There’s going to be a lot more going on at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago besides the official speeches each night at the United Center — culminating with presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ acceptance speech.
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., agreed to give us an insider tour.
Delegates start arriving next weekend for the convention kicking off August 19. There are hundreds of events adjacent to the convention — fundraisers — for federal, state and local Democrats; policy panels and symposiums; breakfasts, luncheons, receptions, reunions and after-parties, as well as meetings of Democratic constituent groups.
This was true for the Republicans at their convention in Milwaukee last month. I did a column with Rep. Darin LaHood R-Ill., taking us behind the scenes; this is the Democratic version with Krishnamoorthi, who is a delegate, as our guide.
Since at least May, Krishnamoorthi’s convention schedule has been filling up.
“The number one reason for the convention is to come together and unify and make sure that we can learn from each other and implement strategies to defeat Donald Trump,” Krishnamoorthi said.
“I think that is kind of the most important principle underlying all the activities of the convention. In terms of the actual, you know, events that I participate in, I would say they fall into four buckets.”
Krishnamoorthi has emerged as a major national fundraiser. His first bucket is filled with fundraising events. He is a member of the Harris Victory Fund National Finance Committee, and he is also a member of the Harris for President AAPI Leadership Council.
Krishnamoorthi was born in India, and he came to the U.S. as a youth. His second bucket is around Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders events and fundraising. Turning out the AAPI voters in the swing states will be critical for Harris, whose father is from Jamaica and mother from India.
Krishnamoorthi’s third convention bucket will deal with events pivoting off his being the ranking member of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. Krishnamoorthi is the first South Asian American to be leader of a congressional committee.
As for the fourth bucket, “there’s just a lot of different parties to celebrate Chicago and causes and people important to Chicago.”
Starting Saturday, Krishnamoorthi will be making the rounds of various welcome receptions. He will also take part in what is a donor perk — the Harris Victory Fund Podium Preview at the United Center. The VIP donors and fundraisers— that is those who gave or raised above $89,200, according to a document I saw — will be invited to a guided tour of the stage. There’s more to it than what you can see on TV.
He will also go to an evening event to support Cook County Board Member Monica Gordon’s campaign for Cook County clerk.
On Monday, Krishnamoorthi will be speaking in the morning at the Democratic National Committee’s AAPI Caucus event.
During the convention days, the McCormick Place complex will be the home to a variety of DNC councils focused on issues relating to climate, small business, labor, poverty, faith, veterans and military families, rural voters and youth. There are caucus group meetings for Native Americans, AAPI, Hispanics, Blacks, LGBTQ+ and people from the disability and women’s communities.
Later, in connection with his China work, Krishnamoorthi will be hosting a roundtable with Chicago-area businesses to discuss American competitiveness and specifically the strategic competition with China.
After that he will be speaking at an event to benefit South Asians for America, a group focusing on increasing the political clout of the AAPI community by mobilizing their vote.
On Tuesday afternoon, Krishnamoorthi is hosting a fundraiser for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House political organization with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other House Democrats.
Krishnamoorthi then goes on to be a co-host of a “Reception with AAPI Leaders” with Sen. Tammy Duckworth and the AAPI Victory Fund, a major political action committee.
On Wednesday, there is a speech to the Alliance for American Manufacturing Policy Forum; a stop by a Planned Parenthood event and then a watch party and reception that the Cook County Democratic Party is throwing for people who don’t have credentials to get into the United Center.
I’m not sure how Krishnamoorthi will end Thursday, the convention’s last day. He’s starting in the morning by ringing the bell at a ceremony at what’s known as the CBOE, the derivatives and exchange network that got its start as the Chicago Board Options Exchange.