Walz makes surprise appearance at Duckworth, Krishnamoorthi event

Northwest suburban Democratic U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi was to be the keynote speaker Monday at a meeting of the Asian American and Pacific Islander caucus, but no wonder he began his remarks saying he would observe three rules of public speaking: “be short, be sweet and be gone.”

That’s because Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate — was waiting in the wings.

Walz’s surprise appearance Monday morning at McCormick Place — site of 33 caucus and council meetings during this week’s Democratic National Convention — energized a room of delegates, staffers, and other party faithful on the convention’s opening day.

“You might have seen — a few people are kind of excited across this country for Kamala Harris,” said Walz, just coming off a weekend bus tour across western Pennsylvania with the presidential nominee. “Folks are showing up in huge numbers, whether it’s at baseball fields or in a Sheetz, Quick Trip, or wherever it was.”

Walz, picked by Harris to join the ticket less than two weeks ago, repeated his now-familiar refrain — that “we’ll sleep when we’re dead” — but there’s only 78 days left until election day.

“What you’re seeing across America is people showing up and making homemade signs and standing in the heat and traveling to Chicago and putting up with long lines — which you all did,” Walz said. “You’re not doing that out of fear. You’re doing it out of a hopefulness to move forward into the future.”

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates, one of the first local leaders in 2022 to push for Chicago’s DNC bid, said Democrats this week will “tell the story of the blue wall” in a Midwestern state that’s adopted progressive policies, from a $15 minimum wage to abortion protections.

“Illinois is a rebar in that blue wall,” Duckworth said in an interview after addressing the AAPI caucus. “We are that island that is going to rebuild that wall.”

She said President Joe Biden — who is speaking at the United Center Monday night — did a “patriotic thing” by stepping aside, while attributing the surge in enthusiasm for Harris to young people “getting reengaged.”

“All of those Gen Zers and Millennials are back at it again,” Duckworth said.

Duckworth, a former Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot, joined Coast Guard helicopter crews Sunday for a tour above the convention security perimeters.

“Everything is going the way we planned it to be,” she said. “What I really like, and I’m proud of, is the fact that protesters are being able to protest. So we are welcoming peaceful protesters. They have a route to march. We put out more public bathrooms for people, and everything is going along very smoothly. And we’re looking forward to a great convention kick off tonight.”

Krishnamoorthi, of Schaumburg, said he recently returned from knocking on doors just across the Wisconsin border in Kenosha County. He agrees with Duckworth about the importance of winning Midwestern battleground states like Wisconsin and Michigan if Democrats want to keep the White House.

“I think it’s going to happen,” Krishnamoorthi predicted. “I think (Harris) has the momentum. I think she is creating such grass-roots excitement and enthusiasm and energy that she’s going to be hard to stop. We are going to be hard to stop.”