Live Drawing The DNC: Day Three

Everybody belongs

The evening began with a very moving few moments. The parents of a young man, their only son who is a hostage in Gaza, spoke about the pain they are going through. It was incredibly powerful.

Then we heard from Cory Booker, one of my favorite people. He is a politician who really wears his heart and passion on his sleeve, and I appreciate that so much. I want him to run for President again down the road.

Representative Bennie Thompson then spoke. He was the chair of the January 6th Committe, and was very effective in that role (I live drew it). This period of the evening was all about January 6th, and they showed a powerful video recapping all the horrible events of that day. This video should be shown over and over, all the time, as difficult as that would be. In my mind, while I have not forgotten that day, I fear we have forgotten the depth and breadth of how horrible it was. I also had not realized that nine people had died as a result of that insurrection.

This third day of the convention just kept getting richer and richer. The one musician who has guided me emotionally since I was in high school is Stevie Wonder. His music and the messages in so many of his songs have had deep meaning for me for most of my life. Stevie spoke first, and then sang his wonderful song, “Higher Ground.”

I love that the Democrats brought a comedian to the stage, genius! And the perfect person they brought on was Kenan Thompson. Kenan is my favorite SNL performer. He did a skit of sorts tonight, bringing out a bound copy of Project 2025 and talking to real people on the screen behind him about how their lives will be forever ruined if Project 2025 were to come to pass. It was funny, but very real. The best kind of comedy, in my mind.

Hakeem Jeffries was incredible. If you get a chance to watch his speech, I recoomend it. I can’t really describe how he speaks, it’s unique and encorporates the cadence of rap (CNN commentator Van Jones said he had rap references in his speech). It was funny and cutting and powerful. I cannot wait for Jeffries to be Speaker of the House.

President Bill Clinton was great, but his speaking style is not uplifting for me. IN an overview of the evening, his speech did not stand out. But he did get some great barbs towards Trumnp. The former President got an strong, affectionate reception from the crowd, however.

Representative and former Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi spoke. I love her, she is an inspiration as a leader and a bridge builder in politics.

Poet Amdanda Gorman, who spoke at President Biden’s Inauguration, was up next.

And then, the big surprise of the evening was Oprah Winfrey. She brought down the house, perhaps more than anyone thus far in the evening—because she is so beloved, I think. Jeffries got a similar response, but it was more because he is new to many people and his style of speaking is unusual and playfully strong. She repeated a mantra throughout, “That is the best of America!!”

Transportation Secretary and former Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg was really good— he will of course run again for president again.

Finally, the Vice Presidential nominee, Tim Walz, came out to a gigantic burst of energy from the room. For someone who did not know how to use a teleprompter, he was fantastic. He is a no-nonsence talker, energetic, plain-spoken, a real representative of middle America. He’s the helping neighbor, no matter who that neighbor is or whether or not you agree with him. The coach theme—which is clearly very much a part of who he is— was woven throughout the speech.

I spent some time sketching him, trying to capture his energy. He has a funny way of smiling with a frown. His face — there is a lot going on in that face. It’s very real, and very good.

The crowd adored him.

There were so many great speeches tonight, so many great sound bites, it was hard to capture. I missed so many great ideas. If I weren’t drawing, I would be taking notes, trying to express to you the great ideas and emotional messages shared tonight.

Finally, you will see tomorrow some coverage of Tim Walz’s son Gus. He was in tears the whole time his father spoke, standing from time to time to point at his father and mouth “That’s my dad!” His daughter was also in tears, but it was Gus who seemed like he might hyperventillate!

Thanks for being here. Again, sorry for the typos and misspellings. I will fix tomorrow, I assume there are some. See you tomorrow!