2024 Democratic National Convention - Infotainment & Opportunities Abound
The Democratic National Convention will be held in Chicago this week. Let me share a few thoughts.
While I was hoping they’d incorporate Operation Just Let Them Talk by giving JD Vance a speaking slot as a gesture, I’m guessing their presumptive nominee would have nixed it on account of the Republican VP candidate stalking her plane not long ago.
There’s plenty to speculate about anyways, not the least of it being whether or not Beyonce will introduce by-then nominee Kamala Harris on Thursday night. I saw it on the internet, so maybe it’s true.
From what I can see (and I was in Chicago just two weeks ago, so there) the Democratic Party is almost united. Bernie and Alexandra are all lovey-dovey with the ticket and there is real Obama-style energy at the grass roots.
I will predict that the most significant opposition to the Democrats coming out of the convention won’t be the Republicans and/or their standard-bearer. Look to the legacy-journalism pundits at major media outlets to try and drop some turds in the party’s punchbowl. With scowls on their faces and misogyny in their hearts, they’ll pick, pick, pick while ignoring the banality and cruelty coming from the GOP.
If Trump has to be bundled off to the rubber room at Mar a Lago, I’m sure Paul Ryan or Kevin McCarthy will make themselves available to serve up some buzzkill. Normally Fox News would be sitting pretty for a doubting and discouraging campaign, but with stories like men that vote for Kamala turning into women, I’m beginning to suspect they've been bought out by the Onion.
Pro-Palestinian groups will protest, and perhaps we’ll get to see some name calling between AIPAC groupies and anybody who feels the least bit queasy about the Israeli military chewing up Gaza.
A coalition of about 150 activist groups supporting Palestinians, known collectively as March on the DNC, are working with authorities on a permitted march and fought in court to get within hearing distance of the convention. They say their protest will be loud but peaceful, and are expecting tens of thousands of protesters.
From Block Club Chicago:
Despite threats, the coalition is expecting organizers to travel from across the country to protest on the front line, including Salma Hamamy, a Palestinian American organizer from Detroit. Earlier this month, Hamamy was part of the group that led the disruption at a Harris campaign event in Detroit.
While the group chanted, “We won’t vote for genocide,” Harris intervened saying, “You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking,” according to the Detroit Free Press.
“It was very clear to us that she was not going to call for a ceasefire, that she was not going to call for an arms embargo, that she’s not actually going to prioritize the sanctity of Palestinian life, and that she’s just going to continue on this rampage of empty rhetoric,” Hamamy said.
Various right wing and self-proclaimed centrist outlets are running stories about fears of violence during the convention. None of them have any substance beyond assorted reassurances from law enforcement agencies.
Here’s a sample headline with a nothingburger story in tow from Axios:
Scoop: House members fear DNC violence
If you’re looking for agents provocateurs, the storefront temporarily housing the Behind Enemy Lines group will be a good place to start. A social media post purportedly by the group urged “students and youth” to come to Chicago during the DNC to “take police beatings and arrests” in an effort to “shut down the DNC for Gaza.”
They’ve said they don’t need a permit, that there will be acts of civil disobedience, and are promising a “militant” approach to the DNC, with the expectation there will be violent clashes with the police.
I’m not saying Behind Enemy Lines is a front for anybody. It was my experience in the 60s and 70s that shit draws flies.
You can bet that people who don’t give a shit about Gaza or Israel will try and stir stuff up on the streets around the United Center in the streets around the Near West Side neighborhood. The prospect of Nanook Caucasians for Peace and the Revolutionary Communist Party (Hail! Chairman Bob!) joining forces has never been greater.
Who needs Trump to foment chaos, when a trust-fund baby on meth can chuck a Molotov cocktail?
There’s always the possibility that the brotherhood of small bits and wits on the right will be lurking in the shadows, or hoping to cut the electricity off with their assault-type weapons.
Law enforcement has come a long way since the day of the 1968 Chicago Convention. The Chicago PD has been training for a year as the lead local agency in what federal law enforcement is calling a “national special security event.” Police departments from throughout Illinois, as well as the Milwaukee PD will provide assistance.
Police in mass unrest situations have adopted tactics called “kettling’” whereby protestors are forced into limited access areas to facilitate mass arrests. A forensic reconstruction of tactics used by the NYPD in George Floyd protests led to a $13 million settlement just last year.
Undercover operatives are no longer as critical as they once were for intelligence gathering. Software companies (many of Israeli origin) have cashed in with state, local, and federal agencies buying electronic and signals intelligence packages capable of monitoring large numbers of social media accounts in real time and even tracking the locations of individual cell phones.
Some of these spying arrangements have been discovered to be hidden from public view, meaning that responses to law breaking aren’t always involving the judicial system, as protesters roughed up by police out of public view have attested.
I should point to Ukraine’s surprise (even to its allies) attack on Russia as an example of how some organizations and individuals have learned to avoid the internet/airwaves vacuum machines used by security forces. It’s safe to say that at least some of the forces capable of fomenting chaos are connected to nation-states who’ve acquired methods of evading electronic detection.
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President Biden has said that we’re on the brink of a negotiated cease-fire in Gaza, which could impact Chicago protests, but I doubt it. Israeli President Netanyahu, in my opinion, will sabotage any deal just because he can. And because he’ll lose his job if the conflict calms enough to allow an election.
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The game plan for the DNC changed dramatically with a new slate to showcase. What originally was conceived of a defensive posture built around defending the Biden administration’s successes, has now become an opportunity to be forward-focused.
The current president won’t be airbrushed out of the picture, but the vision now is about creating a sense of handing the baton to the next runner without disregarding her role in the administration’s accomplishments.
Monday will be Joe Biden day at the convention, a celebration of his legacy and his sacrifice in stepping aside to make way for Harris, leading up to Biden making the closing speech. Every delegate will be gifted a bag of coffee beans as a nod to a “cuppa Joe”.
For the rest of the week, the lineup of speakers and pageantry will be built around the next four years. Already invited speakers have been advised to rework their presentations to reflect changes at the top of the ticket. The vibe of the DNC will be all about the thrill of having a new candidate, willing to defeat the forces of darkness.
As Dan Pfeiffer put it at Message Box:
Time is the one non-renewable resource in a campaign. A campaign can raise more money, hire more people, and run more ads, but can never get more time. A moment wasted is gone forever. It’s so hard to get a persuadable voter's attention; you may only get it once or twice during a campaign.
In those moments, it’s vital to deliver the most effective message possible. The convention is one such moment. We may get some of these folks to tune in, and that’s why we have to give them what they want — more information about Kamala Harris. It may not be as satisfying as dunking on Trump, but it will be a helluva lot more effective.
The DNC on Sunday listed its themes for each of the four days: “For the People,” “A Bold Vision for America’s Future,” “A Fight for Our Freedoms” and “For Our Future.” Convention organizers are likely to release more specifics each morning for that night’s programming.
There will be plenty of celebrities in Chicago, although the plan is to keep them adjacent to the convention rather than in the midst of ongoing business.
The New York Times rundown of the public planning for DNC parties includes:
Monday-
An Equality PAC party in the L.G.B.T.Q. neighborhood of Northalsted (or Boystown), with stars of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” Chad Michaels, Silky Nutmeg Ganache and Jackie Cox.
House of Blues, the “Daily Show” alum Roy Wood Jr. will host an event at the House of Blues billed as a “Tipping Point States” party with musicians from Wisconsin and Arizona, including the band Jimmy Eat World, which hails from Mesa, and D.J. Shawna from Milwaukee.
At Chicago nightclub PRYSM, the Georgia Democratic Party is holding a D.J. party with the Atlanta rapper Lil Jon.
Tuesday-
Illinois Gov JB Pritzker has booked a converted Morton Salt factory on the Chicago River, now used as a concert venue, for a gala featuring headliner and Democratic activist John Legend.
Wednesday–
Three activist groups calling themselves the Creative Coalition, will be presenting a concert highlighting their causes (Giffords Gun Safety. Reproductive Freedom for All, and End Citizens United) with bands purportedly appealing to VP Kamala Harris. Appearing will be Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, a band from Ms. Harris’s Generation X youth, Drive-By Truckers, a favorite of the Harris campaign staff, and SistaStrings, from nearby Milwaukee.
Thursday–
Supporters and allies of the Harris-Walz ticket are producing a concert and fund-raiser for Party at the Polls, a youth-oriented group. The concert will take place at the Ramova Theater, co-owned by Chance the Rapper, Jennifer Hudson and Quincy Jones.
No talent has been announced for the concert, so look for the Beyonce and Taylor Swift (who would fly in from London) rumors to continue.
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Primetime convention programming will air live from the United Center in Chicago from 3:30-8 p.m. PDT on Monday and 4-8 p.m. PDT on Tuesday-Thursday.
The major TV and cable networks will have a mish mash of coverage throughout the week. MSNBC will have a continuous live stream at YouTube.
Additional live stream options:
Computer + Tablet + Mobile Device
Amazon Prime Video
TV Device Apps (search for “Democratic National Convention” or “2024 DNC”)
AppleTV
RokuTV
FireTV
TV Providers
Comcast Xfinity X1
Comcast Xfinity Flex
DIRECTV via Satellite
DIRECTV satellite-free and DIRECTV STREAM
U-verse TV
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show Jon Stewart will host a live broadcast from the DNC on Thursday (8pm PDT). Stephen Colbert will also broadcast from the DNC throughout the week.
President Joe Biden, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, Former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton will speak on Monday.
Former Pres. Barack Obama, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker will speak on Tuesday
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Former President Bill Clinton, and Vice Presidential nominee Gov. Tim Waltz will speak on Wednesday
Presidential nominee Kamala Harris will speaker on Thursday
NBC News has reported that President Jimmy Carter's grandson Jason Carter will speak on behalf of his grandfather at a day and time TBA.
Social media influencers have been credentialed by the DNC this year, meaning that there may be a number of ways to see first-hand happenings across those accounts on various platforms.
The public’s measure of success for the 2024 DNC will be the contrast with Obama-level excitement of past campaigns. This isn’t 1968, folks, and the media culture will ensure that messaging will come from within the event, not on the streets around it.
There will be lots of promises made with a progressive sheen. We need to remember the Obama era choice to abandon the idea of a national grassroots organization in favor of negotiating with the neoliberal establishment.
What we might consider celebrating will be a shifting of the Overton window to the left for once.
And if the pendulum really is swinging the other way, it’s time to raise the bar over the next four years. Here’s a hint at what we should be aiming for from Hamilton Nolan:
Think bigger about what should be ours. We all pay taxes to create a democratically run government that provides vital goods and services in the name of the public good. That’s the goal. The hungry mouths of capitalism will never stop trying to nibble their way in to all of these goods and services. Public roads become toll roads. Public beaches become members only. Cash-strapped state and local governments privatize public services in exchange for a quick cash infusion, due to either desperation or destructive free market ideology or plain old corruption.
The federal government, at the center of everything, wielding a printing press for money, has the power to not only stop the constant assault of privatization, but to begin pushing the boundaries of public ownership outwards, further into the economy, covering more things for more people. Having this as a baseline goal will help us craft policies that don’t just stave off capitalism’s relentless tendency towards inequality momentarily, but stop it permanently. Public goods for the public. Keep it in mind.