The Democratic National Convention kicks off its fourth and final night Thursday in Chicago.
After a week of Democrats’ most prominent figures rallying the party faithful, Vice President Kamala Harris will accept her party’s nomination for president during a speech in which she’s widely expected to offer her vision and policy agenda to the American people.
The theme of the final night is “For Our Future,” according to convention organizers.
Prince George’s County Executive and Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks joined WTOP’s Shawn Anderson and Anne Kramer earlier from Chicago.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. The transcript below has been lightly edited for clarity.
Anne Kramer: I know it’s a big night for Kamala Harris. This week has been full of politicians and regular people sharing stories about their connection or experience with the vice president when she was growing up, when she was serving as Attorney General of California, as U.S. senator, even as vice president. What do you think that she has to say tonight to reach through to the undecided voters watching the speech, or possibly even convincing some Republicans to support her?
Angela Alsobrooks: The great opportunity that the vice president has tonight is that people are largely familiar with her. They’ve seen her as district attorney and attorney general. They know her as a senator and vice president, so that she has a record of accomplishment that people are familiar with.
The great opportunity she has is to introduce herself as a person. I’ve noticed that one of the things I really like about the vice president is that she is often talking about others — what she can do on health care, what her beliefs are regarding justice. She’s talked about economic opportunity. She’s the kind of leader who doesn’t often talk about herself very personally, and so reintroducing herself to the country. She’s also a wife, she’s a (step) mother, she’s a sister. I think hearing those details, some of them about her, and getting a sense about who she is as a person, is going to draw people even closer to her. And I think it’s going to be a really, really marvelous night for her.
Shawn Anderson: Well, speaking of introducing oneself to the country, you got to do that Tuesday night in a prime-time keynote address, and you mentioned several times about your background of making connections to powerful women who helped mold you and your life in your career. How exciting was it for you to be part of Tuesday night’s events as a woman in elected office, being able to speak about the importance and value of women in this country?
Angela Alsobrooks: Oh my God, it was more exciting than I can express. I came to my first convention 32 years ago as a volunteer, standing on the side of the convention stage checking credentials. I was working as a college student. I was a Congressional Black Caucus intern, and I stood there all week long as a volunteer. To be able to stand on the stage and give a keynote address 32 years later at a convention, was beyond my wildest dreams.
I was so honored to be there with Maryland, and I could hear them kind of applauding and going crazy. So I was so proud to represent Maryland. I’ve been so proud to represent Prince George’s County, and it was just a really, really amazing night. My parents were watching from home. It was really great.
Anne Kramer: Angela, what do you bring home from the convention there in Chicago that you will take with you into your final months of campaigning for the U.S. Senate to reach the voters who maybe don’t know about you and your qualifications, and to those who are worried about ensuring the Senate doesn’t flip to red in November?
Angela Alsobrooks: I think that continuing to talk about the future. What I know about voters in this moment, and we’ve seen it because of the great response to Vice President Harris and Tim Walz, is that people are ready to turn the page. There are so many who want to leave Donald Trump where he belongs, which is really in America’s past.
I believe that Americans and Marylanders are prepared to talk about a future, to unleash their imagination again, to talk about innovation, to talk about the ways that we can use it to increase economic opportunity. They want to hear more about the ways that we intend to make housing affordable, the ways that we intend to make health care accessible to more families. This is what people are really so eager to hear.
They’re tired of hatred and division. No longer do they want to hear fearful messages. People are really eager, I think, for a glimpse of the future and how they can see themselves in it, and what we can do for them and their families. So I intend to continue discussing that on the campaign trail and talking to Marylanders. And I think in November, we’re going to see the state and the country decide to keep the Senate in Democratic hands; they will not empower a caucus that is led by Donald Trump. I think people are very tired of the kind of hatred that he’s unleashed, and we’re going to keep the Senate blue and allow us to continue to fight for freedom and economic opportunity.
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