Two generations, two political strands: When Hillary and AOC stormed Chicago

Chicago: They could not be more different. One represents the older Democratic establishment. The other represents the new wave of progressives who challenged the Democratic establishment. One is 76, the other is 34. One has already been First Lady, Senator, Secretary of State and made history as the first woman candidate on a major party ticket. The other is a two-term Congresswoman who is still at the beginning of her political career but has made her presence felt by turning American politics in general and Democrats in particular more to the Left than before.

And yet, if there were two stars at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday night, it was Hillary Clinton and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known as AOC. With their different histories and different political evolution, the two represent the centrist and more progressive factions within Democratic Party, but in a sign of how the opposition to Donald Trump has united these factions, their passion and determination to see Kamala Harris elected president came through, as did the warmth with which Democratic delegates greeted them.

Clinton, who was devastated after her loss to Trump in 2016, placed the current moment of Harris’s candidacy in a historical context.

“My mother Dorothy was born right here in Chicago before women had the right to vote. That changed 104 years ago yesterday…In 1972, a fearless black congresswoman named Shirley Chisholm, she ran for President. And her determination let me and millions of others dream bigger…In 1984, I brought my daughter to see Geraldine Ferraro, the first woman nominated for vice president…And then there was 2016, when it was the honor of my life to accept our party’s nomination for President. And nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no ceilings on our dreams,” Clinton said.

She said they had kept an eye on the future, and that future was now here and within grasp. “I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see us. They would say, ‘Keep going’ surely.” But Clinton was also cautious, saying both America’s story and her life had shown to her that progress was possible but not guaranteed. “We have him on the run now. So no matter what the polls say, we can’t let up.”

Offering a ringing endorsement of Harris, she said, “Kamala has the character, experience, and vision to lead us forward. I know her heart and her integrity.” Drawing a contrast between Harris’s prosecutorial past and Trump, Clinton said, “She will never rest in defense of our freedom and safety. Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial. And when he woke up, he made his own kind of history—the first person to run for President with 34 felony convictions.”

And then Clinton spoke about what she can see through the cracks in the glass ceiling that once and for all wad close to being broken. “I see freedom…On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th President of the United States. Because my friends, when a barrier falls for one of us, it falls, it falls and clears the way for all of us.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez or AOC, whose arrival on the stage was greeted with rapturous applause from state delegations as diverse as Alabama and California, in a sign of her growing acceptability within the party as well as her own shift, began by lauding Joe Biden’s presidency. She was among those who backed Biden till the very end.

Offering a mini biography of how, just six years ago, she had been taking omelette orders and her family was struggling, AOC said that it was the miracle of American democracy that saw her getting elected, and her electing the people of Queens and Bronx to the US House of Representatives.

Launching a strong attack on Trump, AOC said, “We know Trump would sell this country for a dollar if it meant lining his own pockets and greasing palms of his Wall Street friends. And I, for one, am tired of hearing about how a two-bit union buster thinks of himself as more of a patriot than the woman who fights every single day to lift working people out from under the boots of greed trampling on our way of life. The truth is, Don, you cannot love this country if you only fight for the wealthy and big business.”

And in a signal of strong support to Harris, a bid to galvanise progressives to turn out to vote for her, AOC spoke about how the Democratic candidate would fight for families, immigrants, for the middle class “because she is from the middle class”, for reproductive freedom and civil rights, and for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The focus of their speeches may have been different reflecting their own evolution, but Clinton and AOC’s support to Harris was a sign that Democrats of different persuasions have returned home in 2024.

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