There were many great speeches and one-liners from Day Three of the Democratic National Convention.
Former Republican Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan said “Let me be clear to my Republican friends at home: If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 you’re not a Democrat, you’re a patriot," was a moving call for all voters to put country over party.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E52Zz7MbGk8
Capitol Police Officer Sergeant Aquillino Gonell reminding the country of the horrors he and his brother officers suffered, thanks to Donald Trump, when MAGA Insurrectionists stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, served to tell the nation which party is on the side of darkness and fascism and which one is for Democracy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2XjO8VB7JQ
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries equating Donald Trump as the old boyfriend, saying "There's a reason we broke up with you," probably garnered the most laughs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Z2r-fLz10
Oprah Winfrey conveyed the stakes of the election with the audience at the Convention and around the country with remarks like “Decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024, and just plain common sense," "Let's choose common sense over nonsense," and “Let us choose truth, let us choose honor, let us choose joy! Because that is the best of America.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlvARlffBpw
Governor Walz's son, Gus repeatedly shouting "That's my Dad" when his father took the stage to accept the Democratic Vice President's nomination was probably the most heartwarming.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/I998tIxh074
Governor Tim Walz, in his wonderful acceptance speech, going after Republicans for "banning books" while his team in Minnesota was "banishing hunger" in schools crystallized the stark differences in the priorities of the two political parties this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMaKgjlnujo
But perhaps the best one-liner on a night of great one-liners came from the nation's renowned explainer-in-chief, former President Bill Clinton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yxJc_dbn6w
While many have been broadcasting his call from last night to "Don't count the lies. Count the I's" about Mr. Trump's self-serving media posts and verbal pronouncements, the former President ably framed the election with this statistic on job creation during Democratic and Republican Administrations since 1989.
Saying "You're going to have a hard time believing this but I swear, I triple-checked it. Since the end of the Cold War in 1989, America has created about 51 million new jobs. I swear I checked this three times. Even I couldn't believe it. What's the score? Democrats 50. Republicans One. I'm glad we've got a championship-winning coach on our team but even the most limited of us and what we know about football or any other sport knows that if you've got 50 and the other sides got one, you're ahead."
Bill Clinton still knows how to explain and frame the issues.
Of course, Politifact wasted no time pretty much confirming the accuracy of Clinton's statement, posting an analysis it had done on Democratic activist Simon Rosenbergs similar claims and publishing his below graph.
The speeches from the first three nights of the Democratic National Convention clearly show what party is for the people and the country.
What more do Democrats have to do to convince people who to vote for this November?
The first two nights of the Democratic National Convention, well recounted by Blog for Arizona Leaders Michael Bryan and Larry Bodine, has stood out for several reasons.
One of them is the high quality, stellar addresses and historic one-liners of the great majority of Democratic and, yes, Republican Women leaders and activists during the first two days of the convention.
Among these great presenters were Hillary Clinton, Alexandria Oscaio-Cortez, Jasmine Crockett, Ana Navaro, Stephanie Grisham, Michelle Obama, and the activists from Day One who spoke from the heart and personal experience on the need to protect women's health care and reproductive freedom.
That these ladies feared what a Trump-Vance Administration and their MAGA-Project 2025-Handmaid's Tale societal blueprint would bring to women's civil rights if the forces of Democracy do not work like there is no tomorrow to secure a Harris/Walz victory would be an understatement.
The former First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State, and 2016 Presidential Popular Vote Winner (by almost three million votes) had perhaps the best address of her stellar career, telling the attendees, after paying tribute to Shirley Chisholm, Geraldine Ferraro, herself, and Vice President Harris's efforts that the "Future was now," and:
"I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see us. They would say, “Keep going,” surely. And Gerry would say, “Keep going.” Women fighting for reproductive healthcare are saying, “Keep going.” Families building better lives, parents stretching to afford childcare, young people struggling to pay their rent—they’re all asking us to keep going."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_rIbxhubwU
Saying that "Kamala cares—cares about kids and families, cares about America.Donald only cares about himself,"Secretary Clinton closed her comments with:
"Together, we’ve put a lot of cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling. And tonight, tonight’s so close to breaking through once and for all."
"I want to tell you what I see through all those cracks and why it matters for each and every one of us. What do I see? I see freedom. I see the freedom to make our own decisions about our health, our lives, our loves, our families. The freedom to work with dignity and prosper, to worship as we choose or not. To speak our minds freely and honestly. I see freedom from fear and intimidation, from violence and injustice, from chaos and corruption. I see the freedom to look our children in the eye and say, “In America, you can go as far as your hard work and talent will take you,” and mean it."
"And you know what? On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th President of the United States. Because my friends, when a barrier falls for one of us, it falls, it falls and clears the way for all of us..."
"I want my grandchildren and their grandchildren to know I was here at this moment, that we were here, and that we were with Kamala Harris every step of the way. This is our time, America. This is when we stand up. This is when we break through. The future is here. It’s in our grasp. Let’s go win it."
Both Representatives and Democratic Rising Stars Osacio Cortez and Crockett had one-liners whose memes have already been immortalized across the cyber world.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQYrbcO1Qu0&t=2s
In her prime-time address, Oscacio Cortez launched a ferocious attack on Trump and his plutocratic-Project 2025 apostates, saying:
"...We know that Donald Trump would sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing the palms of his Wall Street friends. And I for one am tired about hearing how a two-bit union buster thinks about himself as more of a patriot than the woman who fights every single day to lift working people out from under the boots of greed. The truth is, Don, you cannot love this country if you only fight for the wealthy and big business. To love this country is to fight for its people, all people, working people, everyday Americans like bartenders and factory workers, and fast food cashiers who are on their feet all day in some of the toughest jobs out there."
"You know, ever since I got elected, Republicans have attacked me by saying that I should go back to bartending. But let me tell you, I am happy to, any day of the week because there is nothing wrong with working for a living."
"Imagine, imagine having leaders in the White House to understand that, leaders like Kamala and Tim."
"But, Chicago, just because the choice is clear to us does not mean that the path will be easy. Over the next 78 days, we will have to pour every ounce, every minute, every moment into making history on November 5. But we cannot send Kamala and Tim to the White House alone. We must also elect strong, Democratic majorities in the House and in the Senate so that we can deliver on the agenda for the people."
"Because if you are a working parent trying to afford rent and childcare, Kamala is for you. If you are a senior who has to go back to work because your retirement didn’t stretch far enough, Kamala is for you. If you are an immigrant family just starting your American story, Kamala is for you."
Crockett had a series of memorable one-liners throughout her electrifying remarks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyPhJAWKr1E
These comments include:
“She’s lived the American dream while he was America’s nightmare.”
"Kamala Harris has a resume. Donald Trump has a rap sheet."
"One candidate worked at McDonald’s while she was in college at an HBCU. The other was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and helped his daddy in the family business — housing discrimination, that is."
"She became a career prosecutor while he became a career criminal — with 34 felonies, two impeachments, and one porn star to prove it.”
Republicans Ana Navaro and Stephanie Grisham, putting country first over party, spoke on the second day of the Convention.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgNQrCdsG1I
In her most impressive remarks, Navarro, the master of ceremonies for the second day of the convention, pushed back on Trump's accusations that Kamala Harris is a Communist, essentially flipping it back on him, saying:
“Let’s be serious. Donald Trump and his minions call Kamala a communist. I know communism. I fled communism from Nicaragua when I was 8 years old. I don’t take it lightly. And let me tell you what communist dictators do. And it’s never just for one day. They attack the free press. They call them the enemy of the people like Ortega does in Nicaragua. They put their unqualified relatives in cushy government jobs so they can get rich off their positions like the Castros do in Cuba. And they refuse to accept legitimate elections when they lose and call for violence to stay in power like Maduro is doing right now in Venezuela."
“Now you tell me something. Do any of those things sound familiar? Is there anybody running for president who reminds you of that?”The View co-host asked. “And I know one thing, it’s not Kamala Harris.”
Former Trump White House Press Secretary and devoted supporter Stephanie Grisham relayed what Trump was like "When the cameras were off."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90O4Bx2HwSk
In short, not a pretty site.
Saying "Trump mocks his supporters. He calls them basement dwellers."
He also told her that he "was mad the cameras were not watching" him in an ICU ward when people were dying, declaring "He has no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth."
He also repeated the big lie motto of most dictators, telling her "Say it enough and people will believe you."
She also showed that Melania Trump, the former First Lady, shares the same authoritarian tendencies as her husband, refusing, in a social media post, Grisham's request to write that they do not condone the violent insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol, at Trump's behest, on January 6, 2021. with one word "No."
Saying she did not have a press briefing because, unlike her boss, she was not comfortable going before the American People and lying, she said she was supporting Kamala Harris because:
"Kamala Harris tells the truth. She respects the American People and she has my vote."
Perhaps the best address of the second night of the Democratic Convention belonged to former First Lady Michelle Obama.
After eight years of suffering through a Trump Presidency and his not going away after defeat, this convention address could rightly be described as the inverse of the "When they go low, we go high" remarks from 2016.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgJBFBwRXvc
Mrs. Obama started off on an optimistic note, immediately stating:
"Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it? Not just here in this arena… but spreading all across this country we love… a familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for too long. You know what I’m talking about? It’s the contagious power of hope! The anticipation… the energy… the exhilaration of once again being on the cusp of a brighter day. The chance to vanquish the demons of fear, division, and hate that has consumed us… and continue pursuing the unfinished promise of this great nation—the dream that our parents and grandparents fought and died and sacrificed for. America, hope is making a comeback!"
She then praised Harris's mother and the values she instilled in her daughter.
"Even though our mothers (Harris and hers) grew up an ocean apart, they shared the same belief in the promise of this country. That’s why her mother moved here from India at 19. It’s why she taught Kamala about justice… about our obligation to lift others up… about our responsibility to give more than we take. She’d often tell her daughter, “Don’t sit around and complain about things—do something!”
"Kamala knows, like we do, that regardless of where you come from, what you look like, who you love, how you worship, or what’s in your bank account… we all deserve the opportunity to build a decent life… all of our contributions deserve to be accepted and valued. Because no one has a monopoly on what it means to be an American… no one!"
She then went on the attack on Trump, stating:
"Unfortunately, we know what comes next… we know folks are going to do everything they can to distort her truth. My husband and I, sadly, know a little something about this. For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black. Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those “Black jobs”?It’s his same old con: doubling down on ugly, misogynistic, racist lies as a substitute for real ideas and solutions that will actually make people’s lives better."
"You see, gutting our health care… taking away our freedom to control our bodies… the freedom to become a mother through IVF like I did—those things are not going to improve the health outcomes of our wives, mothers, and daughters. Shutting down the Department of Education… banning our books—none of that will prepare our kids for the future. Demonizing our children for being who they are and loving who they love—that doesn’t make anybody’s life better. Instead, it only makes us small. And let me tell you… going small is never the answer. Going small is the opposite of what we teach our children. Going small is petty… it’s unhealthy… and quite frankly, it’s unpresidential. Why would we accept this from anyone seeking our highest office? Why would we normalize this type of backward leadership?... America, our parents taught us better than that… and we deserve so much better than that. That’s why we must do everything in our power to elect two of those good, big-hearted people… there is no other choice than Kamala Harris and Tim Walz!"
She closed by reminding people, perhaps based on the experiences of the 2016 campaign where some people became complacent and dissatisfied about Hillary Clinton.
"No matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day, this is still going to be an uphill battle… so we cannot be our own worst enemies. No, the minute something goes wrong… the minute a lie takes hold, we cannot start wringing our hands.We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right. We cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected. Kamala and Tim have lived amazing lives… I am confident they will lead with compassion, inclusion, and grace. But they are still only human. They are not perfect. And like all of us, they will make mistakes. But luckily, this is not just on them. No, this is up to us—all of us—to be the solution we seek… it is up to all of us to be the antidote to all the darkness and division.It’s up to us to remember what Kamala’s mother told her: Don’t just sit around and complain — do something! So if they lie about her, and they will, we’ve got to do something! If we see a bad poll, and we will, we’ve got to put down that phone and do something! If we start feeling tired… if we start feeling that dread creeping back in… we’ve got to pick ourselves up, throw water on our faces, and do something!
Despite the wonderful presentations of the above speakers, perhaps the most poignant comments came from the people (three women and one of their husbands) who since 2022 have suffered because of the Trump Abortion Bans following the Trump Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v Wade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_eKg7W3R1s
Watch and listen.
This Project 2025-MAGA-Handmaid's Tale society that these women suffered through is what awaits all of America if Trump and Vance win in November.
After moving by remarks by her husband who rightfully said that the Trump Ban was an attack on the fathers too, Amanda Zurawski commented:
"Thanks to Donald Trump, more than one in three women of reproductive age in America lives under an abortion ban. A second Trump term would rip away even more of our rights. Passing a National Abortion Ban. Letting states monitor pregnancies and prosecute doctors. Restricting birth control and fertility treatments. We can not let that happen."
Kaitlyn Joshua relayed how two Lousiana emergency rooms sent her away during a miscarriage because of their abortion ban, saying:
"No woman should experience what I endured but too many have...Our daughters deserve better. America deserves better. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz will fight for our reproductive freedom and our shared future."
Perhaps the remark that captured the theme of the message here was Hadley Duvall, a girl raped and impregnated at 12 years old by her stepfather, when she mocked Donald Trump calling the overturn of Roe a beautiful thing, saying:
"So there's a choice in this election. Donald Trump's plans to devastate the middle class. Punish working people and make the cost of living go up for millions of Americans."
"And on the other hand when I'm elected president what we'll do. What we will do to bring down costs. Increase the security and stability financially of your family and expand opportunity for working and Middle-Class Americans."
"Now is the time to chart a new way forward now is the time to chart a new way forward. To build a new way forward. To build an America where everyone's work is rewarded and talents are valued. Where we work with labor and business to strengthen the American economy not just to get by but to get ahead of the line and we're going to get this done and with your help."
With those closing remarks in a close to 25-minute speech to cheering supporters in Raleigh, North Carolina (who shouted forward and we're not going back,) Vice President Kamala Harris finished outlining part of her economic plans to expand the Middle Class by creating an opportunity economy.
Today's theme focused on reducing costs for hardworking Americans.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbhXnF2Jo94
In her introductory remarks, the Vice President praised the economic achievements and policies of the Biden/Harris Administration, taking over during the height of the Coronavirus pandemic/ economic dislocation caused by the ineptitude of the Trump Presidency, and enacting measures like the Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS Science Act, and the clean energy investments and prescription drug benefit in the Inflation Reduction Act, that have helped place the United States as a global economic leader.
She then pivoted to discussing the future and moving forward from the successes of the Biden/Harris Administration to the next step: the creation of an opportunity economy to expand the Middle Class.
"And as President of the United States, it will be my intention to build on the foundation of this progress."
"Still we know that many Americans don't yet feel that converge in their daily lives. Costs are still too high. And on a deeper level for too many people, no matter how much they work, it feels so hard to just be able to get ahead."
"As President, I will be laser-focused on creating opportunities for the Middle class that advance their economic security, stability, and dignity. Together we will build what I call an opportunity economy. An economy where everyone can compete and have a real chance to succeed. Everyone regardless of who they are or where they start has an opportunity to build wealth for themselves and their children. And where we remove the barriers to opportunity so anyone who wants to start a business or advance their career can access the tools and the resources that are necessary to do so."
"On cutting needless bureaucracy and unnecessary regulatory red tape. And encouraging innovative technologies while protecting consumers and creating a stable business environment with consistent and transparent rules of the road. As President, I will bring together labor with small businesses and major companies to invest in America. To create good jobs, achieve broad-based growth, and ensure that America continues to define the future and lead the world."
"And key to creating this opportunity economy is building up our middle class. It is essential. The Middle Class is one of America's greatest strengths. We must defend basic principles such as your salary being enough to provide you and your family with a good quality of life. Such as no child should have to grow up in poverty. Such as after years of hard work, you should be able to retire with dignity. And you should be able to join a union if you choose."
"Building up the Middle Class will be a defining goal of my Presidency. Because I strongly believe when the Middle Class is strong, America is strong."
Ms. Harris, in part relating to her own upbringing and personal experiences, then told the audience that her economic focus today would be on reducing costs because:
"And today I will focus on one element that's on the minds of many Americans as they pay their bills at the kitchen table or walk the aisles of a grocery store. And that is lowering the cost of living."
"So every day across our nation families talk about their plans for the future. Their ambitions. Their aspirations for themselves. For their children. And they talk about how they're going to be able to actually achieve them financially. Because look. The bills add up."
"Food, rent, gas, back to school, clothes, prescription medication. After all that for many families, there's not much left at the end of the month."
"I grew up in a middle-class household. For most of my childhood, we were renters. My mother saved for well over a decade to buy a home I was a teenager. When that day finally came and I can remember so well how excited she was. I kind of understood what it meant, but We called her. Mommy. Mommy was so excited. It just made us excited that she was so excited."
"Later in college. I worked at McDonald's to earn spending money. Well, some of the people I worked with were raising families on that paycheck. They were working second or even third jobs to pay rent and buy food. That only gets harder when the cost of living goes up."
"When I am elected president, I will make it a top priority to bring down costs and increase Economic Security for all Americans. As president I will take on the high costs. That matter most to most Americans like the cost of food."
The Vice President, channeling on her experiences as California Attorney General, Senator, and Vice President, delved into the areas that she would focus on reducing costs. These areas had already been revealed in an earlier press release from the Harris for President campaign. These areas include:
Going after agents of corporate greed (greedflation) and their price gouging on food products and renting homes.
Building on the Prescription Drug Benefit for Seniors (the second anniversary is today) and expanding it to working Americans.
Helping reduce medical debt.
Providing financial assistance to people looking to purchase their first home.
Restoring and expanding the Child Tax and Earned Income Tax Credits. For newborn children, the credit would be $6,000 for families for the child's first year.
Ms. Harris also reminded voters that Mr. Trump's ideas (such as they are; he really has not provided any details other than "I'll bring back costs" and "drill baby drill",) especially those developed by his MAGA cronies in Project 2025, like increased tariffs (where the Vice President in an effective piece of branding called them Trump Taxes) and tax cuts concentrated to the plutocrats of the country would "decimate the Middle Class" and blow up the national debt.
Included in her closing remarks, the Vice President said:
"You know, I think that if you want to know who someone cares about, look who they fight for. Look who they fight for. Donald Trump fights for billionaires and large corporations. We...I will fight to give money back to Working and Middle-Class Americans."
Indeed!
Commenting on the Harris proposals, Tempe Mayor Corey Woods offered:
"The economic proposal from Vice President Harris is exactly the kind of forward-looking leadership Arizona families deserve. Vice President Harris will deliver for Arizonans by cutting taxes for the middle class, reducing grocery and prescription drug costs, and increasing affordable housing—building an economy that truly works for hard-working families."
House Assistant Democratic Leader Oscar De Los Santos stated:
“For too long, predatory mega-corporations have jacked up prices on everything from housing and prescription drugs to food and gas. These unscrupulous mega-corporations have left middle-class families struggling to make ends meet while their wealthy executives and billionaire investors line their pockets and buy their next yacht. I applaud Vice President Harris and Governor Walz's bold proposals to take on predatory corporate practices and put the middle class first.”
