Kamala Harris unites Democrats at 2024 convention, ignites historic campaign
Editor’s note: The following is an account of experiences at last week’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago submitted by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, City Councilman Eric Dinowitz and Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club president Virginia Krompinger. Opinions contained herein are theirs.
We purchased our plane tickets in June expecting a routine convention to re-nominate Joe Biden.
But in politics, you just never know.
What we got was an amazing new nominee who we expect to do great things. One of us was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention for the ninth time; one attended his fourth DNC; and the other was a first-time delegate.
As delegates, we immediately cast our virtual-roll-call vote for Kamala Harris as soon as we received our ballots. We, along with Democratic activist Georgianna Land, attended the DNC as members of the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club.
If anyone had the slightest doubt about Vice President Kamala Harris before the convention, those doubts were surely dispelled. She sounded more presidential in her acceptance speech than Donald Trump could ever hope to, but more importantly, she hit all the right notes.
She spoke forcefully on many key issues but, significantly, she made clear her love of our country and commitment to democracy, unlike Trump. We were thrilled Harris strongly stood with Israel, despite pressure from a small but loud faction of the party not to, and that she recognized the pain of Palestinians.
This convention had such an impressive and diverse set of speakers that it’s hard to know who to spotlight, but the highlights for each of the days, and most powerful speeches, included Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Kamala Harris, not to mention presidents Biden, Obama and Clinton.
The diverse speakers reflect the vibrant mosaic of delegates and Democratic Party activists present. All ages, colors and genders were given a seat at the proverbial table, although at this historic convention, there was such a crowd that standing room only was also fully occupied.
Even some notable Republicans put country over party and spoke at our convention in support of Kamala Harris because their belief in preserving our great democracy trumped their party affiliation.
Perhaps the most poignant speech was by Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, the parents of dual American and Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin. A grenade at the Nova Music Festival — which is dedicated to peace, love and unity — blew Hersh’s arm off. Hamas terrorists murdered hundreds of innocent people at the festival, and Hersh was kidnapped into Gaza, along with hundreds of other civilians.
At the convention, Rachel and Jon were introduced to loud applause and chants of “Bring them home.” People were riveted. This was probably the only speech at the convention during which, at points, you could practically hear a pin drop.
Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of Omer Neutra, were introduced at one of the New York delegation breakfasts to a somber standing ovation, with everyone in the room demonstrating their unwavering support.
This convention was remarkable. When they say it was electric inside the hall, that enthusiasm was through the roof, and Democrats emerged unified; it’s not an exaggeration.
Some say national political conventions are an anachronism, that they are simply shows with predetermined outcomes. While it’s true that it’s been many decades since the outcome of a DNC was in doubt before the event, these conventions are a time-honored political tradition dating back more than 200 years. They still do have important purposes, from laying out the issues in the campaign through speeches on a worldwide platform, to generating excitement for the candidate, to allowing the exchange of ideas.
There were many meetings of delegations, various caucuses and events that allowed people, both within their own states and from around the country, to meet each other and to learn from others.
We have been working on the campaign since October 2023, when our club endorsed Biden and Harris. The Ben Franklin Club endorsed Kamala Harris — and now Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — and will be working not only for their election but for the election of congressional candidates in close races in New York. All are welcome to join us.
We are also using our name and presence to support initiatives of other local clubs. We invite members of the Ben Franklin Club, and the whole community, to participate, and strongly encourage all Democrats to continue putting the health of our democracy first.
We were proud to represent our community at the Democratic National Convention. It was an enormous success. We launched the historic candidacy of Kamala Harris. Working together, we can achieve a great victory for our nation to move our country forward.
Keywords
Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris, 2024 election, political unity, diverse speakers, Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club, Rachel Goldberg, Jon Polin
