Former first lady Michelle Obama said President Donald Trump is in over his head. Some Republicans stumped for Joe Biden. And Sen. Bernie Sanders warned of authoritarianism under the Trump administration.
And that was just night one of the Democratic National Convention.
The first-ever virtual gathering comes amid news that the U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy will halt some operational changes to the U.S. Postal Service after concerns they were thinly veiled attempts to alter mail-in voting during the November election.
“We’re not going to sleep about it, we’re going to stay awake and stay woke, and we’re going to make sure to hold him to the decision he made today,” said U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, a Democrat who represents the 7th Congressional District, which includes parts of the West Side of Chicago and many near western suburbs.
DeJoy is expected to join a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing next week regarding recent changes to the USPS.
U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy" Garcia, a Democrat who represents the 4th Congressional District, which includes parts of the Northwest and Southwest sides of Chicago among other areas, said he and others suspected that the initiatives to cut back overtime, reduce hours and prohibit the typical delivery of mail “was an attempt on behalf of the president to deliberately and maliciously tamper with the election outcomes in November.”
On Saturday, the congressmen will return to Washington D.C. to vote on a bill that would prohibit any changes to USPS operations or service it had as of Jan. 1, 2020.
Meanwhile, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is under scrutiny for his alleged tie to the ComEd bribery scheme. While no criminal charges have been filed against Madigan, he was identified as “Public Official A” in court filings.
Garcia said he is a strong believer in due process, and isn’t prepared to say Madigan should resign just yet.
“Because there hasn’t been a charge brought against him, I think that we should not pre-judge him,” Garcia said. “There’s reason to be concerned and some legislators have called for his resignation from those polls, but I believe in due process and I’m not ready to say that he outta resign.”
Davis agreed.
“I think we have to practice what we preach” Davis said. “I’ve always been taught that individuals are innocent until proven guilty, and oftentimes when there are speculations and accusations you gotta wait and see what really happened.”
DNC Begins to Rally Voters — Virtually
A Democratic National Convention unlike any other began Monday. Former Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich, along with three other Republicans, questioned the leadership abilities of Republican President Donald Trump.
Monday’s keynote speaker was former first lady Michelle Obama, who emphasized the need to vote in this election.
“This is not the time to withhold our votes in protest or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning,” Obama said in an apparent nod to the candidacy of rapper Kanye West. “We’ve got to vote early, in person if we can. We’ve got to request our mail-in ballots right now, tonight.”
Garcia said this convention is different from past gatherings for a variety of reasons — not just because it is virtual.
“We are living in a tumultuous period in history with the pandemic, coupled with the movement for racial justice across the nation. I think that will motivate especially young voters to come out and participate,” Garcia said.
