Monday, August 17, 2020

Stay In! And Watch 35+ Speakers to Hear Maybe One of them Mention DC Statehood for Like 20 Seconds


by Peggy Robin


Once the pandemic started and our regular Thursday “Get Out” column no longer had enough in-person events to justify a weekly listing, it’s been hard to find activities to highlight in this column. Events listed here need to be things that anyone can do during a pandemic – and they also need to take place in the DC Metro area or be tied to DC in one way or another. So why am I listing the Democratic National Convention as the event for the week? Because it’s the most significant event taking place week – and it also has the potential to have enormous impact on the status of DC in the future. If the Democratic National Convention adopts the cause of DC statehood as a plank in the party platform, and if Democrats take the Presidency and the Senate, and keep control of the House, then finally DC statehood will have a chance to become a reality. So that’s my angle and I’m working it as hard as I can.

Now, I don’t know if any of the scheduled speakers will mention DC statehood as one of the things they are fighting for – but I’m posting this column three days early to be able to give you a heads-up of who's speaking when, and that may increase the likelihood of catching the speech of the person who brings up our DC cause -- however brief a mention we may get. Of course you can always catch a wrap-up of highlights and replays, if you don’t watch it live.

You can find an more detailed listing of each day’s events at: 
https://www.demconvention.com/schedule-and-speakers/   

Here’s the Monday, August 17 line-up of speakers in prime time, 9 – 11 PM, in order:   
Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto
Gov. Andrew Cuomo
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Rep. Jim Clyburn
Convention Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson
Rep. Gwen Moore
Former Gov. John Kasich 
Sen. Doug Jones
Sen. Bernie Sanders
Former First Lady Michelle Obama   

Speakers on Tuesday, August 18, 9 – 11 PM:  
In a change from the tradition of the star keynote speaker, at this convention, 16 rising stars in the Democratic Party, including Stacy Abrams and Conor Lamb, will each deliver short parts of the keynote speech. 
Former Acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
Former Secretary of State John Kerry
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester
Former President Bill Clinton
Former Second Lady Dr. Jill Biden

Wednesday August 19, 9-11 PM:
Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Gov. Tony Evers
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham
Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords 
Sen. Kamala Harris
Former President Barack Obama   

Thursday, August 20, 9-11 PM  
Sen. Cory Booker
Mayor Pete Buttigieg
Gov. Gavin Newsom
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Sen. Tammy Duckworth
Sen. Chris Coons
Andrew Yang
Vice President Joe Biden and the Biden Family  

Now, as promised, here’s your tie-in to DC-centered politics – a Kamala Harris tweet on DC statehood:
https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1276569418202591233      
Kamala Harris
@KamalaHarris

Washington, D.C. has 700,000+ residents—more than some states—but they are denied full representation in Congress. It’s time to grant D.C. statehood.      

But that’s not all! While we’re on the subject of Kamala, here’s a BONUS musical performance (it’s not going to be shown at the Democratic National Convention, but it should be!):
Randy Rainbow singing “Kama-lot!”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RbKStEFNT8 

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The “Stay In!” events column is usually published on the Cleveland Park Listserv and All Life Is Local on Thursdays, but this one had to be posted on Monday to provide the schedule of speakers for all four days of the Democratic National Convention.    

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