CHICAGO – Democrats began their national nominating convention on a wave of energy and enthusiasm.
And the four-day convention – which ended with Vice President Kamala Harris’ speech accepting the nomination – did not dampen the party’s momentum.
Democrats have been on a roll in the month since Harris replaced President Joe Biden on the party’s 2024 national ticket, as the vice president has enjoyed immediate improvement in opinion polls and a surge in fundraising.
Billy Shaheen, the well-known New Hampshire lawyer, longtime party activist and one of the Granite State’s two committee members on the Democratic National Committee, told the Monitor that the mood at the convention was “incredible.”
“I’ve been doing these things with Jimmy Carter since 1976,” he said. “To see the magic and unity of this party is unprecedented.”
Referring to a party brimming with unity trying to prevent former President Donald Trump from returning to the White House, the husband of U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen said, “If anyone had any grudges or disappointments, they were put aside.”
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, a longtime friend of the Democrats in New Hampshire, put it differently.
“Energy and dynamism – I would much rather be our campaign than their campaign,” he said.
This represents a remarkable turnaround from a month ago, when the party was still divided because the president insisted on sticking with his candidacy for the office in 2024.
Biden ended his re-election campaign in a spectacular announcement on July 21 after his disastrous performance in a debate with Trump in late June raised doubts about whether the 81-year-old president was physically and mentally capable of lasting another four years in the White House. This also sparked calls within the Democratic Party for him to drop out of the race, which eventually grew to a crescendo and convinced the president that it was time to step down.
“I’m her surrogate, a very proud surrogate,” said U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California, another relatively well-known national Democrat who is no stranger to the Granite State. “I’ve been to New Hampshire, Nevada, Michigan and Pennsylvania.”
He said the party change was noticeable.
“The good news is that it was a little harder when I was President Biden’s deputy,” Khanna said. “I was one of the few people there, along with Gavin Newsom and others. Now the whole party is there. So she’s mobilized and energized the whole party.”
It’s been 24 years since a Republican won a presidential election in New Hampshire, but polls last month pointed to a race with little margin of error between Biden and Trump for the state’s crucial four electoral votes. Since Harris replaced Biden as the party’s nominee, the Democrats’ lead has returned to single digits in recent polls.
“New Hampshire will always matter,” Shaheen said. “You can never take New Hampshire for granted. In New Hampshire, you have to earn your vote every day.”
He admitted that last month, “we were worried because we were worried about Joe.”
“I was ready to stick with him until the end. I was happy that he made that decision. It was completely selfless,” Shaheen said.
Democrat Annie Kuster, a six-term representative of New Hampshire’s 2nd congressional district, which includes Concord, told the Monitor she was “100 percent” sure her good friend, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a former congressman whom Harris named as her running mate two weeks ago, would campaign in the Granite State.
“And I can’t wait to welcome him,” she added.
While the congress took place during the day at McCormick Place, a large convention center on Lake Michigan in Chicago, and in the evening at the city’s United Center Arena, there was a lot of hustle and bustle at the New Hampshire delegation’s breakfast at the Westin Hotel on Michigan Avenue in the city’s upscale Miracle Mile district.
The delegation included a number of well-known Democratic politicians who are likely to have national ambitions in the future, including Booker, Khanna, Governors Wes Moore of Maryland, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, JB Pritzker of Illinois and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“The people who attended the New Hampshire breakfasts and the speeches they gave were remarkable,” said James Demers, a longtime Democratic activist, strategist and top lobbyist in the Granite State.
Demers, who was a key supporter and Biden surrogate in New Hampshire, cited his desire for Harris to defeat Trump in November.
“Although it will probably be eight years before any of them have the opportunity to run for president, we have seen some great future presidential candidates stop by here,” Demers said.
As was the case with the delegation breakfasts in 2016 – when some of the top speakers in Philadelphia ultimately went on to seek the 2020 presidential nomination – it is likely that some of the politicians who spoke and mingled with the New Hampshire delegation this week will later file bids for the White House.
The busy political traffic seemed to be an indicator that New Hampshire will maintain its role as a key early state in the Democratic nominating calendar – after a very bumpy cycle in 2024 that culminated in an unsanctioned Democratic primary, the first in the country, and an attempt to make Biden the winner.
“Obviously, national leaders recognize New Hampshire as one of the early states. And the write-in campaign that New Hampshire ran did not go unnoticed,” Demers said. “The fact that New Hampshire Democrats got involved showed how seriously they take that role, even if they have to write in a candidate’s name. So I think everyone recognizes that New Hampshire is still going to be in there early, one way or another.”
When asked about a possible future run for the White House, Khanna turned the spotlight back to the 2024 race and making sure Harris defeats Trump.
“The most important thing is that we win this election, and I’m sure I’ll play a major role in that,” he said. “But until we defeat Trumpism, nothing else really matters, and that’s what I’m focused on. And if we don’t defeat Trumpism, we’re going to live in a world of suffering because Republicans are going to be in power for years to come. So the key for anyone who has any ambition for the future is that we have to stop Donald Trump.”
