The Central Times is sending two journalists daily to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago from Aug. 19-22. This was made possible by the Illinois Journalism Education Association. Each day, a reporter will be publishing a diary entry recounting their experiences from the convention. Read more of our coverage from the DNC at centraltimes.org.
11:30
After arriving in Chicago, C.J. and I stopped for a quick bite of overpriced Union Station food. We didn’t have a concrete plan for the day, but slowly formed one after scheduling an interview with a delegate from Missouri that we met via one of journalism advisor Keith Carlson’s connections. We headed over to the Fairmont Hotel for the interview.
12:30
We arrived at the hotel where we conducted the interview a bit early and took the opportunity to edit content from previous days of the DNC.
1:10
We interviewed the delegate from Missouri, with C.J. taking point. We mostly focused on him and his position, but also briefly covered topics such as protests and youth involvement.
1:30
We realized that the hotels were the hotbed of political action—as that was where all the attendees stayed—so we decided to make our way over to the Hyatt Regency. Numerous delegations were staying there, and we were hoping to bump into a few recognizable figures. After around 30 minutes of exploring the different conference rooms of the Hyatt, C.J. and I realized we were too late in the day to have any chance of getting an impromptu interview and decided to work on more content.
3:20
Directly from the Hyatt, I was pretty surprised to see that the CTA bus taking us to United Center also happened to be the nicest CTA Bus I’ve stepped on. It made sense, Chicago put their best foot forward to the thousands of visitors from around the country, who all have the opportunity to form a new perception of a city frequently the subject of criticism in the news.
5:30
I was able to get a floor pass and took a few close up photos of New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker during his opening speech. The pass only lasted me 30 minutes, so I had to head out soon after and decided to go out and scout out some interviews.
6:50
Near press row, I saw New York Gov. Kathy Hochul walk through the doors from the “Blue Carpet” and I managed to grab a quick interview. I had about 30 seconds and took the opportunity to ask a quick question on video.
7:34
Georgia’s former GOP Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan managed to drum up a lot of excitement in the arena. Bringing in a republican, anti-Trump politician was a recipe for success amongst the crowd.
8:20
Former president Bill Clinton walked out on stage to chants of “Bill” ringing out throughout the arena. He wasn’t the most exciting, but managed to live off the name and face recognition throughout his speech.
9:30
Oprah! A “surprise” guest, she was rumored to attend throughout the night. She was by far the strongest speaker of the night, invigorating the crowd. The crowd was electric and you could feel the energy pulsating throughout the arena, which was more awake than any other point throughout the night.
10:30
Minnesota Gov. and Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz stepped on stage, surrounded by a sea of “Coach Walz” signs. The night heavily focused on painting Walz as a relatable candidate, with the “Coach” title being used almost any time when talking about him. The relatability component worked, with the arena buzzing with excitement for a candidate who was almost a political nobody just a few weeks ago.
