Chicago. The president, vice president and top Democratic Party leaders arrive for their four-day national convention on Monday to consolidate their party around the campaign of Kamala Harris and her deputy, Tim Walz, using the carefully choreographed spectacle to deliver the images and messages needed to try to win the presidential election in 78 days.
But thousands of protesters from more than 21 states are also arriving in Chicago this week demanding that Harris and Democrats end their so-far unconditional support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Even within the convention, at least 30 official delegates remain “uncommitted” to any candidate as they wait and demand that Harris break with President Joe Biden’s policy and declare that she will act immediately to stop the genocide.
National polls show a large majority of Americans support a ceasefire, and in key election states such as Michigan, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania, the war in Gaza could affect Democratic voter turnout and even define the outcome of the national election. Harris has expressed “concern” about the situation of the Palestinian people given the death toll in the tens of thousands, but has not yet shown a willingness to break with Biden’s policies that include a blank check for Israel.
On Gaza, as on many other issues, Harris’s advisers and strategists have advised her to keep her message as ambiguous as possible in order to try to garner the broadest possible popular support. But this could be difficult at a convention where different factions and currents of the party will be demanding greater clarity from the candidate on her economic policies, taxes, immigrant rights, abortion, climate change, gun control and much more.
So far, Harris’ attempts to define her policies have received a mixed reception. Washington Post She called her recent economic proposals in her speech on the issue on Friday “gimmicks,” environmental groups have criticized the candidate for moving away from her previous positions to ban fracking, and commentators have generally reiterated that no one knows precisely what Harris’s positions are in general.
The convention will be packed with well-crafted political messages, with no vigorous public debate on the big issues facing the country, and no dissenting expressions expected from the podium, although there will be some among delegates and many of the attendees who are part of the diverse mosaic of the Democratic base.
Preparations at the United Center in Chicago, where the Democratic National Convention opens today. Photo Afp
The four days will center on convention speeches each night, featuring speeches by party aristocrats including President Joe Biden — relegated to the first and least important day — and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, along with top party leaders, some stars and more.
All the speakers, it is predicted, will celebrate the presidential candidacy of the first black woman and will praise her intelligence, experience and commitment to the people incessantly. Biden’s appearance today will in some ways mark the beginning of his farewell to his 50-year political career. Not everyone will be sad about it, and his exit from the race will be a topic treated very delicately to avoid addressing what some say was a putsch.
The other big event today will be in the streets, where thousands of people from around the country will arrive in front of the large security fences around the convention arena for the March for Palestine. Faayani Aboma Mijana, spokesperson for the coalition of more than 270 organizations leading the march, said they include Muslim, Jewish, immigrant groups, as well as organizations for women’s rights, gay rights, and anti-police violence, among others.
“The central demand is an end to all US assistance to Israel, to stop the genocide and to defend Palestine,” Mijana explained in an interview with The Day. While some Democratic activists and even some progressives sought to convince the organizers not to take their demands to the streets in the face of the dangers of violence — images that could recall the chaotic scenes at the Democratic Convention in this same city in 1968, all of which could benefit Republicans — activists insist they have no other choice in the face of genocide supported by Washington.
“We are broad, deep and diverse. We are just the people that Democrats claim to represent,” Mijana told The Day.
“It is important that we are seen and heard at the Democratic Convention, as that is where some of the richest and most powerful people in the country will be. We, the people, will not be ignored.”
Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris has backtracked on several policies, opening her up to attacks from Republicans and testing her ability to tell the truth to voters. Infographic Graphic News
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– 2024-08-25 21:35:11
