Dems in Shaky Seats Plan to Avoid Chicago Convention and Harris/Walz Coronation

The story being peddled is that Democrats and their propaganda arm, otherwise known as the media, are just as giddy as they can be over the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz presidential ticket. And all that giddiness will be on full display in a little over a week when the Democrat National Convention begins on August 19. But it doesn’t appear that every single Democrat is on board with the Harris/Walz ticket. Those who are all in will attend with bells on, but what may be more interesting is those who are no-shows.  

Several Democrats in seats that are toss-ups in November have curiously decided to skip this year’s convention in Chicago. Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Jon Tester (D-MT) have said they will not be attending the convention. Sen. Jackie Rosen (D-NV) is scheduled to attend a campaign event with Kamala Harris on Saturday but has also said she will not attend the convention.

With the 2024 election under 100 days away, races in both Ohio and Montana are tightening. In the Buckeye State, Sherrod Brown is only up by four points on his GOP opponent Bernie Moreno. In Montana, Tester’s opponent, Tim Sheehy, has a two-point lead. In Nevada, Rosen is hanging on to a three-point lead over Army veteran Sam Brown. 

The Senate is not the only place where lawmakers in tight races have found other things to do the week of the convention. Democrat House Reps. Yadira Caraveo (D-CO), Jared Golden (D-ME), Josh Harder (D-CA), and Marie Gluesenkamp (D-WA) will also skip the shindig that is the convention. They are all among a handful of House members on the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) occupying seats that need a little help to remain in the “D” column in November. Others on the list claim not to have finalized schedules. 

It might just be one of those things that makes you go, “Hmmm…” Why wouldn’t all Democrats be high-tailing it to Chicago in a week? Kamala Harris being named as the Democrat nominee after President Joe Biden dropped out did get them a boost in the polls and some much needed oomph for the campaign overall. But with Republicans’ goal to not only win back the White House but also win back the Senate and gain a wider margin in the House, more moderate Democrats who are vulnerable seem not to want to take any chances with a convention that promises to be the farthest left ever.

Moderate Democrats are a dying breed. If you are a Joe Manchin Democrat, you are being squeezed out of a party that is rapidly moving further left. Harris and Walz are both in favor of things like abortion on demand and the trillion-dollar Green New Deal. Those things might not go over well in Sherrod Brown’s Ohio, where inflation, putting food on the table, and filling gas tanks are top of the list.

Could it be that this group of lawmakers knows what the priorities of their constituents are and they know they do not fall in line with Kamala Harris’s priorities and therefore do not want to be seen as supporting some of her most radical views? They also know the bump in the polls and enthusiasm could be very fleeting as more of her positions on the issues, as well as those of her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, come to light. 

According to “The Hill,” Republicans have a 78 percent chance of winning the Senate and a 61 percent chance of winning the House. Not overwhelming numbers, but enough to spook Senators and House members in risky districts into not showing up at a convention where there is a chance that God might be booed. When the headcount is taken in Chicago, there may be a substantial number of Democrats who are not willing to die on the Harris/Walz hill.