I've told the story before, but it bears repeating in the context of the 2024 Democratic National Convention. I attended the Democrats' convention in 2008 and it was a pretty ecstatic atmosphere. The party was set to nominate the first Black candidate for president and his very close primary competitor, Hillary Clinton, was the first woman to make a serious run for it. There had been plenty of bad blood during the primary and there were still some raw feelings that needed to be dealt with before the full celebration could begin. It was up to Clinton to heal the breach and it wasn't going to be easy.
On the night Clinton was to give her big endorsement speech, I stood next to a group of young Black women who were clearly skeptical of her and were big fans of Barack Obama. They were not expecting much. But her speech was exceptional and by the end of it the women I was watching were cheering along with Clinton's supporters whom she had thanked profusely but also pointedly asked, "were you in it for me or were you in it for the country?" She wound it up by exhorting everyone to put their efforts into electing Barack Obama:
This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up. How do we give this country back to them? By following the example of a brave New Yorker, a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.
And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice. If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.If they're shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going. Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.
At the time she gave that speech, it was unclear if she would ever run for office again and her address has been forgotten over the years, replaced by that other convention speech when she accepted the nomination and then her stunned concession speech when Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote in 2016. But I recalled Clinton's 2008 performance on Monday night when she evoked those words again.
"I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see us. They would say, 'Keep going,' surely," Clinton told the crowd at Chicago's United Center.
But Clinton is no longer running herself. She's passed the baton to Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee who may be the one to finally break through what Clinton calls the "highest, hardest glass ceiling." She, like Joe Biden, has done her part and is leaving it to the next generation to carry on the task.
It was good to see her received with such respect and admiration by the delegates at this convention. I was a bit surprised to be honest. But she deserved it having absorbed so much misogyny and inexplicable resentment for decades on behalf of women everywhere, even often from members of her own party. When the crowd started chanting "lock him up" when Clinton mentioned Trump's felony convictions, then smiled beatifically as the audience roared — she had earned that.
Kamala Harris is a seasoned politician but she isn't saddled with the baggage that Hillary Clinton carried with her from the years of being dragged by the right wing. Nonetheless, Trump is pulling the same nonsense with her, calling her "weak" and "low IQ" and suggesting that she's ill-equipped to deal with foreign leaders because she doesn't have the "strength" to stand up to them. Coming from the man who practically gave Vladimir Putin a full-body massage on international TV, that's pretty rich, but it doesn't stop him from doing it. So far, it doesn't seem to have stuck and perhaps that's because many people can see his sexism more clearly now that it's obvious he flings it at any woman who dares to oppose him.
It was interesting that the convention scheduled another strong woman politician just before Clinton's speech, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, who similarly brought the house down with a rousing speech extolling the virtues of working people. She pointed out that Republicans are always taunting her to go back to being a bartender as she was six years ago, and she said she'd be happy to because "there's nothing wrong with working for a living." Her speech, compared to Bernie Sanders' on the second night, speaking to the same issues in a completely different (and fresher) voice, indicates that the populist torch has been successfully passed, too. She is formidable and the reception she received from the crowd shows that her message is now part of the mainstream of the Democratic coalition.
There were a number of other talented women featured on night one, such as the feisty Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett (“Kamala Harris has a resume; he has a rap sheet”) who seemed to be channeling an earlier Texas political superstar, Gov. Ann Richards, who was also known for her twinkling eyes and rapier wit. Richards' legacy is safe with Crockett. Michigan, meanwhile, gives us an up-and-coming political star in the dynamic Mallory McMorrow, the state senator who went viral with a stirring speech about abortion rights last year. She was tasked with explaining Project 2025, which she did with appropriate disdain and humor.
And then there's Kamala Harris herself who suddenly radiates confidence and gravitas even as her wide smile and casual body language reveal a person comfortable in her own skin. And she seems to be loving it, which is possibly the most appealing thing about her.
One of the networks interviewed some women delegates who were quite emotional over Hillary Clinton's appearance, feeling bittersweet at seeing her in that spot when by all rights she should have been coming to the end of her second term and passing the torch to her successor. But after the crushing defeat of 2016, they had done what Hillary did after 2008 — they just kept going. And now they are thrilled at the prospect of a Kamala Harris presidency.
The Democratic Party is a party full of extremely talented, smart, ambitious women at every level and it's no longer a novelty. What just a few years ago seemed like a treacherous attempt to make a great leap forward finally feels like normal. The party and the country are going to be much better off for it.
