CHICAGO (CN) — In a rousing speech, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president Wednesday night, capping off a celebrity-studded evening during which the party continued making its case for Kamala Harris to be the next president of the United States.
Walz, a 24-year Army National Guard veteran and former teacher, was tapped earlier this month by Harris to join the presidential ticket, beating out the likes of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Arizona Senator Mark Kelly.
And on Wednesday night, the midwestern charm and earnest demeanor that set the Minnesota governor apart from other vice presidential candidates was on full display.
Walking out to John Mellencamp’s “Small Town,” Walz was all grins as he waved to the crowd and thanked them with a prayer hands gesture.
“You might not know it, but I haven’t given a lot of big speeches like this,” he said.
In his remarks, the Minnesota governor led with a message of unity.
“That family down the road — they may not think like you do,” he said. “They may not pray like you do. They may not love like you do — but they’re your neighbors.”
And the Minnesota governor thumped his record in office, pointing to his efforts to protect abortion and in vitro fertilization procedures and a state law implementing 20 weeks of paid medical leave. But Walz spoke with particular pride about providing universal lunches to schoolchildren.
“While other states were banning books from their schools, we were banishing hunger from ours,” he proclaimed.
Walz didn’t shy away from taking swipes at former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Senator JD Vance. He called out Project 2025, the conservative policy playbook drawn up for a potential second Trump administration — drawing from his experience as a high school football coach.
“When somebody takes up the time to draw a playbook, they’re going to use it,” he said.
Walz ended with a passionate call to action, treating his speech like a football rallying speech.
“It’s the fourth quarter,” he said. “We’re down a field goal. But we have the ball, and we’re on the offensive.”
For Democrats, the third night of the convention was an opportunity to juxtapose the Harris platform with their bleak view of an America under a second Trump administration.
“His is the politics of smear and fear,” said New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, who kicked off the night’s proceedings.
Booker and other Democrats fell back on a common refrain about the former president, calling him divisive and accusing him of betraying American values.
“Donald Trump is like an old boyfriend who you broke up with, but he just won’t go away,” joked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. “Bro, we broke up with you for a reason.”
But speakers in the early hours of the evening also attacked Trump and Republicans directly on policy issues.
The newfound aggression reflected the night’s theme, “addressing the issues.” The shift to issues comes after a largely vibes-based launch of the campaign, which even former president Barack Obama seemed to nod to in his speech Tuesday night. The party could articulate why Trump was bad; the issue for some delegates Wednesday is whether it can prove it’s good.
Ohio delegate Hellen Sheehan, whose daughter is a climate scientist, said she wanted to see more action from the party on environmental issues.
“I want them to take a serious look with the infrastructure bill,” Sheehan said. “To having more high-speed trains. To having less concrete. You know? Effects on the environment and climate change.”
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers agreed. Asked by Courthouse News what issue he wanted to see prioritized Wednesday night, he shouted back “infrastructure” over the din of the crowd.
Iowa delegate Jordan True said his main issue is ongoing military aid to Israel. He called out his fellow Democrats for an unwillingness to rock the boat on the issue as the death toll in Gaza continues to mount.
“I think there’s a lot of Democrats here, delegates, that say they’re for peace in Palestine, but when it comes time to go on the record, they get shy,” True said. “They don’t want to burn bridges and lose political relationships that could be valuable to them, but if we’re active in politics and you’re not standing for what you truly believe — why are you in politics?”
Philadelphia lifestyle TikToker Kory Aversa, aka Philly Publicist, said he was more interested in seeing what the party itself wanted to focus on. Aversa is one of hundreds of social media influencers Democrats have courted for the DNC in an attempt to reach younger and more online voters.
“I don’t mean to sound generic, but I want to hear what’s important to them,” Aversa said. “You know? I’d love to hear what they want to do with the economy and immigration. I mean, I’m wearing a Pride shirt, you know? It seems like they’re already being very forward about their support of gay rights.”
On the convention floor, Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson sounded the alarm about the Trump campaign’s stance on abortion, saying the former president would make women less free and pregnancy more dangerous.
“We cannot call ourselves a free nation when women aren’t free,” she said.
And Human Rights Campaign president Kelly Robinson accused Trump of aiming to paper over Black Americans and their history.
“Donald Trump wants to erase us … but we aren’t going anywhere,” Robinson declared. “We aren’t going back.”
Democrats even broached border security, an issue that is sometimes considered the province of Republicans. New York Representative Tom Suozzi — who recently took back his seat representing the Empire State’s 3rd Congressional District from the disgraced George Santos — was first to invoke immigration, pointing to Congress’ ill-fated attempt to pass bipartisan border security legislation earlier this year.
The bill failed in the Senate after Republicans pulled their support, answering calls from Trump to ditch the measure. Democrats have accused the GOP of scuttling the bill to avoid giving President Joe Biden a political win during an election year.
“We all know who sabotaged us,” Suozzi said.
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who was the chief Democratic negotiator on the proposed border legislation, said during remarks on the convention floor that, if elected president, Harris would lead the charge to get that bill passed.
And California Representative Pete Aguilar, chair of the House Democratic Caucus, pushed back on the perception that Republicans are the only ones who would be tough on border security.
“We don’t have to choose between a secure border and building an America for all,” he said. “Under President Harris, we can and will do both.”
Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton set the tone for the challenge ahead for Harris and Democrats.
“We’ve got an election to win,” he told the convention, adding that Trump would be a tough opponent, calling him a “paragon of consistency.”
“He creates chaos, and then he sort of curates it,” the 42nd president said. But Harris is the only candidate with the vision, temperament, will and “sheer joy” to win, he concluded.
It may be the middle of the week, but the energy was high inside the United Center, where attendees were treated to a surprise appearance from businesswoman and legendary talk show host Oprah Winfrey, who threw her support behind Harris in an impassioned plea for “the best of America.”
The convention’s third night also saw performances from soul legend Stevie Wonder and Grammy winner John Legend, as well as an appearance from Saturday Night Live veteran Kenan Thompson.
Carrying a thick copy of Project 2025, the conservative policy roadmap for a second Trump administration, Thompson spoke to a panel of Americans who he said would be affected by its proposals.
“Have you ever seen a document that could kill a small animal and democracy simultaneously?” he asked.
Outside the convention, Palestinian delegates, representatives and allies staged a sit-in to protest that no Palestinian voices were included in the lineup of speakers.
“In our discussions with Vice President Harris’ team, we made very clear our ask is for a Palestinian-American speaker to speak from this stage,” uncommitted Michigan delegate Abbas Alawieh said. “We made that ask very respectfully. When I got the call saying they were denying that request — all the person I spoke to was authorized to say was, ‘the answer is no.’”
Alawieh and the other sit-in protesters said they would remain there until DNC officials allowed them in to speak, with U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar eventually joining them. But the night’s programming ended before that happened.
“I think some people have done the math and decided that there is not enough Palestinians to matter in this country,” Palestinian-American Georgia state Representative Ruwa Romman, who also attended the sit-in, said.
Harris is expected to formally accept the Democratic nomination for president Thursday evening.