Democrats have one message as they close their convention: Don’t start celebrating

Long after other delegations had filed out of the United Center following Governor Tim Walz’s acceptance speech, Minnesota’s delegation were still celebrating.

Minnesota technically doesn’t have a Democratic Party, but rather a Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. Members of the delegation chanted “D-F-L,” Walz’s name and “Let’s go, Coach” — a nod to his time as a defensive coordinator at Mankato High School — as they partied. But Walz wasn’t even there. An Irish goodbye is leaving without telling anyone, but a Midwesterner goodbye lingers as long as possible, which is fitting for Chicago. Although he wasn’t present, he had clearly left a long-lasting impression in the room.

“We were having fun, we was representing our state,” Latonya Reeves, a Democratic National Committee member from Minnesota, told The Independent, before rattling off all of the progressive accomplishments the state has recently achieved. “We have the best state in the union and can’t nobody tell me no different.”

This came after a positively Minnesotan third night that included a performance of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” by John Legend, Sheila E and Ariel O’Neal followed by a speech from Minnesota’s senior Senator Amy Klobuchar and Walz’s own heartwarming speech. In a heartwarming moment that went viral, Walz’sson Gus became emotional watching his father address the convention, at one point saying to the camera: “That’s my dad!”

To borrow from the governor, the Democrats are “bringing the joy” back after feeling incredibly grim for most of the year with Joe Biden at the top of the ticket. Even Rodney Davis, a Republican former congressman from Illinois who lost his primary in 2022, was caught sipping a drink and hanging around the CNN and Politico grill.