Riding a (Blue) Wave: Inside the Democratic National Convention

As the Harris-Walz ticket rolls into Chicago, SMPA's Peter Loge previewed a party convention that suddenly looks rejuvenated-and a presidential race that suddenly looks tight.

Just weeks ago, Democrats worried that their national convention kicking off in Chicago on Monday would be a somber affair.

At the top of their ticket was an aged incumbent who sparked little enthusiasm from the voting public. Polls in crucial swing states showed them falling further behind Republican candidate Donald Trump, whose own convention in Milwaukee had felt like a coronation. Democratic leaders were bracing for defeat-if not an outright slaughter across the electoral map. Few were in the mood for a party.

What a difference a month makes.

In the weeks since President Joe Biden bowed out of the race and Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee, Democrats have ridden a wave of momentum and a surge in energy and fundraising. Large, jubilant crowds have turned out to cheer Harris and her vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at campaign events. Polls have shown a tightening race.

And with Harris set to be flanked at the convention by three current and former Democratic presidents-Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton-the Chicago party is back on.

Before the balloons drop at the United Center, GW Today spoke with School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) Director Peter Loge, whose 30-plus years of experience in politics and communication includes senior positions with the Obama administration and elected officials across Capitol Hill. A veteran of three Democratic National Conventions, Loge previewed whether the Harris-Walz ticket can keep the party rolling.

Q: Given the unprecedented circumstances in this presidential race-an incumbent dropping out so late in the process and a vice president stepping in as the party's nominee-what can we expect when the Democratic National Convention opens in Chicago?

A: This is going to be a very different convention from any in recent memory.

Political parties tend to love excitement and hate drama. As of a month ago, this convention was going to be both dramatic and exciting. The drama seems to have gone out of it-which makes Democrats happy-and it's shaping up to be exciting for the first time in a long time.

We have a Democratic nominee for president who didn't have to go through the traditional nominating process. So this week in Chicago, we can expect Vice President Harris to introduce herself to many Americans for the first time. She was a U.S. senator. She was elected attorney general of California. She ran for president in 2020 against Joe Biden-and did not do well. And, of course, she's been vice president for four years. Folks who follow politics have a sense of who she is. But most Americans only really know her from the headlines of the past few weeks.

SMPA Director Peter Loge predicts this week's DNC in Chicago will be "a very different convention from any in recent memory."

Q: Can you talk about the tone be for this convention? A few weeks ago, it seemed funereal. Will the positive momentum of the Harris-Walz ticket be reflected on the convention floor?

A: We've very quickly gone from a Greek tragedy to a brief moment of farce to what is now something really celebratory. This week, we can expect joy. This is a new moment for Democrats. It is the passing of the torch from, in a sense, the Greatest Generation to Gen X.

President Biden is liked and respected. He has served his country for decades-as a U.S. senator, as vice president, as president. But he's never been a guy to garner a huge amount of enthusiasm. Four years ago, voters got behind Biden because they felt like they had to stop Trump. But it was never a storm-the-ramparts feeling.

Now, this is a unified party that has very quickly coalesced around Vice President Harris. And I think Democrats are saying, "This is pretty cool. We've got this smart woman who seems like the right person to take on Trump." And in Gov. Walz, you've got this everyman running for vice president. We haven't seen that in a long time. He's a guy who looks like he's been to America, liked it and wants to go back.

Q: What does Harris need to accomplish at this convention short of introducing herself to the American people?

Political conventions are like professional wrestling-in that professional wrestling is more spectacle than sport, but people still get banged around. Political conventions are more spectacle than politics, but politics does happen.

So Harris will try to demonstrate that she's a face for the future. Democrats as a whole need to demonstrate that they understand the challenges that American families are facing when they put gas in their car or go to the grocery store or when the tuition bill comes due. And I think Vice President Harris wants to show that she understands, and that Democrats have ideas to solve these problems-in a way that's forward-looking, that's optimistic and that brings everybody along.

That's going to have to be her message: Future, family, forward.

Q: Are there any dangers for her? What does she not want to talk about?

Certainly Israel and Gaza. It's an important debate. And it's one that we ought to be having in this country. But it's one Democrats would rather not have in the middle of a party celebrating Democrats.

The other is immigration. Immigration gets wrapped up in feelings of nationalism, fears of losing jobs, racism and just the logistics of handling a whole lot of new people coming into a town. It's complicated. It's big. It's been a mess for a long time. I think they'd rather not talk about that.

Q: So what do they want to talk about instead?

I think they'd like to talk about an economy that's growing, inflation that's going down and markets that are up. Unemployment is down. Wages are up. They want to convey excitement.

And reproductive rights, obviously. She's going to talk a lot about protecting access to abortion rights, to health care rights, to rights in general.

Q: Can you make any comparisons to past DNCs?

A: Well, six weeks ago we were saying Chicago 2024 will look like Chicago 1968-a fractious Democratic Party surrounded by anger and possibly even riots in the streets. That is no longer going to be the story.

I think it's going to look much more like Chicago 1996 when Bill Clinton was renominated. He had four years of experience, and he was running against Bob Dole, this older establishment Republican reflecting an old view of the party. Clinton's message was: "We're going to continue the new face of Washington."

Now, Trump is really the old Republican Party. This is his third time in a row running for president. And he's against somebody who's been in the White House for four years and can say, "We're moving forward with a new vision of America." Clinton had his "bridge to the 21st century." This is like a bridge through the 21st century.

Q: On the other hand, will we see anything at this convention that we haven't seen before?

A: President Biden on Monday night is going to do something no sitting president who chose not to run for another term has ever done. He is going to stand up and say, "Thank you for your confidence in me. I've served my country. Now I'm passing the torch to the next generation." And then he's going to leave town and make way for Vice President Harris, Gov. Walz and other national figures who speak to a new generation.