CHICAGO (AP) — Former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will speak Tuesday on the second day of the Democratic National Convention, turning the party’s attention toward Vice President Kamala Harris and her faceoff against Republican Donald Trump.
The Harris campaign said it would spotlight “trusted messengers” from battleground states over the convention’s three remaining days. They include Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada; Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Sen. Gary Peters and Rep. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan; Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. From Arizona, Sen. Mark Kelly will speak along with John Giles, the Republican mayor of Mesa.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden on stage with second gentleman Doug Emhoff, left, and first lady Jill Biden, right, during the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina — a state that voted for Trump in 2020 but is now a major pickup opportunity for Harris — will be among the final speakers before Harris accepts the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday.
He said there’s more optimism about Democrats’ chances with Harris as the candidate.
Before President Joe Biden dropped out, “Democrats were not united,” Cooper said. “I’m grateful for his decision to do that because it brought everybody together.”
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Second Gentalman Douglas Emhoff list to First Lady Jill Biden speak during the Democratic National Convention Monday, Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Offering the prime spots to local elected leaders — many of whom poll better than the top of the ticket in their home states — is a move to reach undecided voters and maximize Harris’ pathways to 270 electoral votes, her campaign said.
Harris also announced Tuesday an array of prominent Republicans set to speak at the convention, including former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, former Georgia Lieutenant Gov. Geoff Duncan and former Trump White House staffers Olivia Troye and Stephanie Grisham. All are now critics of Trump.
Harris was traveling Tuesday to Milwaukee for a rally in the swing state of Wisconsin before returning to Chicago late in the evening.
Trump is visiting battleground states during the convention. On Monday, he was in York, Pa., and he’s scheduled to be in Asheboro, N.C., on Wednesday and Glendale, Ariz., on Friday.
The Democrats’ pivot toward the campaign’s final 76 days follows a convention opening night that was designed to give a graceful exit to the incumbent president, who was greeted with a hero’s welcome for stepping aside for Harris.
Speaking clearly and energetically, Biden appeared to relish the chance to defend his record, advocate for his vice president and assail Trump. His delivery was more reminiscent of the Biden who won in 2020 than the mumbling and sometimes incoherent one-time candidate whose debate performance against Trump in June sparked the downfall of his reelection campaign.
Biden, in his remarks, repeated his 2020 theme that “we’re in a battle for the very soul of America,” and pressed the case for why Harris and her running mate Tim Walz were best prepared to wage it.
“Because of you, we’ve had the most extraordinary four years of progress ever, period,” Biden declared. And then he interjected, “I say ‘we,’ I mean ‘me and Kamala,’” sharing the credit for his most popular successes with the vice president to whom he handed over his political operation.
Harris made a brief, unannounced appearance at the convention on Monday to thank Biden for his leadership. She later joined him on stage, where the two spoke and hugged.
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“Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all you’ll continue to do,” she said. “We are forever grateful to you.”
Biden didn’t take the stage until around 11:30 p.m. on the East Coast on Monday night because the speaking schedule ran late. The program didn’t wrap up until well after midnight ET, even after some speakers were canceled. James Taylor, the acclaimed singer-songwriter, was bumped from the schedule.
Democratic National Convention director Alex Hornbrook said Tuesday morning that “we made some real-time adjustments last night” and “we’re working with our speakers and making some other adjustments this evening” including starting at 5.30 p.m. local time in Chicago “to make sure that we stay on track.”
He didn’t answer a question about whether anyone who was canceled on Monday would be added at a different point, saying only that “our program team is working very hard right now to ensure that we can be on schedule.”