Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Ah, the different things are different argument.

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

The gop couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

It’s not hopeless, and we’re not helpless.

The choice is between normal and crazy.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

Be a traveling stable for those who can’t find room at the inn.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Donald Trump, welcome to your everything, everywhere, all at once.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Monday Evening Open Thread: Welcome to Chicago!

Monday Evening Open Thread: Welcome to Chicago!

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Thank you, DougJ…

Chicago native:

… He’d attended his first Democratic National Convention in San Francisco in the summer of 1984, at age 19, as a volunteer for Walter Mondale’s campaign. Pritzker was a bit of a junkie when it came to party conventions.

“I called JB and said, ‘Hey, I’ve got a crazy idea. What do you think of this?’” recalled Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a co-chair of Biden’s –and now Harris’ – campaign. “He said, ‘Absolutely.’”

Chicago had hosted Democratic conventions nearly a dozen times before, most recently in 1996, when former President Bill Clinton was up for reelection, and in 1968, when activists protesting the Vietnam War were involved in televised skirmishes with the police. This time would be different, party officials insisted.

Yet, there were hurdles from the start. The bid required the city to put forward an irrevocable letter of credit of $30 million, in case the host committee fell short of its nearly $85 million obligation – a record-breaking sum – and convince party officials to recommend Chicago over Atlanta, Houston and New York.

The heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune and a prolific Democratic fundraiser, Pritzker knew the consequences all too well. He had given $1.2 million of his own money to support Hillary Clinton’s nominating convention in 2016, making him the Philadelphia gathering’s single largest contributor…

Pritzker wined-and-dined the search committee at his Chicago mansion. He had comedian and “Saturday Night Live” alum Jim Belushi perform. During their walkthrough of the United Center, committee members witnessed a test balloon drop.

Other cities put on a good show: Personalized Hawks jerseys in Atlanta. A performance by Broadway singers in New York. But from a policy standpoint alone, Democrats argued, Illinois was a no-brainer.

Democrats hold every major statewide office and have supermajorities in both chambers of the legislature. Pritzker championed initiatives to get the state to 40% renewable energy by 2030 and make Illinois a safe haven for out-of-state patients seeking reproductive and gender-affirming care.

His first year in office, he signed legislation to boost the minimum wage. Illinois banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in 2023 after the Highland Park shooting.

“He’s a closer,” said Rep. Nikki Budzinski, D-Ill., senior adviser to Pritzker at the beginning of his first term. “And when I see people want to leave that table, he has an ability to bring them back.”…

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    230Comments

    1. 1.

      Baud

      and no one is more excited than our small businesses, who are ready to welcome our new visitors to Chicago

      And he means small businesses other than strip clubs.

      Reply
    7. 7.

      lamh47

      I’m running behind, trying to catch up.

      DNC Chair Harrison’s sons were so cute.  Gotta be a proud moment for dad and mom.

      Soul Children of Chicago sang da hell out of the anthem.

      I’m almost caught up.

      Reply
    21. 21.

      SatanicPanic

      @eclare: yes, very eighties

      (I know I’m not supposed to comment on womens’ looks, I’m just admiring her fashion sense)

      Update- lamh47- yes, correct

      Reply
    29. 29.

      KatKapCC

      @eclare: Not frequently, but one time very notably.

      On August 8, 2004, a tour bus belonging to the Dave Matthews Band dumped an estimated 800 pounds (360 kg) of human waste from the bus’ blackwater tank through the Kinzie Street Bridge in Chicago onto an open-top passenger sightseeing boat sailing in the Chicago River below. The incident became popularly known as the Dave Matthews Band incident[1] or Poopgate.[2]

      Reply
    31. 31.

      bbleh

      “Where’s that leave him with VP Harris?”

      “… and in 1968, when activists protesting the Vietnam War were involved in televised skirmishes with the police. This time would be different, party officials insisted.”

      I swear the Democrats are gonna be in Disarray if a couple of the Beltway Media have to start a fistfight on the convention floor.

      I’m sorta thinking it may be beginning to dawn on at least some of them how little respect they have from anyone anymore (other than their own little echo chamber of course) and as a consequence how much less they’re beginning to matter.

      Reply
    35. 35.

      Delk

      And of course, as the boats go under a bridge they announce,”Don’t look up!” Which means everyone does look up. Oops…

      Reply
    39. 39.

      wjca

      @Baud: And he means small businesses other than strip clubs.

      When the RNC is in town, strip clubs don’t qualify as small businesses for the duration.  Neither do brothels.

      Reply
    51. 51.

      Origuy

      Listening to the DNC. My friend the professional parliamentarian is probably grumbling about the proceedings. A committee report does not require a second for approval. Probably the DNC doesn’t follow Robert’s Rules. I know this because she has acted as parliamentarian for our club.

      Reply
    52. 52.

      lamh47

      I’m was watching it on YT on Kamala Harris page. Thankfully they’ve turned off the comments! I think I’ll switch to CSPAN tho cause they have the ticker letting you know who’s speaking.

      Reply
    54. 54.

      Soprano2

      @schrodingers_cat: I so wanted us to visit Chicago so my husband could see his sister, but I think that window has closed. I’ve been there once, for my niece’s wedding. I hope to go back someday.

      Reply
    59. 59.

      eclare

      It’s so nice to see a normal looking crowd.  Yeah, some people have on American flag clothing and hats, but no one has on a “fuck your feelings” or “TCFG can grab my” t-shirt.

      Reply
    60. 60.

      Betty Cracker

      I’ve never been to Chicago, but I intend to remedy that someday. Maybe in late spring or early fall next year. Also, I’m constitutionally opposed to billionaires, but Pritzker seems like a good dude.

      Reply
    67. 67.

      eclare

      @Betty Cracker:

      It is a wonderful city to visit.  The museum there has the largest collection of Impressionist art outside of Paris.  And the aquarium, on Lake Michigan, is amazing.  It has Beluga whales!

      Reply
    72. 72.

      Old School

      Pritzker wined-and-dined the search committee at his Chicago mansion. He had comedian and “Saturday Night Live” alum Jim Belushi perform.

      Well, how could any other city hope to compete with that?

      Reply
    82. 82.

      JaySinWA

      @eclare: It’s so nice to see a normal looking crowd.  Yeah, some people have on American flag clothing and hats, but no one has on a “fuck your feelings” or “TCFG can grab my” t-shirt.

      I didn’t watch the GOP convention so I don’t have a good idea of what people were wearing.

      I just checked for pictures of the Convention and didn’t see the rude shirts that show up at the rallies. The few I saw were  not quite so raw. Maybe the media left out the worst of them, but it looks like they may have policed the attire for the mass audience. The vendor stand photos were pretty tame.

      Were there some that I missed?

      OTOH you didn’t call out the convention. I haven’t seen any equivalent shots from the Democratic rallies so our “both sides” media is failing us. /s

      Reply
    84. 84.

      eclare

      @JaySinWA:

      I didn’t watch the Rethug convention, so yes I’m talking about rallies.  I’ve seen plenty of clips and photos from Harris-Walz rallies, again, people look normal.

      Reply
    85. 85.

      Starfish

      @Betty Cracker: If you want to go to any of the deep dish pizza places, understand it will take 30-45 minutes for food to actually be ready and don’t wait until you are really hungry.

      Reply
    86. 86.

      lamh47

      @Betty Cracker: My uncle’s current wife was born and raised in Chicago.

      Nothing but direct flights from NOLA to Chicago and I’ve never been.  Now I’m on the West Coast, but I’ve def got to get to Chicago.

      BTW…I was meaning to ask you…what the heck is going on in The Villages!  I saw this past weekend another headline story about Kamala Harris/Tim Walz support in the Village!

      Reply
    90. 90.

      lamh47

      Of course Jen Psaki and the rest of them except Lawrence O, were nightly reporting and even full segments on their shows talking about Joe needs to step down…would all be trying to rewrite history…smh

      @PalmerReport

      MSNBC is now claiming that no one forced Joe Biden to step aside, after MSNBC and its media friends literally forced Joe Biden to step aside
      https://x.com/PalmerReport/status/1825681842592428511

      Reply
    97. 97.

      Renie

      I wish they would put the speaker’s name up on the screen.  I’m jumping back and forth from youtube to web pages and can’t always figure out who the person is.

      Reply
    98. 98.

      HumboldtBlue

      @KatKapCC: ​ 

      My dad went by Dick, it was quite common until the term evolved into describing someone’s penis. When I was younger, there were Dicks everywhere.

      You couldn’t swing a dead cat and not hit half a dozen Dicks at once! There were Dicks in school, Dicks in church, Dicks at work, Dicks at the store, Dicks were literally everywhere!

      You couldn’t escape running into a Dick, there were so many Dicks!

      It was a time filled with Dicks. Ya had to be there.

      Reply
    99. 99.

      lamh47

      @KatKapCC:

      What bothers me most is, you WORKED for this man.  You talk about how good a man he was to work for and was to you…and you spoke of him the way that she did…uneccesary.

      Notice Symone Sanders was in that same WH, and yet she managed not to do the same as Psaki.  She spoke on the struggle of it, but she spoke of it respectfully.

      That’s what bothered me the most.

      Reply
    102. 102.

      lamh47

      Let me just say…everyone killing it on stage, but the Black Congresswoman are really killing it.

      That was a great speech from Congresswoman Beatty.

      Followed by Congresswoman Waters and Congresswoman Underwood!

      Reply
    110. 110.

      Ken

      Gov. JB Pritzker was Biden’s man in the Midwest. Where’s that leave him with VP Harris?

      Well, duh, USA Today. Obviously he will be dragged in chains before her and forced to choose between swearing fealty and agonizing death, just like in any other transition here in the United States.

      Reply
    129. 129.

      kindness

      Chicago deep dish is a great casserole.  It isn’t a pizza though.  Yea I did grow up on NY thin crust.

      Reply
    132. 132.

      Steve in the ATL

      @Baud: can’t have yin without yang!

       

      @SpaceUnit:
       

      As a Steeler fan I’m going to be doing a lot of drinking this season.

      This is an evergreen statement and not a response to my post, right?

      Reply
    133. 133.

      Origuy

      @phdesmond: When Meg Whitman was the CEO of HPE, Jesse Jackson came one year during Black History Month and spoke to employees. He and Whitman got to be good friends working on some of his programs. This was several years after her run for governor. He was still a dynamic speaker, although starting to have difficulties.

      Reply
    134. 134.

      cain

      @zhena gogolia:

      Truly. Chicago has an almost ‘small town’ mentality when walking the streets. Lot of people with that chatty midwestern vibe. I’ve always enjoyed being in Chicago. It’s only 1.5 hours from my home town.

      Reply
    138. 138.

      Suzanne

      Austin Davis repping Pittsburgh’s bridges. Fun fact: there’s more here than in any other city in the world. It needs its own infrastructure bill!

      Reply
    140. 140.

      Soprano2

      @Jackie: I’m not sure, she has a disabled son in his 40’s who I believe still lives with her, and her long time partner just died a few months ago. I don’t know what kind of health she’s in, either. I’d be surprised if she came here.

      Reply
    143. 143.

      3Sice

      ’68 DNC was at the International Amphitheater in the Union Stockyards. As were ’52 & ’56. That just seems a poor site choice.

      The cop riot was at Grant Park in front of the Hilton, about six miles away.

      Reply
    148. 148.

      Old School

      @cain:

      I’ve always enjoyed being in Chicago. It’s only 1.5 hours from my home town.

      By my calculations, with traffic, that puts your home town as O’Hare.

      Reply
    151. 151.

      Fake Irishman

      @Baud:

      interesting Senate note about “ayes/eyes” and “nays” Apparently when voting on cloture for the 1964 Civil Rights bill a partially parlayzed California Sen. who was dying of cancer and couldn’t speak was wheeled into the chamber and pointed to his eye during the roll call to break the filibuster.

      Reply
    154. 154.

      MisterForkbeard

      @lamh47: I don’t think anyone “forced” Biden in the sense that he had no choice or they held a gun to his head. He absolutely could have continued on.

      What they did do was help make the decision to step aside much easier by reinforcing a lot of the “questions” about him and his overall performance. It was pretty clear at the end that Biden made the decision because he thought winning would be difficult and if he stayed he’d be a force for division rather than leading the party.

      My own thought is that the moment Biden said repeatedly that he was the nominee and he was staying and that didn’t stop the campaign to get him to step aside, he realized he wasn’t the defacto party leader anymore

      @lamh47: And yes, completely agree with you here :(

      Reply
    157. 157.

      zhena gogolia

      @cain: Once we were there, and I was trying to put my finger on what was different, and it was that cars were stopping for us even when there wasn’t a light.

      Reply
    158. 158.

      prostratedragon

      @3Sice:  Probably the 1968 convention was to have been at McCormick Place. Which burned down in 1967. The new place, called Lakeside Center at McCP opened in 1971.

      The International Amphitheater was about 5 miles due south of the UC.

      Reply
    171. 171.

      sab

      That seven year old columnist-to-be was traumatized by Chicago ’68 and the cop riot. I don’t believe him. He was seven.

      In 1968 I was 14 and outraged. Then other elections happened and I got over it. Some years are good. Others suck. That’s life and government and politics.

      Reply
    172. 172.

      VFX Lurker

      @KatKapCC: They seem to have skipped over a bunch of speakers. Wonder what’s going on.

      I did notice for “Joint Remarks on ‘Investing in the Future'”, the four speakers spoke in a different order than the one listed on the programming page. Instead of speaking first, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounaliakis spoke last.

      Reply
    174. 174.

      lamh47

      Someone said for inauguration for POTUS, constitutionally is has to be the Chief Justice, but I’m not 100% sure if they can allow an Associate Justice to do the inaugural with the Chief Justice’s permission?

      Is that correct?

      Reply
    175. 175.

      Suzanne

      Can someone explain to me how kids seem to have this incredible instinct for kicking you in the junk nonstop?! FFS.

      Reply
    177. 177.

      trnc

      @lamh47: ​
       

      MSNBC is now claiming that no one forced Joe Biden to step aside, after MSNBC and its media friends literally forced Joe Biden to step aside

      I assume that “literally forced out” translates to “numerous bad faith stories about his age and inflation.” That’s absolutely true, but even if he hadn’t been slagged by the media, I think a robust campaign would still have been required and I don’t think he would have been able to maintain that along with his presidential duties. IOW, more favorable coverage still wouldn’t have nullified the need to campaign.

      Reply
    178. 178.

      KatKapCC

      @Baud: According to the program, Debbie Wasserman-Schulz was supposed to speak before Sen Butler. And after Butler was supposed to be Linda Haskins of NH, the president of a firefighters union, and someone from a childhood development group.

      Reply
    179. 179.

      lamh47

      @Angry_Staffer

      Dems were advised to not lean into Project 2025 too heavily in the DNC. I’m glad they ignored that advice. This is their best opportunity to get eyeballs on Trump’s plan. You have millions of people watching. Capitalize on that.

      @Angry_Staffer

      Because traditional pollsters don’t understand how to win elections anymore

      https://x.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1825695182085407226

      Reply
    184. 184.

      Ken

      @lamh47: The oath of office is given in the Constitution, but there’s nothing about who administers it — it doesn’t even have to be a judge.

      Reply
    185. 185.

      frosty

      @Steve in the ATL: We just passed that Quaker Oats sign this afternoon! And  the Herbert Hoover Highway.

      Currently eastbound for home after our 4th Cross Country National Park trip in five years  Glacier is now my favorite!

      Reply
    189. 189.

      M31

      @Omnes Omnibus:

      yup, the 5-minute rule was doing so well

      she’s fine but this is not normal speech time, it’s rally the troops, get off a couple of applause lines, a zinger at the weirdos, and sit your ass down

      Reply
    193. 193.

      Leto

      For a complete 180 from Faux Hillbilly in Philly, here’s Walz:

      Still Teaching Us: What the heck is a Runza? Walz touts iconic Nebraska treat in home state rally

      Walz: “Do you think JD Vance knows one damn thing about Nebraska? You think he’s ever had a runza? That guy would call it a Hot Pocket. You know it. Every one of you in here know it. A damn Hot Pocket.”

      For those not in the know, a runza is simply a bread pocket with meat filling, but as AllRecipes notes, the treat — a “a rectangular pocket of yeast dough filled with ground beef, cabbage, and other fixings”

      Great video at the link.

      Reply
    196. 196.

      CaseyL

      I watched for a little while, but I really don’t like warmup speakers.

      Raimondo’s speech hit me a little oddly. I realize she’s contrasting Harris with Trump, but to give a speech about rebuilding manufacturing in the US, and rebuilding a middle-class based economy in the US, without mentioning all the work Biden has done on that issue just struck me as… off.​

      ETA: She could have said something along the lines of “Kamala Harris will continue the great and important work President Biden has started…”

      Reply
    202. 202.

      Maxim

      @Betty Cracker: One of my brothers lives in Chicago and is a music lover. It sounds like Bill is pretty clued in already, but if you’d like recommendations once you get around to planning, let me know.

      Reply
    203. 203.

      zhena gogolia

      @trnc: I’m all in for Harris-Walz, but let me say that I’m not convinced she will be a better president than Biden or that he will be a better VP than Harris, with her connections in the Senate. Are they better campaigners than Biden? Absolutely. Will they be a million times better than Trump-Vance? Absolutely. But the ticket that 14 million of us voted for would have been the best possible Pres/VP for the next four years.

      I promise not to repeat this, but I had to say it once.

      Reply
    207. 207.

      MisterForkbeard

      @tam1MI: I’m watching this now. First few things that come to mind:

      Walz and his wife look positively ecstatic when she comes out – they’re having the time of their lives. (EDIT: Doug Emhoff, too – it looks like Walz is asking him “did you know about this?”)
      Kamala is stunning when she comes out, and she’s really happy looking too. Huge contrast with the Republican piles of angry fat screaming blobs
      Her speech was short, excellent, and really big on thanking Joe Biden. Good for her.

      Reply
    209. 209.

      Percysowner

      Somebody must be stuck in traffic or unable to get there. This is Prime Time and the anticipation for Joe has been built up. They are going to want to get him out there pretty soon. I was hoping to see his speech live, but my bedtime is coming soon, and I may not be able to make it.

      Reply
    210. 210.

      Quinerly

      @zhena gogolia:

      Would be incredibly cool if a two way street. But, I have little to no hope.

      So many people are happy and joyful. It’s cool to ride that wave.

      “Win, baby, win!!!!”

      Reply
    212. 212.

      Geminid

      @eclare: Malcolm Kenyatta is a Pennsylvania state legislstor who ran for Senate in 2022. I think Kenyatta finished 3rd in the primary, behind Conor Lamb and winner John Fetterman. He seemed to impress people as a good candidate.

      Reply
    214. 214.

      wjca

      @lamh47: Someone said for inauguration for POTUS, constitutionally is has to be the Chief Justice, but I’m not 100% sure if they can allow an Associate Justice to do the inaugural with the Chief Justice’s permission?

      Is that correct?

      As @Baud: said, it doesn’t have to be. For example, Federal District Judge Sarah Hughes administered the oath to LBJ after the Kennedy assassination.

      EDT Others got there first.  Showing how many of us are old enough to remember the photo in the news.

      Reply
    224. 224.

      Annie

      @Omnes Omnibus:

      Just found that others got to this already:

       

      LBJ was sworn in by a federal judge, named, IIRC, Sarah Hughes.

      calvin Coolidge was sworn in by his father who was a Vermont justice of the peace.  Of course both of those were emergencies after the death of a president.

      Reply
    225. 225.

      Gvg

      @zhena gogolia: Maybe. A lot of why Biden has been so successful is the people he picked and the fact that he followed Obama and saw the republicans devolve into the party of no and insanity lead by a traitor. He not only learned, the other democrats in office and the democratic voters learned and that gave him available choices that Obama didn’t have.

      Assuming Harris wins, she needs to pick good people. Her first test, the VP is excellent and her campaign staffing choices are looking great too. Then there is governing. Biden is still around and on her side and she does have experience but we will have to see.

      The last part is if we can hold or gain in the Senate and take back the house, the bigger the margins the better. If we do well over all the President will end up being more successful. Being an exciting campaigner could really help that. It’s not just about her, it’s the whole party, but she will get a lot of the credit and blame.

      Reply
    230. 230.

      AnnaC

      Also a native Chicagoan here.  We are so fortunate to have JB Pritzker as our governor!  I will say the coolest thing, for me, with having the DNC here in Chicago is that I got to attend the live showing of Late Show with Stephen Colbert last night!  It was amazing and so much fun.

      Reply

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