Ben's Convention Mailbag

Some shoe-leather reporting in the windy city

Hello from the Democratic Convention in Chicago! The word that I keep hearing on the ground here is vibes, and according to many of the convention attendees I spoke with, the vibes are good!

One delegate told me that a month ago, he thought the convention would feel like a funeral, but now the energy is more like a quinceañera. And I think that’s a pretty good metaphor to describe the Democratic Party’s recent reversal in political fortune.

Aside from attending the political events, I was eager to try some Chicago food staples. I had deep dish pizza, tavern style pizza, a Polish sausage, and the beef sandwich from the place that inspired FX’s The Bear. I also spent some time in Chinatown, where I ate some amazing Portuguese egg tarts, pork buns, and soup dumplings. I quickly realized, though, that eating decadent food and then sitting around all day listening to political panels was torture for the stomach. So, I switched dietary course and focused on being a lean, mean, convention event attending machine.

Now, without further ado, your convention questions!

theeleaticstranger: Convention question: can you describe the different Democratic party cliques/sub-tribes that you see at the convention, and where would slow-boring readers fit in best?

This is a good question. After attending a week’s worth of events, walking the hallowed halls of DemPalooza, and watching Kamala’s nomination speech inside the convention center, a few party cliques did begin to emerge.

First, there are the super fans. They might sport red, white, and blue "Swifties for Kamala" capes, or wear coconut shirts dotted with party pins. Many of them are delegates, and others are convention volunteers. While they don’t come across as particularly ideologically interested, they’re loud, proud, and happily soaking up the vibes from Democrat Disneyworld.

Adjacent to this crowd are people I’d call base policy partisans. These folks also might be delegates or convention volunteers, but before they head over to the actual convention, they attend all the caucus and council events that focus on specific issues, like labor policy, climate change, or rural America. Basically, they really want to hear Senator Schumer give a speech about passing the PRO Act. Or attentively listen to an hour-long polling presentation on climate issues. They might wear fewer pins than the super fans, but they’re still devoted Democratic base voters.

Another notable contingent is the staffers. Predictably, these people are young, usually running around, and seemingly always in the middle of an angry phone call. Outside of their political bosses, these folks are the most dressed up, usually in classic business attire. Unlike their political bosses, this dress wear began to look increasingly wrinkly and disheveled as the hectic week went along (this is a problem I ran into later in the week as well).

I imagine the average Slow Boring reader would be most comfortable with the type of people who attend an event hosted by a center-left policy organization like Third Way or the Progressive Policy Institute. There, you might find Colorado Governor Jared Polis waxing poetic about education reform or card-carrying ultra-YIMBY Representative Scott Peters hyping up a supply-side agenda. It’s mainly a collection of policy staffers, journalists, and think tankers. Everyone I talked to there was a reader of Slow Boring, and the conversation was pretty familiar chum. Needless to say, I had a great time!

Lisa J: any scoop on whether Pelosi is widely considered a hero or a villain for her role in getting Biden to drop out? I suppose we will get some sense from the reaction to her tonight.

I don’t think Pelosi would have gotten the speaking position she did, or such a resoundingly positive reception, if she hadn’t dethroned President Biden and solidified her reputation as the fairy godmother of Democratic Party power politics.

And I had a pretty good feeling that Pelosi was going to command such a warm welcome because earlier in the week, I saw tons of people wearing this pin:

EC-2021: What effect, if any, have the external protests had on the convention? Are they even visible/audible? Are they effecting attendees in any way?