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5 Progressive Takeaways from the 2024 Democratic National Convention

Tim Walz and Kamala Harris at the DNC
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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Reagan Stone
Turning Texas into a Blue and True Battleground State

This week, the nation’s eyes were on the nearly 4,000 delegates and tens of thousands of attendees, elected officials, and press who met in Chicago for the 2024 Democratic National Convention. State Senator Cesar Blanco summed up the sentiment best, with a “Wow” citing “the enthusiasm, the excitement” present — he wasn't wrong!

This year’s DNC was one of the most diverse and electrifying experiences in many delegates' recent memories, unifying a party and charting a course for a new era. Texas joined as the third largest delegation backed by Beyoncé vocals to “Texas Hold ‘Em,” with spotlights on abortion rights advocates Amanda and Josh Zurawski, Dallas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and co-chair of the Harris-Walz campaign, El Paso Rep. Veronica Escobar, rousing the crowd from the main stage. 

5 KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE DNC

1. For the People: Empowering Women

Vice President Harris will accept the nomination to be the next President of the United States on Thursday, Aug. 22, the final night of the convention. You can join a watch party in Texas here! 

When delegates go home, they will have made history, nominating only the second woman for POTUS on a major party's ticket. Progress Texas Board Member Jason Smith joined us for a special podcast mini-sode and morning conversation about his experiences this week, saying, “What a great moment we have for our country, for our daughters, for our sisters and our mothers and our wives, to see that they’re leading this nation, and we’re turning the page.” There’s nothing more empowering than being part of history, and hoping as Smith put it, that his 14-year-old daughter, “Sloan, is going to see that a girl can be president.”

Beyond the historic presidential ticket, we heard from impacted women across the board, including Texas’ own Kate Cox. Former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards introduced her during the Texas roll call as an abortion rights advocate and woman who was forced to flee the state to receive life-saving abortion care because of our near-total abortion bans. Cox happily shared that “because [she] found a way to access abortion care, [she is] pregnant again.” 

 2. The Next Generation of Progressive Leaders

This election is distinguished by the passing of the torch. It started with President Joe Biden standing aside so Vice President Kamala Harris could step up, and it continued at this convention which featured the first ever Gen Z speakers and many rising stars from a new generation. Top voices included New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, Dallas Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, and Gen Z abortion rights activist Olivia Julianna. The Democratic Party is building a vision for the future that will be determined by these new voices, and the main themes of the convention matched this reality — with speeches that advocated for the working class, increasing affordability, and putting forward progressive takes on freedom and family values.

Walz shared, “That’s what this is all about: The responsibility that we have to our kids, to each other and to the future we’re building together in which everyone is free to build the kind of life that they want.”

3. Freedom is a Democratic Value

Living in Texas ain’t always easy. Besides the mercury rising around the state this week in comparison to mild Chicago, we have lost more rights than the average American due to archaic laws like the near total abortion ban and gamut of hoops one must jump through to vote. 

Despite that, echoing in caucus meetings and conversations at the coffee shops showed that the Texas delegation found a new hope – a message of banding together to defend ourselves against authoritarian attacks, especially those against our wives, mothers, daughters, all those who can become pregnant. We are united against these threats, exclaimed Governor Walz and repeated by many throughout the week, “When we Democrats talk about freedom, we mean the freedom to make a better life for yourself and the people you love. Freedom to make your own health care decisions. And yeah, your kids’ freedom to go to school without worrying about being shot dead in the hall,” Walz said. 

4. The Fight for Our Future in Texas

At the Lone Star State delegation’s headquarters, Progress Texas Advocacy Manager Reagan Stone joined nearly all 273 Texas delegates for the state party’s morning receptions. These were filled with invigorating speeches from southerners who famously flipped Republican-held seats like Sen. Doug Jones and Gov. Andy Beshear, to Texans like Mayor Sylvester Turner and activist Olivia Julianna. 

One of the many VIP speakers, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said, “We know what it means to battle every day in a red state, to fight for our schools, for our health care, for workers’ rights and for women to have basic autonomy.” His comments resonated with many Texans, who shared real world experiences of fighting for basic human rights with other state delegations. While the Republican National Convention showcased division and fear-mongering, Democrats this week joined together around Vice President Kamala Harris and her message, “When we fight, we win!”

5. The Unity Ticket Brought the Party

This year’s convention featured a wide array of Democratic leaders, Independents, Republicans (and even a former Trump staffer!) to demonstrate that Harris-Walz is the unity ticket, and the most popular and only choice that can save us all this November. The broad appeal of this year’s lineup shattered expectations for speakers and traditional politics — for example, on Night Three, Coach Tim Walz’ high school champion football players, now grown men, took the stage in their old team uniforms, still inspired by his “commitment to the common good.” Then, we saw his family’s joy and tears, and in that, we saw our own core values of compassion and community. 

To top it all off, the DNC crowds were visited by an unmatched display of celebrity presence, featuring Oprah Winfrey calling for joy and decency, Lil’ Jon as hype man for roll call (check out the playlist), Stevie Wonder and John Legend on vocals, Kenan Thompson breaking down Project 2025, and even Tony Goldwyn and Kerry Washington bringing dreams to reality. 

This ticket is the one every American needs now — “to not only stop the nightmare coming with a Project 2025 agenda, but to realize the promises of our great nation, restore our abortion rights, expand our civil rights, grow the middle class, and fight each day for all Americans,” said Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson.

 

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Reagan Stone

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