I am now back home after an amazing convention as a delegate and wanted to share my thoughts.
Biden and his campaign did something extraordinary. They preserved the delegates’ democratic choice, while expressing his clear preference. When we met online as a California delegation three days after he dropped out, Speaker Emerita Pelosi moved to endorse Harris and I jumped in with a second, but it wasn’t clear that all of the delegates were there on board yet. The vote was recorded as unanimous, but I know that some delegates were still processing things.
By the time we got to the convention, the delegates were all-in on Harris. I thought that the driving force would be saving democracy and understanding what is at stake, but this went so much further. There was excitement, happiness and optimism throughout the convention. The speakers used the word “joy” more times than I can count. While I don’t know if there was a pivot in strategy from “they’re weird” to “choose optimism and joy over cynicism and fear” after the selection of Tim Walz for VP, I know that this worked for the delegates. Time will tell if it works for the voting public.
My colleagues and I from the Ventura County, CA delegation were in the front row and appeared on television on seemingly every outlet. I had to stop pulling out my phone to check messages after we made it on live coverage for nearly every major station, plus the Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live! and more. We laughed and danced during the breaks in action and that made it on television too. We were happy and not a bit of that was staged. The campaign provided the DJ, we did the rest.
I have only been to two conventions: this one and Obama 2008 in Denver. Truth be told…I have avoided running for delegate because I knew I would always compare a convention with 2008. I’ve been asked about this, including during a media interview. Here is my take on it: Obama was a soaring orator who created the campaign of our lifetimes. Those of us too young to experience what it might have been like to have a JFK to inspire us had been waiting for Barack Obama and the feeling was incredible. I will always treasure a video of my 5 year old son leading a “Fired Up chant” at a campaign kickoff event. The fact that he got to do that again at PepsiCenter in Denver was incredible.
But Kamala Harris did something quite remarkable. She united the party in just four weeks, without the bitterness and division that could have come if people felt her team was heavy-handed. She was the seasoned candidate we did not see a year ago. She inspired and gave us a candidate to vote FOR as opposed to making it all about a candidate to vote against. The 2024 convention was different from 2008, but the undercurrent of optimism and hope were similar. It is clear that the Democratic bench is deep and diverse and a future Harris administration will have a wealth of options.
Across the board, I believe the stakes are higher in 2024 than they were in 2008, but the mood was not one of fear and desperation, but one of unbridled optimism. A month ago, an incumbent President was running against a former President. Voters had to determine which status quo they liked better. With Harris, voters can choose change.
This convention was more consequential than most. America wanted to know who Kamala Harris is and why they should support her. They also wanted to see if her campaign, the delegates and the host city could pull off a smooth convention worthy of a candidate for President. Chicago passed its test. The delegates passed their test and certainly Kamala Harris and Tim Walz passed their test. The public needed to be introduced to a candidate who had only been on the top of the ticket for four weeks and an “America’s dad” VP who lacked a national profile.
The road ahead, all 75 days of it, will be a bumpy one. But I am proud to have been elected to be there in Chicago, having had a figurative and literal front-row seat to the most important convention of my lifetime so far. Having recently watched the Olympics, I had the sense that the race is really a relay race. The convention was our chance to carry the baton and make up ground. I hope the feelings of joy and optimism we experienced were conveyed through television and that our leg of the race gives us momentum for the final 75 day stretch. We have a lot of work ahead of us.
Tim Allison
National Convention Delegate, 2024
Learn more about Tim Allison here.
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