12:30 Report — Democrats' 'Era's Tour'

View Online  12:30 REPORT Happy Wednesday. It's Day 3 of the Democratic National Convention! Did you know that yesterday was the coolest August day in D.C. in almost seven years? Here's what's happening in Chicago: Tim Walz, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Pete Buttigieg are on deck tonight at the Democratic National Convention. Tuesday was an effective night of Democratic messaging, especially for the spouses. Harris watched Doug Emhoff's speech from Air Force 2 and circled around Chicago until he finished. The Washington Post made a Spotify playlist of the 50-state roll call that everyone on social media has loved.   I'm Cate Martel with a quick recap of everything that's happening at the Democratic convention and what's coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@thehill.com. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.   🥥 Happening Tonight This convention is basically the Democrats' personal 'Era's Tour': ©  GIPHY/Taylor Swift Continuing their personal "Era's Tour," Democrats have another strong lineup of party elites speaking at the Democratic National Convention. Former President Clinton will be representing the 1990s Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) will be repping the 2000s and 2010s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg serves as Democrats' new generation. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), will deliver the keynote address in what will be the biggest political speech of his career. Fun fact: The last time Democrats held their convention at the United Center was in 1996, when Clinton accepted the party's nomination. This will be his 12th consecutive convention address, and sources told The Hill's Amie Parnes to expect a hopeful, aspirational tone.   Read more: 'Bill Clinton, boosting Harris, returns to a changed party' Plus: 'Walz set for most impactful speech of life at Democratic convention'   💻 Tonight's convention livestream   💨 In Chicago How interesting that some of the best speeches were from *spouses* of politicians?: ©  AP Tuesday night had a powerhouse of speakers at the Democratic National Convention. Two of the most compelling speakers, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and former first lady Michelle Obama, played an effective, unique role. Neither is a career politician, and neither has run for elected office. And yet, they delivered Democrats' message more effectively than many other elected politicians.   Emhoff's role was to humanize Vice President Harris. He told stories of their personal life, including 📹 an entertaining story of how they met. 📹"Heyyyy, it's Dougggggg." He described his blended family, mentioning his divorce and Harris's active role in their children's lives. His ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, sat in the arena waving a "Doug" sign. He pitched himself as the all-American dad.   Former first lady Michelle Obama took a different, more fiery approach. Without mentioning former President Trump by name initially, she took several not-so-subtle shots at him. "Who's gonna tell him that the job he's currently seeking might be one of those 'Black jobs,'" Obama said snidely, referencing a controversial comment Trump made during June's debate. Fox News's Brit Hume praised her speech as "just terrific." CNN's Anderson Cooper called her speech the "most powerful political speech [he's] ever heard."   And then there was Barack Obama: Former President Obama is a famously effective orator and arguably the most influential Democrat alive. And yet, The Hill's Niall Stanage accurately pointed out that the only point of division among Democrats on Tuesday night was which Obama did better. He took a hopeful, more positive tone than his wife, with a few jokes sneaked in. (Like acknowledging he is "the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.") He also mocked Trump's "weird obsession with crowd sizes," eliciting roars from the crowd.    The big theme of the evening: An increasing narrative among Democrats is that Harris is working to help Americans while Trump is working to help himself. Think it's an effective message? Let me know your thoughts.   🔎 Five takeaways from Night 2 of the Democratic convention, from The Hill's Niall Stanage   Tidbit: Harris spent Tuesday evening campaigning in Milwaukee and traveled back to Chicago during her husband's speech. Air Force Two circled in the air for around 10 minutes so Harris could watch her husband's speech uninterrupted. 📸 See Harris watching on her iPad   💻 Watch Michelle Obama's full speech 💻 Watch Doug Emhoff's full speech 💻 Watch Barack Obama's full speech ➤ SIGHTS AND SOUNDS IN THE WINDY CITY: Some surprise guests: Actor Sean Astin, who famously played "Rudy," joined Indiana's delegation 📹  for a surprise appearance. Rapper Lil Jon came out during Georgia's roll call. He sang "Turn Down for What" but edited his famous lyrics to fit the election theme – instead singing "Turn Out for What" 📹 Watch Lil Jon's performance   People really loved the 50-state playlist: It included Tom Petty's "Won't Back Down" for Florida, the Dropkick Murphys's "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" for Massachusetts, Eminem's "Lose Yourself" for Michigan, The Killers's "Mr. Brightside" for Nevada and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA" for New Jersey. 📝 Full list of songs by state   ^ The Washington Post created a Spotify playlist of songs heard at the convention. 🎧 Listen here Enjoy.   An athletic assignment for this Secret Service detail: WGN photographer Kevin Doellman spotted Walz on a run in Chicago. Psst, he's wearing Hokas. 📹 Watch Walz on a jog   Now this is cool: C-SPAN's Susan Swain noticed a photographer taking photos "with a 110-year-old camera." 📸 Photo of the vintage camera   Speaking of C-SPAN: The C-SPAN team converted its arena skybox from a watch party to a TV set in a matter of minutes. 📹 Watch the time-lapse   A modern take on 'Miss Congeniality's' state procession: A Maine delegate is wearing 📸 a lobster hat. Wisconsin's delegation is sporting 📹some ~subtle~ cheese hats. Washington's delegation wore 📸 Beyoncé cowboy hats.   ^ The Hill's Mychael Schnell noticed a foam finger in the Montana delegation featuring Sen. Jon Tester's (D-Mont.) name and missing three fingers. Tester, who is running a tight reelection race, lost three of his fingers in a meat grinding accident as a kid. 📸 Photo of the foam finger   Harris's brown suit was specifically 'coconut brown': The Washington Post's fashion writer Rachel Tashjian Wise figured out that Harris's brown suit is made by the brand Chloé and comes in the shade "coconut brown." It retails for a casual $3,390. 📸 The listing ➤ MEANWHILE, IN MILWAUKEE: Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) held a Milwaukee rally while their party ceremonially nominated them. Tidbit: This rally took place at the venue where Republicans held their national convention in July.   Check out 📸 the line outside the arena roughly an hour before her appearance.   📸 Photo inside the Fiserv Forum   📸 Harris reviewing documents and taking photos while on her Osprey flight 📊 In Other News Can you make a slight adjustment of oh, idk, 818,000?: "The U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from March 2023 to March 2024 than initially reported, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), larger than the typical annual adjustment."   Was this expected?: The Hill's Taylor Giorno reports that experts were bracing for a sizeable revision to the annual numbers. Annual revisions are typically around 0.1 percent, but this year's revision was 0.5 percent.   💡What this means for the economy: From The Washington Post's Heather Long:   "1) Job growth has been a lot slower than we thought 2) There's a risk job growth has been even weaker since March 2024 3) This puts more pressure on the Fed to cut (maybe even 50 bps) in September 4) Big downward revisions to professional business, manufacturing and hospitality. That's a really big change in the manufacturing job surge narrative." Matt Gaetz won this round, Kevin: ©  GIPHY News Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) won his primary Tuesday, fending off a challenge by retired naval officer and leadership consultant Aaron Dimmock.   💡 Why this is notable: Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has had a long-running feud with Gaetz. Gaetz led the charge to oust McCarthy from the speakership last fall, and McCarthy has been on a revenge tour ever since. A super PAC aligned with McCarthy pumped more than $2 million into Dimmock's campaign, despite Dimmock telling The Hill that he's never spoken to McCarthy.   Read more: 'Five takeaways from Tuesday's primaries' 🐝 Internet Buzz 🍨 Celebrate: Today is National Spumoni Day!   🌕 I know I mocked this moon, but it was very cool: A rare combination of a supermoon and a blue moon happened earlier this week. Check out 📸 these incredible photos. And 📸 this photo of the Super Sturgeon full moon at Bethany Beach, Del.   😐 Hardy har har: NOTUS's Reese Gorman reports that Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) asked at a deli in Wisconsin, "You have any food here you really don't like? We'll take some and feed it to the journalists on the plane." 📸Photo of Vance at the Kenosha deli 📆 On The Agenda The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in California, and Vice President Harris is in Chicago. (all times Eastern) 2 p.m.: Former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) campaign in North Carolina. 💻 Livestream 4 p.m.: A group of Democratic women governors and actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus speak at an event. 💻 Livestream This evening: Night 3 of the Democratic National Convention. 💻 Livestream 👋 And Finally… Let's watch these dogs play tic-tac-toe with treats. Stay Engaged Send comments, story ideas and events for our radar to cmartel@thehill.com. A friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.   View past issues of 12:30 Report here and check out other newsletters from The Hill here. See you next time! Privacy Policy  |  Manage Subscriptions  |  Unsubscribe  Sign Up for Other Newsletters 1625 K Street NW, 9th Floor, Washington, DC 20006 © 1998 - 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. | All Rights Reserved.