This Monday marked the start of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, set to culminate with Vice President Kamala Harris accepting the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday night. Night 1 of the DNC boasted an impressive roster of speakers including Reps. Maxine Waters and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Dr. Jill Biden, and President Joe Biden.
The weather gods seemed to smile upon the Democrats as Chicago blessed the DNC with textbook-perfect weather: 75 degrees and sunny, with no trace of the Windy City’s swampy humidity. That’s not the only notable change to the city, though: entire streets are fenced off; the traffic rivals that found in Los Angeles; and security is stationed all over.
It’s no surprise that the DNC is an event of massive proportions, but that became personally apparent to me at 30,000 feet, when my Chicago-bound flight was nearly diverted to Milwaukee thanks to a VIP arrival. As Air Force One descended into O’Hare Airport, my plane was among those stuck in a holding pattern, and didn’t have enough fuel to withstand the hour-long wait. But mercifully, my plane full of Chicagoans, convention-goers, and one Pod Save America host eventually touched down at O’Hare without any unplanned detours.
Serving as the convention’s de facto welcome committee, the airport staff ensured that travelers wouldn’t make it more than a few feet without seeing red, white, and blue. In the main hall, the row of international flags was replaced with the stars and stripes, while baggage claim was decorated like a suburban lawn on the Fourth of July, and ads for C-SPAN flashed above the escalators. Even in the back of my cab from the airport, the usual banal iPad games were replaced with facts about Kamala Harris.
McCormick Place, where the convention’s daytime events and caucuses take place, was bustling with press, volunteers, and no-nonsense Secret Service agents. TSA manned the entrance point outside, leaving no pocket unzipped. I spied a pair of drag queens decked out in rhinestones and sky-high wigs spray their hair one last time before handing over the contraband aerosol.
That’s not to say that everyone in Chicago is gung-ho about the convention. A small group of megaphone-carrying protestors gathered outside McCormick Place to bemoan the fact that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been left off of the ticket.
