(The Center Square) – The mantra on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago from Illinois’ Democratic party leaders was “when we fight, we win.”
Monday evening’s speeches included President Joe Biden seemingly passing the torch to Kamala Harris. Earlier in the day, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who was not selected to be Harris’ running mate, hinted at vying for a third term for governor.
“I’m not suggesting that I want to beat Jim Thompson’s 14-year record,” Pritzker joked with the crowd. “My wife’s not here and I don’t want anybody talking to her about this.”
On policy, if Democrats maintain control of the White House, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Schaumburg, said Democrats would work to deploy things maintained by Illinois’ Democratic supermajority.
“[Illinois U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Chicago] and I for the longest time have introduced and reintroduced and we’re going to continue to reintroduce a national [Firearm Owners ID] card program,” Duckworth told fellow Democrats. “Common sense legislation.”
During their Monday morning breakfast at a hotel just across the Chicago River from Trump Tower, Illinois Democrats held a breakfast that featured vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s wife Gwen, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and various labor leaders.
Duckworth took questions from the media after and talked about the sendoff of Biden after one term to make way for Harris. But, she said he won’t be riding off into the sunset.
“He’s about getting his agenda across the finish line in the time that he has left and I think he’s going to be even more active post presidency with getting … his agenda done,” she said.
Duckworth went on to compare Biden to former President Jimmy Carter, who only served one term, and first president George Washington.
Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, dismissed concerns Illinois Republicans raised that once the Democrats’ convention is over, it’s back to reality with high inflation on food, energy and other consumer costs.
“What we have seen in unprecedented job growth under this president,” Welch said. “We’ve seen unprecedented investment in America through the Infrastructure Act. We’ve seen so many great things happen under President Biden, things we haven’t seen since [Franklin Delano Roosevelt].”
The convention runs through Thursday in Chicago when Harris is set to deliver her acceptance speech.
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