New England delegates are feeling energetic as the DNC gets going

It’s day one of the Democratic National Convention. GBH’s Adam Reilly is in Chicago all week to speak with members of the Massachusetts delegation and report on the convention. He joined GBH’s All Things Considered guest host Craig LeMoult to discuss the atmosphere as the event gets rolling.

Craig LeMoult: What is the mood like at the DNC?

Adam Reilly: The mood among Massachusetts delegates — delegates from New England, broadly speaking — seems really energetic and upbeat. I know that you’ve probably been reading reports about how excited Democrats are and how much momentum they feel. Those reports are correct based on what we’re seeing on the ground.

One delegate told me that he has seen his counterparts hugging and high-fiving when they run into each other. I have not actually witnessed that with my own eyes, but I think he’s a credible source.

Another delegate told me that Democrats collectively now feel like they don’t need to sit there and allow themselves to be bullied anymore. They can stand up loudly and proudly and wear their Democratic identities on their sleeves as a group.

That’s a very different mindset than the kind of collective angst we saw permeating the party back when Joe Biden was still the presumptive nominee in waiting.

LeMoult: Interesting. Is it just all exuberance? Or is there anything tempering all of that excitement?

Reilly: There are a couple of things I think are leveling it a little bit. One delegate who I spoke with yesterday — Jamie Eldridge, the state senator from Massachusetts, who’s in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party — told me that he’s actually a little worried that Democrats are so giddy and exuberant and optimistic. That’s my paraphrase, but I think it’s reasonably close to the way he framed it.

[He said] that they are so excited about the Harris-Walz ticket that they may be getting a smidge overconfident — kind of getting to a point where they feel like, you know, we had this remarkable moment where Biden steps aside, and Harris-Walz became the ticket, and now we’re just headed toward victory.

I did talk with other delegates from Massachusetts who said, “No, no, no, that’s that’s not the case. We’re not taking anything for granted. We remember 2016; we took Hillary Clinton’s [expected] win for granted that year, and look where that got us. We’re not going to make the same mistake again.” But that is a theme that I’m interested in kicking the tires on over the course of the convention.

Let me mention one other thing: I think the Democrats are finding it a little tricky to know just how to talk about Joe Biden, right? Obviously, it was Biden leaving that set in motion this new ticket that has everyone all excited and has shown a boost in the polls for Democrats. But it seems kind of impolite — if not mean — to say that the Democratic renaissance began when Biden decided to bow to public pressure and say, “I’m not going to this again. I’m not going to go for a second term.”

Instead, what Democrats are doing is they are holding Biden’s decision not to seek a second term in this sort of broader narrative of Democratic selflessness, in which he is the initiator of this wonderful process that has gotten them to this point.

Take a listen to how Maura Sullivan, a delegate from New Castle in New Hampshire, framed it:

Maura Sullivan [on tape]: You know, it was an incredible act of patriotism, of selflessness, of service and of putting the country ahead of oneself. I think that fueled the energy that you’re seeing now, so I think there’s an incredible amount of respect. There’s a lot of excitement to see the president. 

LeMoult: It’s kind of a delicate balance. In fact, actually, the president tonight is going to be speaking. What would you expect from that? And what else is on tap for tonight?

Reilly: Yeah. He’s got the big speech. He speaks right after his wife, Jill Biden.

There are some other big names slated to speak: Hillary Clinton is talking tonight, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a bunch of high-profile labor leaders.

The labor leaders are going to be interesting to listen to. There’s, I think, a hunger here — among, at least, Massachusetts delegates — for a populist economic message. I think the labor leaders will be hoping to get that out.

But I expect a lot of people to be lavishing praise on Joe Biden, saying, “Hey, let’s not forget about all the wonderful things that he did for the American public in his time as president.”

Basically, taking that quote we just heard from Maura Sullivan from New Hampshire and finding maybe 100, 150 different ways to make the exact same point.