Unprecedented: Stories from the 2024 DNC examines the experiences and perspectives of Massachusetts attendees and others at the 2024 DNC in Chicago, Illinois. The second day had the theme "A Bold Vision for America's Future."
Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, delegate from Massachusetts
In 2016, “my daughter and I were in Philadelphia, and, you know, ready to elect the most accomplished presidential candidate [Hillary Clinton] in the history of the United States, as far as I'm concerned. And to see that candidacy go down in misogynistic flames was horrifying. It was a big part of the reason why I ran for mayor. And a little bit, a little bit was an F-you and a little bit was like, oh, boy, we gotta hold down the fort.
"You know, it just feels, there's so much at stake ... Some people [say] it's like it's another bite at the apple, and that's a grave mistake. It's not another bite of the apple. This is the bigger and better apple. And this is a different tree. And we're stronger.
"And I feel like this is unprecedented, because the Democrats, capital D, are giving a really good primer of how to break the rules the right way and rewrite them that actually are aligning with what people in Main Street in Easthampton thinking they want. And that is unprecedented. Smiles. Smiles, ear to ear like that."
Alice Germond, former secretary of the Democratic National Committee from West Hollywood, California
"My first convention, can you believe, was in 1974 when we wrote the party charter. And after that, the next one was 1976, when I was a delegate for Jerry Brown, the first time he ran for president. I've been to every single convention since then, except for the COVID convention, which I, like everyone else, was obliged to watch on television. I used to be the secretary of the Democratic National Committee, calling the roll for John Kerry and both of Obama's selections. And I'm now happily retired, but not really, at the ripe old age of 81.
"For me, it's unprecedented. Having been to the convention when we put [Geraldine] Ferraro on the ticket and the convention when we put Hillary Rodham Clinton on the ticket to now have our presidential nominee, Kamala Harris. And I really, really believe this time she's going to make it. It says so much to all of us who've been working so very hard, both men and women, but particularly women of a certain age, who for a very long time have been waiting for this magical moment to happen ... My mother couldn't vote when she was born. And here we are now electing, I hope, and I'm pretty confident if we work as hard as we know, I know we all will, that this time we will succeed."
Stephanie McGowan, delegate from New Jersey and council president for the borough of Rutherford
“We are at a crossroads in this country. I remember the day after the 2020 elections and knowing that there was hope; something that so many of us were so afraid of continuing the way we had gone under Trump. When this conversation started, I thought about just how sensitive in nature this was. This was bigger than a woman being on top of the ticket, which I'm sure some want this to be about. It's really about kindness, humanity, understanding, dignity.
"And how lucky are we to have this fearless, formidable woman of color, intelligent, educated ... this human being who is willing to stand up in a time of turmoil and talk about uniting America through positivity. I can't think of a better campaign, and it is unprecedented. And I cannot believe that I tonight get to cast my ballot during roll call for the most historic moment in my life.
"My daughter has autism and ADHD, and often a lot of the conversations about politics are very frightening for her to understand. And so she walked in with this hat and she said, Mom make sure you pack this hat. And I said, well, I don't usually wear cowboy hats, but why? She said, two reasons: One, women deserve to sparkle and shine, and you're going to be in a room where we need you to sparkle and shine for all the girls in New Jersey. And then very emotionally, she said to me, you need to wear that hat, because Vice President Harris is about to sparkle and shine as the president of the United States."
Abbas Alawieh, uncommitted delegate from Michigan and one of the founders of the Uncommitted National Movement.
"The Uncommitted National Movement ... started with our Listen to Michigan campaign, in which we mobilized voters, 101,000 of whom voted uncommitted in the Democratic presidential primary as a vote for peace and against war, and as a vote for Palestinian human rights.
“Anybody who's pushing for our administration to stop sending weapons that are being used to kill civilians in contravention of U.S. law and contravention of international law, is someone who I think is doing the right thing, right?
"If that's what you're pushing for, whether that you're pushing for it on the streets, whether you're pushing it inside these meetings here at the DNC, whether you're pushing it on the phones to your members of Congress or the White House, everywhere that we are, we have a moral obligation to push with everything that we've got so that we can stop the killing.
"It's urgent. It's necessary. It's actually an emergency. And hopefully, if we're everywhere speaking, all reading from the same script, we can get a breakthrough that saves some lives."