Harris, Walz, Biden skip second night of DNC, headlined by Obamas

(The Center Square) – The second night of the Democratic National Convention included the traditional, if not symbolic, roll call of all the states and how many delegates are nominating Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz for office. However, neither were present at the convention.

Harris and Walz instead headlined a campaign event in nearby Milwaukee at the same arena that hosted the Republican National Convention last month.

In Chicago, the night ended with former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, capping off the evening’s speeches, praising Harris and Walz although Barack was one of the last prominent Democrats to endorse Harris following Biden’s stepping down from the campaign, waiting until July 26.

The Obamas on Tuesday warned against another Donald Trump presidency.

“The people who will decide this election are asking a very simple question, ‘who will fight for me? Who’s thinking about my future, about my children’s future, about our future together,’” the former president said when he took the stage at 11 p.m. Tuesday night in Chicago. “One thing is for certain, Donald Trump is not losing sleep over that question.”

He spoke about his experience working with Harris when he was in office, saying that regardless of the fact that they were of the same party, she fought his administration to provide relief to families during the home mortgage crisis.

“As vice president, she helped take on the drug companies to cap the cost of insulin or the cost of healthcare, give families with kids a tax cut and she is running for president with real plans to lower costs even more, protect medicare and medicaid and sign a law to guarantee every woman’s right to make her own healthcare decisions,” he said.

The former first lady took a different tone when she stepped on the stage, speaking about her mother who recently passed away. She said that her mother and Harris’ mother had similar values that shaped them into who they are today.

“If you work and scrape and sacrifice, it will pay off. If not for you, then maybe for your children or your grandchildren,” she said. “Kamala Harris and I built our lives on those same foundational values. Although our mothers grew up an ocean apart, they believed in those same promises of this country.”

In addition to endorsing the Harris-Walz ticket, Obama praised his former vice president and current President Joe Biden.

“My first decision as nominee turned out to be one of my best, and that was asking Joe Biden to serve as my vice president,” he said. “What I came to admire most about Joe wasn’t just his smarts, his experience, it was his empathy and his decency and his hard-earned resilience; his unshakable belief that everyone in this country deserves a fair shot. And, over the last four years, those are the values that America has needed most.”

President Biden was not in attendance Tuesday.

Other prominent individuals and law-makers spoke Tuesday night including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

The full DNC schedule for the next of the week can be found on their website.