By Alexis Simendinger and Kristina Karisch
But they came to Chicago, a city they once called home, to do more than endorse a Democratic ticket. They described former President Trump as “dangerous” and said he’s determined to stoke fear to try to slay his foes.
The Obamas lived it. Trump’s tactics with the first Black president and his family were not subtle and lasted for years, including his expression of “real doubts” in 2011 that Obama had a US birth certificate.
Faced with what they presented as the stakes in the election, the Obamas put race front and center on the convention stage Tuesday. Mobilizing young people, women and voters of color could help Democrats win. Early voting in some states starts next month.
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,” Michelle Obama recalled. Her most incinerating blast at her GOP rival was carefully crafted and casually delivered.
“By the way -Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs?’” the former first lady said as she turned a Trump phrase against him.
Trump and the GOP will wield similar tactics against Harris, Michelle Obama said.
“Her story is your story,” she assured delegates before urging them to take their energy and excitement and convert it to action. “Let us work like our lives depend on it.”
Her husband, not missing a chance to add some policy persuasion, lauded the vice president’s ideas for more affordable housing, lower-cost health care and options for job training and higher education.
He struck a nerve with placard-waving union supporters when he said, his voice rising, that Harris would be a president who “cares” for workers who bargain for higher wages and better working conditions.
“This will still be a tight race in a closely divided country,” Obama repeated. But Americans, he suggested, “want to be better.”
Before the night’s big speeches in Chicago, Harris and running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz filled the 18,000-capacity Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee Tuesday for a rally held simultaneously with the packed convention events 92 miles away.
Republicans used the same arena for their July nominating convention, giving the Harris-Walz ticket a checkmate moment to demonstrate grassroots enthusiasm in battleground Wisconsin -on live broadcasts.
Harris punctuated that point, telling viewers and delegates in Wisconsin that hers is “a people-powered campaign.” Offering a high-five to her running mate, whom she called “Coach Walz,” she also referred to her husband, entertainment lawyer Doug Emhoff, who spoke Tuesday in Chicago about their family. “She’ll be a great president we can be proud of,” he said, describing the vice president as a caring friend and stepmom, talented cook and lover of children.
Their 10th wedding anniversary is Thursday and the balloons are ready.
Tonight, Democratic delegates in Chicago will hear Walz’s vice presidential acceptance address. And they’ll revisit a 78-year-old “new Democrat,” former President Clinton, who grew up in a place called Hope and is still credited with political and communications gifts.
Also on the program: former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 election challenger who later joined President Biden’s Cabinet as Transportation secretary.
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