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Commentary
'In the room where it happens' — a day in the life of a DNC delegate
“You can sleep when you’re dead.” It’s a phrase I’ve heard repeatedly this week at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. As a first-time DNC delegate, I wasn’t sure what the week would have in store for me, but as I write this on Day 3 of the convention, I can confirm that it isn’t sleep.
For the first time ever, the Democratic Party nominated its candidate, Vice President Harris, via virtual roll call earlier this month. So I wondered if this year’s convention would be somewhat underwhelming in comparison to past DNCs. As you might have already guessed from the coverage of the event so far, that hasn’t been the case. There’s a sense in the room that, perhaps for the first time this election cycle, momentum is on Democrats’ side — the vibes are suddenly good and they are strongest in Chicago this week.
I’ve been involved in politics and national campaigns for some years now. So when I moved back to New York after graduate school, I wanted to get more involved with my local Democratic Party. After expressing that interest to local officials and campaign alumni in my network, I was nominated as a New York delegate, one of 307, and voted in at New York’s state Democratic Convention back in May. The main role delegates play is to vote for the party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees. They also attend council and caucus meetings throughout the convention. Unofficially, delegates also are expected to stay engaged throughout the election, volunteer and help organize at the state and national level. Delegates are unpaid and pay their own expenses at the convention.
My morning starts around 7:00 a.m. or 8:00 a.m., when I head to our delegation breakfast. Delegates must pick up their credentials during breakfast each day in order to access the convention floor that night. During breakfast, delegates mingle with their state party leaders and colleagues. When I walked into my delegation breakfast bright and early Monday morning, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries had just popped in to fire us up for the day. Local lawmakers, delegates and others involved in state politics catch up with one another, make new connections they can harness when back home and find who they might want to spend the long convention nights sitting next to.
As folks come and go from breakfast, I receive the daily text from DNC organizers, “Good morning, Kaivan. Today marks day three of Convention! The Black Caucus, Hispanic Caucus, AAPI Caucus, Native American Caucus, and Ethnic Council meetings will begin at 9:30 AM CT and end at 11:30 AM CT. Head over to McCormick Place following your delegation breakfast on the buses to attend!” The entire downtown has been booked up by convention attendees and dozens of buses line the area’s streets to shuttle folks to the McCormick Place Convention Center, where caucus meetings, non-profit trainings and more take place throughout the day. It’s an opportunity to mix and mingle with Democrats from other states, engage with specific constituencies and talk strategy for a variety of progressive agenda items, from worker support at the Labor Caucus to enshrining abortion access at the Women’s Caucus.
As folks move around from one meeting to the next, reporters flood the hallways, pulling officials and attendees aside to ask them for their perspective on how the week is going. This year, 200 content creators are also buzzing around, amping up the already enormous levels of energy. Influential creators who generate millions of impressions on TikTok are joined by those with only 20,000 or so followers. Big or small, the creators are bringing their followings into “the room where it happens.” Despite being almost unanimously exhausted, this year’s attendees are bubbling over with excitement.
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Around 3:00 p.m., I get another text — a reminder to get in line to head over to the United Center, about five miles from McCormick Place, where the actual convention is being held. Though the programming doesn’t begin until around 5:00 PM each night, delegates need to make their way to the convention floor early so they are in their seats in time for party business. On Tuesday, for example, we held the ceremonial roll call to nominate the Harris-Walz ticket. The party’s secretary stood on stage and went state by state, asking how each state and territory planned to commit their delegates in support of the nomination. The roll call ticked through each region with a state-relevant hit like “Sweet Home Alabama.” To this first-timer it felt more like a dance party than a convention agenda item.
In line to enter the venue and between the many speakers scheduled for each night, delegates mix and mingle in the stadium. There might be a state assembly person to your left and a county executive to your right. Media floods the in-between spaces, cameras swinging, A-list anchors running around with crews in their wake. It is so chaotic, I have taken to covering my mouth when out of my seat as to not lose a tooth! This year the excitement is palpable and surprise appearances augment the already electric atmosphere.
Vice President Harris came out on stage unexpectedly on Monday, rapper Lil Jon made an appearance on behalf of the state of Georgia during roll call and Patti Labelle performed during the In Memoriam segment. All night long, rising stars from across part of the country and —at least this year — from across the political spectrum, share why they support the Harris-Walz ticket. The audience moves from thrilled to surprised to inspired. It’s these moments, these faces, these voices that the thousands of delegates in attendance and millions of viewers at home will remember as they log countless hours of phone banking, donate their hard-earned dollars and work to win over undecided voters between now and November.
Each day is different, but, the one constant throughout the week is a sense of something bigger: President Biden talks about the “battle for the soul of the nation” and it feels like this is the frontline. The idea that in our democracy and our party, anyone can show up, have a voice and make a difference is reinforced by the concept of delegates. On one bus ride I sat next to a teenage kid from a rural area in Wisconsin who had just moved into his college dorm before coming to the convention. He decided to throw his hat in the ring and run for delegate — and here he is. More common are the older delegates, those who have spent decades volunteering for their local party or advocating for a key issue.
The war stories, both figurative and literal, abound. As veteran convention attendees discuss DNCs from years past and we all plan for the tough election ahead, it becomes clear that despite the virtual nomination, there’s nothing “ceremonial" about the role of delegate this year.
