Hello Democrats!
My name is Latifah Simon and I am running for Congress.
I'm here tonight to tell you all about the Kamala Harris that I know.
I'm going to tell you.
When Kamala Harris was the district attorney in San Francisco, California, I was a teen
mother running an organization working to insist sex trafficking among the beautiful
young women and girls to build the self-determination and power among those girls.
And Kamala learned about the work that I was doing and she asked me to join her team.
And I joined her team.
She saw my potential, my commitment and the good work that we could do together.
And I saw her.
I saw Kamala Harris holding the hands of sexual assault survivors.
I saw scores of mothers who lost their babies to gun violence lining up day after day at
the courthouse waiting only to speak to Kamala because they knew, they knew that she would
hear them, that she would truly see them because there's something about Kamala Harris
for those who know her, you know, when she hears your story, she carries it with her.
When she sees you, she truly sees you.
She truly sees you.
She is the best among us.
After working with Kamala Harris day in and day out for five years to create programs
that supported young people to get out of the criminal justice system once and for all
with good jobs, with opportunity, she wanted to get to the root cause of a broken criminal
justice system.
I saw her ship away.
She came early and she left late every single day because, you know, like those mothers,
like those sexual assault survivors.
When she goes into that Oval Office, she, when she goes, into that Oval Office, I guarantee
you she will take all of us with her, all of us, the single mothers, the disabled veterans,
the low income folks who are dying to survive, the immigrants who are trying to work towards
the promise of America, she will take us all, the farm worker, she will take us all with
her, all of us.
That is the Kamala Harris that I know so deeply that is the Kamala Harris that I love.
A woman of the people, a woman, a fierce woman for the people, good night Democrats.
Please welcome former U.S. Associate Attorney General of the United States and the Vice
President's brother-in-law, Tony West.
35 years ago, in my first week at law school, I met a new classmate, Maya Harris.
We became best friends, but the way Kamala tells the story, we had already fallen in
love by graduation day.
And when Maya and I married, I not only gained a life partner I love, a daughter I adore,
and a mother-in-law I revered someone I affectionately called Mother Harris, I also gained a sister,
a sister I cherish Kamala.
Now Maya, Kamala, and I each pursued different legal careers, but we were motivated by the
same values, a belief and equal opportunity, a yearning for fairness, a passion for justice.
Values Mother Harris taught those two little girls, values that powered Kamala's public
service from the very beginning.
You know, one of Kamala's very first cases in the District Attorney's Office, it involved
a woman, an innocent woman, wrongfully arrested in a police raid.
It was a Friday afternoon and the courthouse was shutting down for the weekend.
And look, most prosecutors, they would have gone home and dealt with the matter the following
Monday, but not Kamala.
You see, my sister-in-law knew that if the judge didn't see this woman that afternoon,
she'd spend the entire weekend in jail.
And Kamala, she wondered, does this woman work weekend, would she lose her job, does
she have young kids at home, who'd feed those kids?
So Kamala pleaded for the judge to return to the bench and to hear the matter.
And the judge agreed.
And within minutes, that woman was released back to her family that night.
Now it may seem small, but that's what it means to stand up for justice.
That's what it means to stand for the people.
And as Kamala says, when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for.
And look, believe me when I tell you, as a sister, a daughter, an auntie, and a mother,
I've seen Kamala fight for her family.
As district attorney, Attorney General, U.S. Senator and Vice President of the United
States, I have watched her fight in the halls of power for those who have no voice there.
And as president, I know, I know she'll fight for you.
She'll fight for all of us, because friends, when Kamala fights, we win.
Thank you, God bless you.
The crime against any one of us is a crime against all of us.
The work that she did as Attorney General was taking on issues to help people who were
trying to make a life for themselves and their families.
When Kamala Harris came into office in 2011, the most urgent economic crisis facing communities
throughout California was before closure crisis.
For too many Californians, hopes for lasting homeownership have been dashed.
Victims have fallen prey to a series of mortgage scams, fraud, and unfair business practices.
In order to get meaningful relief, we had to sue the banks and see through a lengthy
litigation process.
When Kamala was sitting at the table negotiating, it wasn't just about the money.
It was about real people.
I vividly remember her thinking about Mommy, who could finally afford to buy her first
home, and how proud Mommy was.
So Kamala knew what was at stake for families and even whole communities.
We are very proud to announce a tremendous victory for California.
She truly believes that every single person, every American, is worthy of the promise and
the prosperity of this country.
And every time Kamala has run for a bigger office, it's because she believes that she
can have a bigger impact.
We are making a commitment tonight with this celebration of this Senate race to bring our
country together.
In the Senate, to get a position on the Intelligence Committee is very coveted, because it is
about protecting our nation's security.
And Kamala hit the ground running.
She would not let a witness off easily.
Did you have any communications with Russian officials for any reason during the campaign
that have not been disclosed?
I don't recall it.
I need to be correct as best I can.
I do want you to be honest.
I'm not able to be rushed this fast.
It makes me nervous.
The question of Attorney General Sessions was historic, and she earned the respect of
colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
Kamala, as a senator, was a truth teller.
She was there to expose what some of these guys were and what they intended to do.
Can you think of any laws that give government the power to make decisions about the male
body?
I'm not a thinking of any right now, Senator.
They didn't know what hit them.
And in those moments, so many people saw her for the first time, and saw how tough she
was.
Do you accept them recommending a charging decision to you if they had not reviewed
the evidence?
Well, that's a question for Bob Mueller.
He's the U.S. Attorney.
I think it made it clear, sir, that she's not looked at the evidence, and we can move
on.
When she's on a mission, she is determined and relentless.
When our fundamental values are being attacked, do we retreat or do we fight?
I say we fight.
If you want to go forward in this country, not go backward, then there is only one choice.
Please welcome Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto.
Hello, Chicago.
You know, before I was Senator, I was Nevada's Attorney General.
And that's when I met Kamala Harris, my colleague in California.
Now we bonded over many things, and working together, I quickly learned what kind of person
she is.
She is a strong leader.
And here's how I know.
As AGs, we took on the big banks after the foreclosure crisis.
And let me tell you, Kamala did not settle for less than homeowners deserved.
Her leadership helped win billions for working families nationwide.
Delivering for families, that's Kamala Harris.
Kamala and I also worked to protect our southern border.
During that time, Kamala invited a group of AGs across the border to meet with Mexican
officials.
Now, we worked together to put transnational criminals and drug smugglers behind bars.
Holding criminals accountable, that's Kamala Harris.
Listen, and when we took on human traffickers, Kamala had us meet with survivors so that
we could understand who we were fighting for.
Standing up for justice, that's Kamala Harris.
So trust me, trust me when I say, I know she will fight for our families and our freedoms.
Now, we must fight for her.
Every vote matters.
I know, in 2016, Nevadans elected me, the granddaughter of a baker from Mexico, to
serve as the first Latina in the United States Senate.
I'll tell you what, and in 2022, my reelection came down to 7,928 votes.
Because of voters in Nevada, the Democrats won the Senate majority.
And I'm here to tell you, we can do it again.
We can send Kamala Harris and Tim Walls to the White House.
Are we ready to do it?
Are we ready to fight?
Let's get it done, Chicago.
Thank you, everyone.
Please welcome Pennsylvania Governor Joss Shapiro.
Thank you.
Two and a half centuries ago in Philadelphia, a band of patriots declared their independence
from a king and set ourselves on a path of self-determination.
Generation after generation has embraced that responsibility, ordinary Americans rising
up, demanding more, seeking justice.
But in every chapter of our American story, we've made progress and advanced the cause
of freedom.
Today, we'll find ourselves writing that next chapter.
Will we be a nation defined by chaos and extremism?
Or will we choose a path of decency, honor, and continued progress?
Kamala Harris, well, she has spent her entire career making progress.
Donald Trump, a man with no cardrails, wants to take away our rights and our freedoms.
And listen, while he cloaks himself in the blanket of freedom, what he's offering isn't
freedom at all.
Because hear me on this, it's not freedom to tell our children what books they're allowed
to read.
No, it's not.
And it's not freedom to tell women what they can do with their bodies.
And hear me on this, it sure as hell isn't freedom to say, you can go vote, but he gets
to pick the winner.
That's not freedom.
But you know what, you know what, Democrats, we, we are the party of real freedom.
That's right, the kind of real freedom that comes when that child has a great public school
with an awesome teacher because we believe in her future.
Real freedom, real freedom that comes when we invest in the police and in the community.
So that child can walk to and from school and get home safely to her mama.
Real freedom, real freedom that comes when she can join a union, marry who she loves,
start a family on her own terms, breathe clean air, drink pure water, worship how she wants
and live a life of purpose where she is respected for who she is.
Real freedom.
Real freedom comes when she can look at madam president and know that this is a nation
where anything and everything is possible.
That is real freedom and that is what we are fighting for.
You know, Kamala and Tim's names may be on the ballot, but it's your rights.
It's our rights.
It's our future and freedoms that are on the line.
And you have the power to shape the future of this country.
Just like our ancestors, our ancestors who fought for freedom on the battlefield and
sat in at lunch counters so our kids could stand up.
Now it's on us.
It's on us.
My friends to organize in our communities and on our for you pages around three basic
American principles.
We value our freedom.
We cherish our democracy and we love this country.
And listen, we love this country and listen despite our challenges.
Hear me on this.
I want you to know I have never been more hopeful because I see in all of you the enduring
promise of America, E. Pluribus Unum out of many one.
It's not merely a motto from the past.
It's our direction for the future.
You see, you all give me hope and you all have the power.
So let's use that power.
Let's do the hard work necessary to win this election and write the next chapter in our
American story.
So are you ready to protect our rights?
Are you ready to secure our freedoms?
And are you ready to defend our democracy?
And are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz?
America, let's get to work.
Please welcome, author, activist, and youngest presidential inaugural poet in American history,
Amanda Gorman.
We gather at this hollowed place because we believe in the American dream.
We face a race that tests if this country we cherish shall perish from the earth.
And if our earth shall perish from this country, it falls to us to ensure that we do not fall
for a people that cannot stand together, cannot stand at all.
We are one family, regardless of religion, class, or color, for what defines a patriot
is not just our love of liberty, but our love for one another.
This is loud in our country's call because while we all love freedom, it is love that
frees us all.
Empathy emancipates, making us greater than hate or vanity.
That is the American promise powerful and pure.
Divided, we cannot endure, but united, we can endeavor to humanize our democracy and
endure democracy to humanity.
And make no mistake, cohearing is the hardest task, history ever wrote.
But tomorrow is not ridden by our odds of hardship, but by the audacity of our hope
by the vitality of our vote.
Only now, approaching this rare air, or we are aware that perhaps the American dream
is no dream at all, but instead a dare to dream together.
Like a million roots tethered, branching up humbly, making one tree, this is our country
from many, one from battles, one, our freedoms, song, our kingdom, come has just begun.
We redeem this sacred scene ready for our journey from it together.
We must birth this early republic and achieve an unearthly summit.
Let us not just believe in the American dream, let us be worthy of it.
There's a word I heard, a word is called freedom.
Can you tell me what it means?
Interesting, let me think about that for a second.
The spirit of freedom.
For me, oh, yeah.
Freedom to me means choice.
The ability to laugh with friends, be who you want to be, go where you want to go,
live in your life day to day, having new chapters in that life.
I believe in having your own words and being able to do what you want to.
The freedom to raise our family in healthy communities.
The idea that I can turn to my partner, my husband, and say I love you with every being
of my soul.
Being able to start a family when I want to, being able to support the missions that I
want to, to go to the church that I want to.
Everyone has the same opportunities.
The United States is of anywhere I've ever been, just one place where you can accomplish
more.
The big, fantastic thing about America is that it is the land of opportunity.
I know it sounds trite, but it's the truth.
I grew up with a single mom, and she really imbued in me to these qualities that you
just really have to care about your neighbors and your family and your friends.
I feel like the American dream is having opportunities, having the opportunity to go
to college if you want to, having the opportunity to get any job you can no matter who you are
or where you come from.
The American dream is about having the ability to make choices about your medical care and
do whatever you want to do with your life without anybody telling you it's good or no.
We are in an incredible moment in history.
We've seen women stripped of their most fundamental right to autonomy over their bodies.
The freedom to make choices about your body, your life, your career should be entirely
in your control.
But I have found that good people want to do good things.
That you find a way to move forward under ugly and scary circumstances.
The work that lies ahead is to make America live up to its highest ideals, and we're
proud to go to work.
The work to build a better future really depends on all of us coming together.
We have to bring back that respect for everyone.
I don't think we're as divided as we seem.
Let's come together as one big nation.
I feel like we are on the verge of something very amazing in this country.
It makes me want to fight for our children and future generations to ensure they have
just as many, if not more, freedoms than we had.
I believe in a future where my mom can feel safe no matter where she is in the country.
A future that is filled with a healthy and vibrant planet where families are not separated
by fences or jail bars.
A future in which we all get what we need.
I want to say that for people who are younger than me, hopefully the kids I teach can chase
their dreams and believe in what they want to be.
I want a future for him that he knows that he's covered and protected.
Everyone should think about what we can leave to the next generation.
It's our responsibility.
It's what we have to do.
My name's Tyler.
My name's Yvette.
And we believe in love.
I'm Alex.
I'm Kiara.
My name is Steven.
My name is Charlie.
I'm a proud seventh generation Texan.
I am from Waterford, Michigan, just north of Detroit.
I'm from East Tennessee.
And we believe in the American dream.
We believe in a better world for our child and we believe in this country.
My name is Karen.
And I believe in justice.
My name is Nancy.
My name is Taro.
My name is Jennings.
My name is Dana.
My name is Todd.
And we believe in freedom.
My name is Gina.
And I believe in freedom.
My name is Pat.
And I believe in the freedom to work together.
Please welcome Oprah Winfrey.
And welcome Oprah Winfrey.
And we believe in freedom.
Let's love Oprah Winfrey.
When I move my mind just like this, I don't go right behind me.
I feel like I feel like I feel like I feel like I feel like I feel like I feel like.
Who says you can't go home again?
After watching the Obama's last night, that was some epic fire, wasn't it?
Some epic fire.
We're now so fired up.
We can't wait to leave here and do something.
And what we're going to do is elect Kamala Harris as the next president of the United
States.
I am so honored to have been asked to speak on tonight's theme about what matters most
to me, to you, and all of us Americans, freedom.
There are people who want you to see our country as a nation of us against them, people who
want to scare you, who want to rule you, people who have you believe that books are
dangerous, and assault rifles are safe, that there's a right way to worship and a wrong
way to love, people who seek first to divide and then to conquer.
But here's the thing.
When we stand together, it is impossible to conquer us.
In the words of an extraordinary American, the late Congressman John Lewis, he said,
no matter what ship our ancestors arrived on, we are all in the same boat now.
Congressman Lewis knew very well how far this country has come because he was one of the
brilliant Americans who helped to get us where we are.
But he also knew that the work is not done, the work will never be done because freedom
isn't free.
Because an ongoing project, it requires commitment, it requires being open to the hard work and
the hard work of democracy.
And every now and then, it requires standing up to life's bullies.
I know this.
I've lived in Mississippi, in Tennessee, in Wisconsin, Maryland, Indiana, Florida, Hawaii,
Colorado, California, and
Sweet Home Chicago, Illinois.
I have actually traveled this country from the Redwood Forest, love those Redwoods, to
the Gulf Stream waters.
I've seen racism and sexism and income inequality and division.
I've not only seen it.
At times, I've been on the receiving end of it.
But more often than not, what I've witnessed and experienced are human beings, both conservative
and liberal, who may not agree with each other, but who'd still help you in a heartbeat if
you were in trouble.
These are the people who make me proud to say that I am an American.
They are the best of America.
And despite what some would have you think, we are not so different from our neighbors.
When a house is on fire, we don't ask about the homeowners race or religion.
We don't wonder who their partner is or how they voted.
No!
We just try to do the best we can to save them.
And if the place, place, happens to belong to a childless cat lady?
Well, we try to get that cat out, too, because we are a country of people who work hard
for the money.
We wish our brothers and sisters well, and we pray for peace.
We know all the old tricks and tropes that are designed to distract us from what actually
matters, but we are beyond ridiculous tweets and lies and foolery.
These are complicated times people, and they require adult conversation.
And I welcome those conversations because civilized debate is vital to democracy, and
it is the best of America.
Now, over the last couple of nights, we have all seen brave people walk onto the stage
and share their most private pain, Amanda and Josh, Caitlin, Hadley.
They told us their stories of rape and incest and near-death experiences from having the
state deny them the abortion that their doctor explained was medically necessary.
And they've told us these things for one reason, and that is to keep what happened to them
from happening to anybody else.
Because if you do not have autonomy over this, over this, if you cannot control when and
how you choose to bring your children into this world and how they are raised and supported,
there is no American dream.
The women and men who are battling to keep us from going back to a time of desperation
and shame and stone cold fear, they are the new freedom fighters, and make no mistake,
they are the best of America.
I want to talk now about somebody who's not with us tonight.
Tessie Prevos-Williams was born in New Orleans, not long after the Supreme Court ruled that
segregated public schools were unconstitutional.
That was in 1954, same year I was born, but I didn't have to head to first grade at the
all-white Madonna 19 school with a U.S. marshal by my side like Tessie did.
And when I got to school, the building wasn't empty like it was for Tessie.
You see, rather than allowing Madonna to be integrated, parents pulled their kids out
of the school, leaving only Tessie and two other little black girls, Gail Etienne and
Leona Tate, to sit in a classroom with the windows papered over to block snipers from
attacking their six-year-old bodies.
Tessie passed away six weeks ago.
And I tell this story to honor her tonight, because she, she, like Ruby Bridges and her
friends, Leona and Gail, the New Orleans Four, they were called.
They broke barriers, and they paid dearly for it.
But it was the grace and guts and courage of women like Tessie Prevos-Williams that paved
the way for another young girl, who nine years later became part of the second class to integrate
the public schools in Berkeley, California.
And it seems to me that at school and at home, somebody did a beautiful job of showing
this young girl how to challenge the people at the top and empower the people at the bottom.
They showed her how to look at the world and see not just what is, but what can be.
They instilled in her a passion for justice and freedom and the glorious fighting spirit
necessary to pursue that passion.
And soon and very soon, soon and very soon, we're going to be teaching our daughters and
sons about how this child of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father to idealistic energetic
immigrants, immigrants, how this child grew up to become the 47th president of the United
States.
That is the best of America.
You know, you know, let me tell you this, this election isn't about us and them.
It's about you and me and what we want our futures to look like.
There are choices to be made when we cast our ballot.
Now there's a certain candidate says, if we just go to the polls this one time, that we'll
never have to do it again.
Well, you know what?
You're looking at a registered independent who's proud to vote again and again and again
because I'm an American and that's what Americans do.
Voting is the best of America and I have always since I was eligible to vote, I've always
voted my values and that is what is needed in this election now more than ever.
So I'm calling on all you independence and all you undecideds.
You know this is true.
You know I'm telling you the truth that values and character matter most of all in leadership
and in life and more than anything.
You know this is true that decency and respect are on the ballot in 2024 and just plain common
sense.
Common sense tells you that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz can give us decency and respect.
They're the ones that give it to us.
So we are Americans.
We are Americans.
Let us choose loyalty to the Constitution over loyalty to any individual.
Because that's the best of America.
And let us choose optimism over cynicism because that's the best of America.
And let us choose inclusion over retribution.
Let us choose common sense over nonsense because that's the best of America.
And let us choose the sweet promise of tomorrow over the bitter return to yesterday.
We won't go back.
We won't be set back, pushed back, bullied back, kicked back, we're not going back.
We're not going back.
So let us choose.
Let us choose truth.
Let us choose honor and let us choose joy.
Because that's the best of America.
But more than anything else, let us choose freedom.
Why?
Because that's the best of America.
We're all Americans and together, let's all choose Kamala Harris.
Thank you, Chicago, thank you.
Here's what I want people to know about Tim Walz.
So everybody at Mankator West High School loved Tim Walz.
Yeah, I mean, Tim was jovial.
When he would start teaching, it was like full contact teaching.
You could not help but be interested in what he was talking about.
He seemed to care about everybody in his class.
He knew everyone's name.
He wanted to know what interested you, how to engage you, what you were excited about,
what you're feeling bad about.
Mr. Walz was my geography and social studies teacher.
Mr. Walz was my football coach.
My middle school basketball coach, when we were doing the high school play the nerd,
he was the person building the sets.
I don't think that there has ever been a moment where I've seen Tim exhausted from giving or
engaging.
He always seems like that person that's got the never-ending gas tank who can keep going.
When I decided to come out as gay, we started the Gay Straight Alliance.
Tim Walz was the faculty advisor.
We saw him not only as a teacher, but a mentor and a leader.
Mr. Walz was a really big part in helping build this community and he's a big reason
why I became a teacher myself.
It was inspiring being in his classroom.
Please welcome Maryland Governor Wes Moore.
Thank you.
On March 26th, at 1.30 in the morning, a container ship, the length of three football fields slammed
into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and the bridge collapsed, a port that drives
13 percent of our state's economy was now closed.
Thousands of workers were hours away from waking up and realizing they no longer had
a job.
Six Marylanders who had been on the bridge in the middle of the night fixing potholes
lost their lives.
During the first phone calls that I got that morning started with these three words.
Dove, it's Kamala.
She said, I know you spoke to the President and I want you to know we are here with you
every step of the way.
Now, I joined the Army when I was 17.
In fact, I was too young to sign the paperwork.
I had to ask my mom to sign the paperwork for me because I don't have bone spurs.
I led soldiers in combat in Afghanistan.
My training taught me that you never learn anything about anybody when times are easy.
You learn everything you need to know about somebody when times are hard and when the
temperature gets turned up and America, I saw that Kamala Harris is the right one to lead
in this moment firsthand.
United with the Almighty God's grace, we brought closure to the families of the six
victims and while many said it could take 11 months to reopen the port of Baltimore,
we got it done in 11 weeks.
That is the story of America.
We are a nation of patriots who serve when the mission is hard and who serve when the
destination is uncertain.
And I know our history isn't perfect.
The unevenness of the American journey has made some skeptical.
But I'm not asking you to give up your skepticism.
I just want that skepticism to be your companion and not your captor.
And I'm asking that you join us in the work because making America great doesn't mean
telling people you're not wanted.
Being loving your country does not mean lying about its history.
Making America great means saying the ambitions of this country would be incomplete without
your help.
It's the legacy of those six workers who fixed potholes on a bridge while we slept,
who were born in a different country, but who knew that America was big enough for them
too.
It's the journey.
It's the journey of a man raised by a remarkable immigrant single mom, a man who felled handcuffs
on his wrist at 11 years old who now stands before you as the 63rd governor of Maryland
and the first black governor in the history of our state.
It's the story.
It's the story of a prosecutor who defended our freedoms and had Maryland's back when
we needed it most, and now MVP, we've got your back as well.
It's my fellow veteran, my brother, and the next vice president of the United States,
Tim Walz, and now Tim knows that in the military you count the days towards mission
completion, so guess what y'all?
We have got 75 days and a wake up until election day, 75 days and a wake up for us
to prove what Americans can do when the pressure is on, 75 days and a wake up for us to show
that true patriots do not whine and complain, we put our heads down and we get to work,
75 days and a wake up to build a future that those who came before us hope for and those
who come after us that they deserve, and 75 days and a wake up to elect a leader who
was willing to believe in the best of us and that leader is Kamala Harris, the next president
of the United States.
Thank you, God bless you, and let's leave no one behind.
Please welcome former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, thank you, God evening
Democrats, thank you, Chicago, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you.
Here's a sentence I never thought I'd hear myself saying, I'm Pete Buttigieg and you might recognize
me from Fox News, I believe in going anywhere, anywhere, in service of a good cause and friends,
we gather in a very good cause, electing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, the next president and
vice president of the United States.
The choice could not be clearer.
Donald Trump rants about law and order, as if he wasn't a convicted criminal running
against a prosecutor.
As if we were going to forget that crime was higher on his watch, talks about the forgotten
man, hoping we'll forget that the only economic promise that he actually kept was to cut taxes
for the rich.
And don't even get me started on his new running mate.
At least Mike Pence was polite.
J.D. Vance is one of those guys who thinks if you don't live the life that he has in
mind for you, then you don't count.
Someone who said that if you don't have kids, you have, quote, no physical commitment to
the future of this country.
You know, Senator, when I deployed to Afghanistan, I didn't have kids then.
Many of the men and women who went outside the wire with me didn't have kids either.
But let me tell you, our commitment to the future of this country was pretty damn physical.
Choosing a guy like J.D. Vance to be America's next vice president sends a message.
And the message is that they are doubling down on negativity and grievance.
Committing to a concept of campaigning best summed up in one word, darkness, darkness
is what they are selling.
The thing is, I just don't believe that America today is in the market for darkness.
I believe America is ready for a better kind of politics.
Yes, politics at its worst can be ugly, crushing, demeaning, but it doesn't have to be.
At its best, politics can be empowering, uplifting.
It can even be a kind of soul craft.
My faith teaches me that the world isn't made up of good people and bad people.
But rather that each of us is capable of good and bad things.
And I believe leaders matter because of what they bring out in each of us, the good or
the bad.
Right now the other side is appealing to what is smallest within you.
They're telling you that greatness comes from going back to the past.
They're telling you that anyone different from you is a threat.
They're telling you that your neighbor or nephew or daughter who disagrees with you
politically isn't just wrong, but is now the enemy.
I believe in a better politics, one that finds us at our most decent and open and brave.
The kind of politics that Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are offering and as you have felt
these many days, that kind of politics also just feels better to be part of.
There is joy in it as well as power.
And if all of that sounds naive, let me insist that I have come to this view, not by way
of idealism, but by way of experience, not just the experience of my unlikely career.
Someone like me serving in Indiana, serving in Washington, serving in uniform.
I'm thinking of something much more basic.
I'm thinking of dinnertime at our house in Michigan.
When the dog is barking and the air fryer is beeping and the mac and cheese is boiling
over, and it feels like all the political negotiating experience in the world is not
enough for me to get our three-year-old son and our three-year-old daughter to just wash
their hands and sit at the table.
It's the part of our day when politics seems the most distant.
And yet the makeup of our kitchen table, the existence of my family is just one example
of something that was literally impossible as recently as 25 years ago when an anxious
teenager growing up in Indiana wondered if he would ever find belonging in this world.
This kind of life went from impossible to possible, from possible to real, from real
to almost ordinary in less than half a lifetime.
But that didn't just happen.
It was brought about through idealism and courage, through organizing and persuasion
and storytelling, and yes, through politics, the right kind of politics, the kind of politics
that can make an impossible dream into an everyday reality.
I don't presume to know what it's like in your kitchen, but I know as sure as I am standing
here that everything in it, the bills you pay at that table, the shape of the family
that sits there, the fears and the dreams that you talk about late into the night there.
All of it compels us to demand more from our politics than a rerun of some TV wrestling
death match.
So this November, we get to choose.
We get to choose our president.
We get to choose our policies, but most of all, we will choose a better politics.
A politics that calls us to our better selves and offers us a better everyday.
That is what Kamala Harris and Tim Walz represents.
That is what Democrats represent.
That is what awaits us.
When America decides to end Trump's politics of darkness once and for all.
That is what we choose when we embrace the leaders who are out there building bridges
and reject the ones who are out there banning books.
This is what we will work for every day to November and beyond.
So let's go win this.
Thank you, Democrats.
Thank you.