Excitement and tension ahead of this week’s DNC : NPR

ADRIAN MA, HOST:

Thousands of people are on their way to Chicago today, headed for the Democratic National Convention. And that includes our cohost, Ari Shapiro, who’s going to be on the ground covering all four days of the DNC. And he joins us now on the road to Chicago, or maybe I should say the railroad. Ari, tell us where you are right now.

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: That’s right. I’m on the Amtrak from the city of Milwaukee to the city of Chicago with the Wisconsin delegation. And you can think of this as kind of like a metaphorical baton pass because Milwaukee is the city that hosted the Republican National Convention last month. Chicago is hosting the DNC this week. And it also shows you the electoral importance of this part of the country that both parties are holding their conventions in this region. These delegates are some of the more than 3,000 who are expected to cast their ballots for Kamala Harris this week to officially make her the Democratic nominee, but there are some of the proud few that are from the swing states that might actually decide this election.

MA: OK, so you’ve been walking around, talking to these delegates. Can you introduce us to one of them?

SHAPIRO: Yeah, let me introduce you to Chris Walton. He is former chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party. He is 35. He told me he’s been active in politics for about 20 years. And as we were waiting to board the train, he told me this moment feels to him like Christmas Eve, the Super Bowl and a family reunion all rolled into one.

MA: It’s a lot of action, OK.

SHAPIRO: A lot of action, a lot of excitement. And especially he said since Biden ended his reelection campaign, he felt the energy reach a crescendo that he said reminds him of his first election casting a vote for president, which was when Obama first ran in 2008.

CHRIS WALTON: The energy – everybody’s so excited – just seeing so many people actually coming out, people who never really discussed politics before. So this is a everyday topic that people – everybody was engaged in.

SHAPIRO: That said, Adrian, I’ve been surprised at the number of people who told me it was hard for them to see Biden step down. Some of them said they shed tears over it, and it took time for them to come around to this new reality.

MA: Yeah, I guess this points to the whiplash that Democrats have experienced this election cycle, right? I mean, they went from having an unpopular incumbent in President Biden to now having Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket with Tim Walz as a running mate. So how much do you expect this shift at the top of the ticket to change the dynamic of the convention?

SHAPIRO: Well, that’s really one big reason we wanted to be here. This presidential race became so unpredictable so quickly. It went from this kind of rerun to the drama of an assassination attempt against former President Trump to the change at the top of the Democratic ticket. There’s not been a party convention like this one in my lifetime. And so we’ve seen tens of thousands of people gather on Zoom meetings to support Harris and Walz. The campaign in its first days broke records for fundraising and volunteer signups. But this week in Chicago, we are going to see for the first time what that looks like when people from across the country gather in person.

Beyond the big speeches, the week is full of workshops and panel discussions. One we’re going to go to that struck me is called Protecting Future Generations, The Power of Reproductive Rights and Gun Safety on the Ballot, which I found interesting because historically, Democrats have not always viewed those issues – reproductive rights and gun safety – as key to winning elections. And right now they are putting it front and center, which I think shows a real evolution in the party.

MA: Interesting. OK, so the party seems more unified than it was just a month ago. But the scene around the convention may not be totally harmonious because some protests are expected, right?

SHAPIRO: That’s right. The first big one is expected Monday afternoon. We are going to attend to this coalition of pro-Palestinian groups that are organizing people to protest the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. That could be the first of many protests this week. Something else we are keeping an eye out for is whether red state governors send buses of migrants from the border to Chicago. I have to pause because the conductor just came to grab our tickets. One second, I’m sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Here you go. I have you.

SHAPIRO: Do you have them on there? OK.

MA: This is journalism from the road. Did the conductor give you any side-eye for trying to do a broadcast on the train?

SHAPIRO: No. He just politely said, could I see your ticket books?

MA: (Laughter).

SHAPIRO: Oh, so we’re looking to see whether red state governors send buses of migrants to Chicago, which is something that, in the past, they have done to call attention to immigration policies of the Biden administration. That’s been one of the big critiques of the Republicans against Harris. And so Chicago organizations that provide services to immigrants are preparing extra beds just in case.

MA: So lots expected to happen outside the walls of the convention center. Let’s turn to what we can expect to happen inside. What’s on the DNC agenda?

SHAPIRO: Well, the highlight, of course, is that current and former presidents are expected to speak followed by one presidential hopeful. Of course, I’m talking about Joe Biden speaking tomorrow night. And then Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, also Hillary Clinton – they will all be speaking. Thursday night is the big address from Vice President Harris. And it is not an exaggeration to call that the biggest speech of her political career to date. But there’s also a lot happening on the sidelines. Like, one interesting detail that tells you something about the way this campaign is being fought is that for the first time the DNC has given credentials to a couple hundred social media content creators. Here’s how conference organizers describe that effort in a promotional video.

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UNIDENTIFIED ORGANIZER: Content creators are trusted voices in their communities. So we are leveling the playing field between creators and traditional media to ensure more Americans than ever before can take part in the democratic process.

SHAPIRO: So we’re going to spend some time with one of them to see how they are shaping the narrative that’s coming out of Chicago this week.

MA: Fascinating. OK, look forward to that. Before you go, any other stories you’re working on this week that you can just give us a little sneak peek of?

SHAPIRO: Yeah, I’ll give you a preview of one, which is that until she became Vice President, all the campaigns that Harris won were in solidly blue, liberal areas – San Francisco, Calif. We’re going to look into what it takes for Democrats to win in purple and even red areas that Kamala Harris is going to have to do well in if she wants to make it to the White House. One Democratic campaign manager and strategist who’s thought about that a lot is named Eric Hyers. He helped Democrats win governors races in Kentucky and Montana, states that overwhelmingly went for Donald Trump for president. I asked him what the secret ingredient is, and here’s what he told me.

ERIC HYERS: I think one – and this is very, very basic, and it sounds easy – is just show up, right? It’s just show up in some of these communities, and I’m talking about rural areas, areas that normally vote for Republican candidates. Just show up, and not just once, but again and again and again to show them that they matter, to show them that you care what’s happening in their lives and that you’re in touch with them.

SHAPIRO: But Adrian, having covered conventions before, I can tell you the thing I most anticipate is that there will be an unexpected moment, a speaker, a turn of phrase, some development out of left field that is not on anybody’s radar today, and we will be here to cover it.

MA: And we look forward to that. Ari Shapiro, cohost of ALL THINGS CONSIDERED on the train from Milwaukee to Chicago for the DNC. Thanks, Ari.

SHAPIRO: Thanks, Adrian. Good to talk to you.

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