Walz dances through keynote under pressure
On Tuesday night, former President Barack Obama joked about his misfortune in having to follow his wife’s barnburner of a speech at the Democratic National Convention. Wednesday’s lineup was capped off by Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) accepting the vice presidential nomination. His unveiling to the masses who might be tuning in now that Election Day is a stone’s throw away had to compete with his former rivals for the nomination and some of the biggest names in his party.
House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) avoided talking about what role she may or may not have played in sticking the knife in President Joe Biden ’s tenure. Instead, she leaned into criticism of former President Donald Trump and the actions of his followers on Jan. 6, 2021.
Former President Bill Clinton was self-deprecating toward Vice President Kamala Harris and gladly took up the mantle of the elder Democratic statesman ready to get into a geriatric battle with Trump.
“Let’s cut to the chase: I am too old to gild the lily,” Clinton said . “Two days ago, I turned 78, the oldest man in my family for generations, and the only point of vanity I want to assert is, I’m still younger than Donald Trump.”
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) took a break from his simmering feud with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) to get up onstage and go on the attack against Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) for Harris and Walz despite losing the vice presidential nod at the last minute.
Days of criticisms about his penchant for half-truths put the pressure on Walz on Wednesday. Following speeches by elder statesmen, ruthless operators who have shown a willingness to do anything to win, and ambitious rivals didn’t make Walz’s keynote address any easier.
But his affable style is part of why Harris picked him.
Walz stepped to the podium and walked delegates through his life story. He told them tales about life as a teacher, football coach, veteran, and member of Congress. He mixed his folksy life story with cutting attacks on Trump and Vance, showing just how effective “vibes” and a soft touch can be before going in for the kill.
“Look, I coached high school football long enough to know, trust me on this, when somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re going to use it,” Walz said , referring to Project 2025.
He even took on the challenge of broaching the talking point of the day by his critics — his description of him and Gwen Walz using in vitro fertilization to have their children. On Wednesday, he avoided referring to IVF explicitly after his wife told CNN the couple had used a different fertility treatment.
For those not keeping track of the day-to-day critiques, an image of Walz’s son being brought to tears by his father’s performance is likely to push the specifics of what the nominee said on the stump out of their minds.
“It took Gwen and I years, but we had access to fertility treatments, and when our daughter was born, we named her Hope. Hope, Gus, and Gwen, you are my entire world, and I love you,” Walz said.
Cameras panned between Walz and his son, Gus Walz, who was crying and mouthing, “That’s my dad.”
Everyone on the third day of the convention had a tall task to live up to after the thrills of the second day. There was no dance party to be had, and the most popular figures of their generation did not make an appearance. DNC leaders appeared to schedule some breathing room to give Harris an opportunity to take the stage unburdened by the speakers who went before her.
She will be back onstage tonight and, like Walz on Wednesday, will be giving the biggest speech of her career to date.
Click here to catch up on all the Day Three bits and pieces you might have missed. And stay tuned here for all things DNC as we wrap up coverage from Chicago tonight.
DOJ duking it out with GOP on voting
Republicans have been defending state-level efforts to put tighter restrictions on voting practices that were loosened during COVID-19 as making it “easier to vote and harder to cheat.”
Biden referred to efforts in Georgia to rein in massive expansions to mail-in voting as “Jim Eagle.” The Democratic frustration with the state’s law was so bitter that MLB moved the All-Star Game from Atlanta to Colorado.
Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) signed the state’s package of voting laws into law earlier this year, and Atlanta will host next year’s MLB All-Star Game.
Biden’s Department of Justice sued Georgia in June 2021 to stop the “racially discriminatory provisions” of the law.
On the whole, Biden’s DOJ has taken a more active approach than previous administrations in trying to squelch states from tightening their voting laws, Justice Reporter Ashley Oliver wrote for us this morning.
“The department's involvement in state election matters is not new — the government has since the 1960s had jurisdiction to enforce the Voting Rights Act. The civil rights-era legislation was designed to make sure black citizens had an equal ability to vote. The DOJ also has for decades had other federal laws at its disposal, such as the National Voter Registration Act,” Ashley wrote.
“However, during the Biden administration, the DOJ has become more vocal about elections and made a concerted effort to expand access to voting, an entirely opposite approach from the Trump administration,” she wrote.
Efforts to stop Georgia were unsuccessful, but the administration hasn’t let one setback deter it from keeping up the pressure.
Under Trump, the DOJ was involved in roughly 30 cases related to voting rules and legislation. Biden’s DOJ has dived into more than 48 cases so far, Ashley wrote.
The latest high-profile case is playing out in Arizona, where Republicans are trying to require voters to provide proof of citizenship when they apply for an absentee ballot. Currently, applicants do have to check a box saying they are citizens, but critics say a simple checked box could lead to noncitizens unknowingly applying and putting themselves in legal jeopardy.
“We know how people sometimes fill out forms, either by accident ... sometimes, we've seen this in states, that the box doesn't get checked. People still get registered because of clerical errors,” Chad Ennis, a longtime attorney and vice president of the Honest Elections Project, told Ashley. “So, requiring documented proof of citizenship is not a big deal. If Arizona wants to do it, they should be able to do it.”
Republicans, however, have struggled to convince skeptics that they are interested in shoring up election integrity and not trying to lay the groundwork to challenge the results of the 2024 contest.
Various efforts to challenge the 2020 results failed wherever they were tried. Trump-appointed judges rejected complaints and lawsuits brought by allies of the former president across the country.
The rejections didn’t matter for Trump, who has repeatedly insisted the election was “stolen” from him.
“He conflated his grievances about election laws with the unverified fraud claims. A riotous mob of Trump supporters breached the Capitol in the midst of Congress's election certification, and many participants have since seen legal consequences,” Ashley wrote. “The courts also did not buy Trump's fraud allegations and tossed out every lawsuit his lawyers brought over them.”
Click here to read more about the Biden DOJ’s active involvement in voting rules lawsuits.
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For your radar
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will speak at the high-profile Jackson Hole policy symposium ahead of an expected interest rate cut next month.
Trump will continue his DNC counterprogramming campaign with a visit to the southern border in Cochise County, Arizona, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time.
Biden has nothing on his public schedule.
Harris will accept her party’s nomination at the DNC at 10:45 p.m. Eastern time.
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