPEDIA:   Investigations revealed corruption in parts of the Truman administration, and this became a major campaign issue in the 1952 presidential election, although they did not implicate Truman himself. He was eligible for reelection in 1952 but, with poor polling, he chose not to run.  WIKIPEDIA QUOTE

  6. “I began to contemplate how one term Presidents felt in different circumstances, being turned out by the people,…”

    Dex, yeah, it’s best to leave ’em  loving you. know when to fold ’em as the song goes.

  11. This was a tear jerker at the end of Biden’s speech:

    “I gave my best to you. For 50 years…I gave my heart and my soul to our nation…I was too young to be in the Senate…and too old to stay as president. I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you.”

  12. He is one of the best, even greatest, presidents the U.S. have ever had.  The only thing he did not get is to fix the court formerly known as supreme.

  13. Genius move. Michigan state senator Mallory McMorrow brought out an over-sized printed copy of Project 2025 and read scary excerpts. Apparently she’ll be doing this every night.

  14. Former Trump White House Press Secretary to speak at Democratic convention

    “I never thought I’d be speaking at a Democratic convention. But, after seeing firsthand who Donald Trump really is, and the threat he poses to our country, I feel very strongly about speaking out”

    — Stephanie Grisham said in a statement to NBC News.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/former-trump-official-stephanie-grisham-speak-democratic-convention-rcna167296

  15. I was too young to be in the Senate…and too old to stay as president

    The bookends of his life with many thrilling chapters in between. There will be a sequel and maybe even a movie. 

  17. So many great lines last night.

    Rep. Raskin:

    “Someone should have told Donald Trump that the president’s job under Article II of the Constitution is to take care that the laws are faithfully executed, not that the vice president is executed”

  18. President Biden hasn’t had much to smile about lately. But we hear he got a huge laugh on a recent call when he was told about this encounter at Fenway Park in Boston:

    A former top White House official under President Obama ran into Mike Barnicle — the “Morning Joe” regular, and close friend and ardent defender of Biden — and said: “Isn’t it great that f–king guy finally figured out he had to quit?”

    Barnicle was tired, and wasn’t having it. “What guy?!” he replied.

    “Joe Biden!” the West Wing alumnus replied.

    “You know something? F–k you!” Barnicle replied. “And f–k all your friends with their anonymous quotes in the papers. Put your name on it next time!” And kept walking.

    A source familiar with Biden’s reaction to the story told us: “He might still be laughing.”

  20. I still can’t believe Rick and I stayed up to watch Biden’s speech live.  Been a loooooong time since we’ve stayed up  past midnight.  But it was worth every second!
     
    We watched on MSNBC.  They kept panning over to Tim Walz during Biden’s speech.  He was so choked up that it looked like he was frowning.  But anyone with half a brain cell could tell he was trying very hard to stay as composed as he could.  Such a good man.

  22. The networks are doing a huge disservice to the American people by not starting the broadcasts at 7pm.    
    ABC did a terrible job, talking over speakers; CBS was a bit better.   I had the C-SPAN app open on my phone, so I was able to see/hear more coverage.
     
    Because of limited coverage by the major networks, many did not hear AOC, nor the head of the UAW, and they did not see the videos of the felon, Donald tRUMP. 
    I loved FLOTUS Jill’s speech, and POTUS Joe was phenomenal.   He is the best POTUS of my lifetime, and one of the all-time greats.
    I hope POTUS Joe can get a few more things done by the end of the year, and I hope he pardons his son.  It would be hard for Harris to do it, as a former prosecutor, it would be used against her. 
    Between POTUS Joe tearing up and Coach Walz trying to keep it together, I was a little weepy, too.  I feel like writing a letter of thanks to the Bidens. 
     
    ps – Let Elon serve in South Africa, where he was born.   He seems to be pushing Dogecoin, again, with the post. Can he be deported?

  25. My daughter was a big fan which is how I discovered this Alabaman. 

    As both a musician who channels the voices of forgotten Americans, and a white man from the South with a working-class upbringing, Jason Isbell provides hope for Democrats.
    Set to perform inside the hall on the first night of the Democratic National Convention, the 45-year-old songwriter from Alabama, who has long been vocal about his liberal leanings, offers proof that the party can reach certain kinds of voters who seem to have rejected the modern Democratic Party.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/19/us/politics/jason-isbell-dnc.html

  26. While it was certainly longer than I would have preferred, there wasn’t a clinker in the bunch.  I’ve seen a fair bunch of conventions over the years, and that had to be one of the overall best nights I can recall. I can’t quibble too much about the start time – covering it live, they’re starting before the West Coasties are even home from work.
     
    Tonight is Obama night – can’t wait for this. Guarantee the Big fucking deal clip makes it to the tv.

  28. As with debates and other big political events most people see the clips that come later more than the live show. And I have only seen positive powerful clips today from last night. 

    The most effective might be the brave yet scarred young women whose testimonials drove home the real impact of lost reproductive freedom. A battle of young women v. Donald Trump is not his best fight.

    Line of the night — Hadley Duvall:

    “Trump calls abortion bans across the country a beautiful thing. What’s so beautiful about a child having to carry her parent’s child?”

    https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1825728841752436935?t=N9pXqFS60q8mW0fHHqXw7w&s=19

  29. I kind of agree with Craig last night. HRC  would have been a great lead in to Biden, but who could have guessed that she could give such a great speech, if she had done that in 2016 we would be seeing HRC passing the torch. Warnock was good he had the crowd into it, then Chris Coons put them all back to sleep. But that is a convention, there are both political and showmanship considerations, so it does get awkward.
    As to Biden’s speech, I think the pundits may be grading on the curve. There were times when the old warhorse came out but equal times when the wandering old man was in control. There were, also, enough stammers and gaffs for a weeks worth of concerned NYT editorials, if he was still the candidate.  I’m very glad that he decided not to run.
    Jack

  30. Nothing else for me to say about it.
     

    The first day of the Democratic National Convention went off smoothly – the biggest glitch was James Taylor getting bumped from the schedule because cheering went on so long. The best news: the Gaza protest fell far short of organizers’ plans. “The turnout appeared to be well below the tens of thousands that organizers had hoped for and short of the 15,000 they claimed turned out,” according to the BBC. Most American outlets failed to include that context, instead simply reporting that “thousands” marched, which is true, but not the whole truth. For example, this USA Today story has a photo cutline about someone “picking up signs at Union Park” without mentioning that those signs are lying on the ground because attendance was well below expectations and nobody ever carried them. 
    The damage being wrought by the corporate-humping Supreme Court is incredibly far-ranging. This story explains that four recent decisions are already slowing progress on climate policy, which was of course their intent. “Freedom,” to Republicans, means “the freedom to exploit others.” And that’s all it’s ever meant.
    Here’s another example of the effects of SCOTUS fuckery: Kroger, the supermarket chain trying to merge with Albertsons, has sued the FTC, claiming it doesn’t have the authority to stop it. Expect much, much more of this in months and years to come.
    One of the traits of people with dementia is repetitive behavior, doing the same pointless thing over and over. I mention this because the subhumans of the House committee investigating Joe Biden recommended impeachment despite no evidence of any crime. Yeah, I called them subhumans, but I won’t call them animals. I’m kind to animals.
    The floor’s yours.

    https://delawareliberal.net/2024/08/20/dl-open-thread-tuesday-aug-20-2024/#comments

  31. I flipped the remote button to C-Span for the rest of the evening when, for some ungodly reason, MSNBC couldn’t identify her by name on the screen.
     

    And 44-year-old Minnesota Lieutenant Gov. Peggy Flanagan, who would make history as the nation’s first Native American female Governor if Harris and running mate Tim Walz win, became something of a breakout star on social media.”

    https://time.com/7012501/dnc-aoc-speech-biden-age/

  32. Pogo – A lot of people do not realize how large the United States is.  Continental U.S. is four time zones. Fifty states covers the four plus two more to include Alaska and Hawaii.  Adding in Guam, Puerto Rico and Marianna’s it comes to nine time zones plus a couple that are not covered as they are uninhabited, but are seen as two more by the military which bases them on Zulu time. 
    Trying to set a live event means someone is not going to be happy. 

  33. How would anyone consider an “investment” in Tooth Social as anything more than pitching-in to a felon’s future private slush fund (or a pot of bribe-money from foreign interests) ?

    “Donald Trump is a month away from being able to turn his paper social-media fortune into cold, hard cash,” Bloomberg reports.
    “The former president will be able to start selling bits and pieces of his $2.6 billion ownership in Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., whose share price has fluctuated wildly since going public through a special-purpose acquisition company merger in March.”

  34. BB, roger that.  I tend to think that 7 PM Central is about the best they can do to let the lower 48 get most of the coverage live even if it’s a challenge for some of us in EDT to stay up for the whole thing.
     
    Jack, I believe that if Mark Penn had Hillary do a half dozen campaign events in Wisconsin, Michigan and PA in 2016 we wouldn’t be talking about SFB today.

  35. BB, Pogo
    Mrs Jack’s work took her all over the nation, she was one of the hotshots that came in with their rollie bags and help the local folks win their next contract. Since she was centrally located  she might be in San Francisco this month and NYC the next. While she traveled quite a bit most of her work was done remotely from her office in KC.  Now Mrs Jack was an early riser and early to bed. So she found it easy to work with the East coast folks but the 2 hour difference on the west coast was a challenge for her. Sometimes she would be up early and have a half a day in before they ever got started
    Jack

  38. BB – Chicago is central time, as am I. It started at 9pm.  It started too late for most folks in the middle, and the east coast had it worse.  

    Ivy – Kroger is another store that wants to use “dynamic pricing” via digital labels on shelves.  What a scam.   So few companies produce  foodstuffs (not food), and they are all corporate welfare queens like Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). If I stay here another year, they’ll need to be more than a few tomato and zucchini plants.  Four acres and it’s mostly grass and non-fruit bearing trees, but it’s not mine, so…

  45. Ivy, selling toothless social will no doubt be a cover to rake in what otherwise would be illegal contributions and/or bribes to a candidate ex post facto.    not only whatever trump touches dies, it’s usually a scam to start with.

  51. Maybe the toddler needs a nap.

    “Donald tRUMP fell asleep in court and woke up a convicted felon.”  HRC 
    (Which is why he’s so afraid of being woke.)

  53. So he flew to Michigan to do a single topic, crime. But he just cannot do that, instead rambles for an hour across his usual smorgasbord. As happened yesterday in Pennsylvania his message of the day probably will get lost in local coverage. 

  54. He has no crowd, from the applause there can’t be more than 15 or 20 pe0ple.
    Blame it on Biden, he made sure everybody in rural Michigan had a job so they can’t show up at a Trump rally.
    Jack

  60. Is he so angry they had to give him a mild sedative?  
     
    It sounds like he has enough energy to dial up BiBi to be a chaos monster and make sure more Gazans are displaced or killed, and Israeli kidnap victims remain hostages, because he thinks the pain and suffering of others will benefit him. 

    MAGAt Mike Johnson and others continue to prop him up while also hiding behind a religion based on teachings in which they clearly do not believe.   They are responsible for a lot of suffering in the world. 
     

    Blue Tsunami! 2024

  61. Craig – Is there a speakers list for tonight, please?  Even the website for the convention lists nothing except a broad overview.  

  62. As native Delawareans, there were numerous personal points for us in Joe’s farewell. Mr. Ivy and I were thankful we stayed through C-Span for the closing benediction. The rabbi was wonderful and we used to attend that congregation. 

    “We were banking on him having four more years doing this,” said Rabbi Michael Beals — sometimes called “Biden’s rabbi” because of their longstanding relationship. He predicted tears.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/19/us/politics/biden-delaware-democrats.html

  63. Just saw this. Looking for comparative numbers.. 

    About 20 million people tuned into the DNC coverage on TV between 10pm and 12:30am yesterday. (This figure is the per-minute viewership average; a greater number watched at some point during the prime coverage.)

  64. … Johnson and others continue to prop him up while also hiding behind a religion based on teachings in which they clearly do not believe. 

    blue, they’re counting on Jesus to forgive as he forgave both St. Peter and “Doubting Thomas.” Jesus is such a push-over. 

  65. BiD, they are putting out speakers list really late at this convention. I signed up for their media releases and got last night’s at about 7pm. Will share here when I get it. 

  66. As much effort as I put in to not hearing that awful monotone blather flowing from ol’ fish mouth, I do occasionally hear it.  The orange blob has dropped his somewhat idiotic speech patterns to what has been, for at least the last week, a softened monotone of what he has memorized, like a chatty cathy doll.  No crowds anymore. On a campaign trail with an idiot companion, and facing destruction in early November. A loss so large that even screaming stolen will not do.
     
    Yup, it is one thing to be intelligent and seeing your loss in the future, but to be a low intelligence person it must be very difficult to comprehend what is really happening.  Too bad for intelligent people.  For a criminal, tough.  Hope jail is next.

  67. Just got order of speakers without times, although expect Barack at 10:00 p.m. when nets go live: 

    Ana Navarro host

    — Stephanie Grisham

    -Chuck Schumer

    -Bernie Sanders

    -JB Pritzker

    -Tammy Duckworth

    -Douglas Emhoff

    -Michelle Obama

    -Barack Obama

  71. Watching the beginning of night two on MSNBC and love looking at the floor shots.  There must be every possible shade, size, and age of human beings possible.  Wildly different than the GOP show.  No wonder they want a right wing autocracy.  It’s either that, change or cease to exist.

  75. https://www.marketplace.org/2024/04/16/realpage-lawsuit-algorithms-rent/
    “Big corporate landlords provide RealPage with data you can’t just see on Zillow — for example, the rent a tenant actually pays versus what’s advertised publicly. In return, RealPage’s algorithm says, “Hey, that two-bed apartment with off-street parking you have? Here’s what you should charge for it based on what everyone else is charging.”    RealPage is basically a cartel-enabler…”
     
     

  76. First time I ever saw Jack Schlossberg, 31 year old grandson of JFK. Just boilerplate sentiments…no fire tonight. 

  77. They just now sent final list. All times Central

     

    Here’s your schedule for evening entertainment courtesy of the the DNC…

     

    DNC Speaker Schedule Day 2

     

    🔷6PM🔷

     

    ▪️Kyle Sweetser, Former Donald Trump voter

     

    ▪️Stephanie Grisham, Former Trump White House Press Secretary

     

    ▪️Nabela Noor, Content creator

     

    ▪️The Honorable Gary Peters, United States Senator, Michigan

     

    ▪️Kenneth Stribling, Retired Teamster

     

    🔷7PM🔷

     

    ▪️Roll Call

     

    ▪️Minnesota Delegation

     

    ▪️California Delegation

     

    🔷8PM🔷

     

    ▪️Host Introduction: Ana Navarro

     

    ▪️The Honorable Chuck Schumer, United States Senate Majority Leader

     

    ▪️The Honorable Bernie Sanders, United States Senator, Vermont

     

    ▪️The Honorable JB Pritzker, Governor of Illinois

     

    ▪️Ken Chenault, American business executive

     

    ▪️The Honorable Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor of New Mexico

     

    🔷9PM🔷

     

    ▪️Keynote Remarks

     

    ▪️Angela Alsobrooks, Democratic Nominee for the U.S. Senate, Maryland; Long-time mentee of the Vice President

     

    ▪️The Honorable John Giles, Mayor of Mesa, Arizona

     

    ▪️The Honorable Tammy Duckworth, United States Senator, Illinois

     

    ▪️Douglas Emhoff, Second Gentleman of the United States

     

    ▪️Michelle Obama, Former First Lady of the United States

     

    🔷10PM🔷

     

    ▪️Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States

     

    ▪️Benediction: Bishop Samuel L. Green, Sr., African Methodist Episcopal Church, 7th Episcopal District, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

  79. https://jacobin.com/2023/01/restaurant-industry-lobbying-servsafe-exploitation
    “A New York Times investigation has uncovered a scam by which food service workers are made to pay out of pocket for state-mandated “safety” courses run by the restaurant lobby — which then turns around and spends millions of dollars pushing lawmakers to keep food service workers’ wages low.”
     
    “…the innocuously named “ServSafe” program — an online class in food safety several states have made mandatory for anyone who wants to work as a cook, busser, waiter, or bartender. Offered nationwide, though most likely to be mandatory in Texas, California, Illinois, and Florida, ServSafe’s course reportedly charges workers fifteen dollars so that it can bequeath lessons like “bathe daily” and “strawberries aren’t supposed to be white and fuzzy, that’s mold.”
     
    “ServSafe has generated some $25 million in revenue. That’s significant not only because it’s a staggering sum of money, but because ServSafe is actually an arm of the National Restaurant Association (NRA): a lobbying association that has been a major player in corporate efforts to block increases in state and federal minimum wages.”
     
    ”According to campaign finance database OpenSecrets, the NRA and its members donate copiously to both parties by way of PACs and individual contributions and spends millions on lobbying every year.”
     
    “Effectively, restaurant owners have successfully created a kind of closed internal marketplace that compels workers to subsidize their own exploitation.”
     
     

  80. Thanks for the update, Craig.  Yeah, they should be more organized. I would’ve liked to have heard the former tRUMP folks. Thank goodness for the C-SPAN app.

  81. Stephanie Grisham: “No empathy, no morals, no respect for truth” Never heard a former White House Press secretary say anything like that about the boss.

    More: “He calls his supporters “basement dwellers” — guess that is a very particular insult if you’re in real estate

  83. Republicans crack me up chiding Dems for holding the legal vote before the convention when they actually forced it by not waiving Ohio ballot deadline as they did last time for Trump.

  84. That sheriff in Livingston County, if I remember correctly, refused to comply with orders from Whitmer during the pandemic. Wasn’t going to crack down on any people or businesses who violated social distancing, places not being shutdown during the pandemic. A real SAFE place for Trump to make up false numbers about violent crime being out of control.

  88. Just now to a packed arena in Milwaukee where GOP held their convention… Walz: “They left here riding high. Well, trust me, a hell of a lot can change in four weeks. You run a campaign based on fear, you’re going to run into a little trouble when you run into a campaign that’s based on joy”

  90. I am getting irritated with these speakers who are not spending enough time talking about Kamala, building up her narrative for a country that still really doesn’t know who she is. Her campaign team should ride herd on every speaker making sure every speech adds a new page to her story.

  92. They’re finally doing the type of personal stories I’m talking about. This video on her prosecutor background came on just as nets went live. Feeling better now 

  95. So it seems that the orange lumpkin has called Netanyahu and instructed him to prolong the conflict.  Isn’t that like treason?

  96. Republican Mesa AZ Mayor John Giles: “The Republican party has been kidnapped by a cult”
    ——
     
    That also works with the other C word.   
    (Which is what I thought it said at first.)

  113. I was surfing from the event to Yankees-CLE game and the Yankees were massive favorites but CLE scored 5 in the 12th to win, 8-3.  This shows any contest can have an upset winner.  Right now, we look good, but Michelle warned us, now the slurs commence. Lies, maybe about morals or mistakes made at some point by Kamala or Tim. I remember when even Saint Reagan took heat as he had been thrown out of his marriage to Jane Wyman:   
    from reddit: “Jane Wyman divorced Ronald Reagan partially because she did not agree with his political views. Ironically, this was because Wyman was a registered Republican who did not approve of Reagan being a liberal Democrat.”
    Trump erased any concerns about multiple marriages, but his morals in general are so disgusting you’d think nobody would vote for a degenerate like he is.
    Besides, as the days pass, Alex Murdaugh and Trump look like identical twins. One is a convicted murderer, one a convicted rapist. It just runs in that family.

  115. Dexter

    A lot of people don’t know Nancy  was pregnant when she and Ronnie married and she was the one who pulled him back to the right. The whole preceding McCarthy era created quite a right/ left divide in Hollywood.

     

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