Gov. J.B. Pritzker surrounded by the Illinois delegation during the roll call vote on Aug. 20, 2024. (Emily Soto / WTTW News)

WTTW News Director Jay Smith sat down with our political team to reflect on the Democratic National Convention for a behind-the-scenes look at what covering the convention was like, and to help provide insights into the stories that emerged from the week.

The following transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Jay Smith: First of all, thank you for all the hard work last week. Let’s start with the local political scene. Local politicians were front and center this week, especially Governor J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson, who both had a lot at stake. Amanda let’s start with the Governor. Did he have a good week?

Amanda Vinicky: This was huge for him. He and his team had, I mean, I’m not exaggerating when I say that they started campaigning to get the DNC here in 2021, and he, of course, has a lot of connections throughout Democratic politics because even before he was governor, he was a very serious donor at high levels. So it was huge for him, and I think he is elated. I would say maybe the exception was that I don’t know whether this helped his political future any. I mean, he certainly has a lot of connections, as I said already, and maybe made some more this week. But if you’re a Democrat that obviously hopes Kamala Harris is going to win, he’s not her running mate, he’s not the nominee for president. So he had been hoping to really use this as to catapult himself to a future in the White House or otherwise in Washington. Just the course of history from a month ago changed that dynamic.

Nick Blumberg: Maybe we’ll see a cabinet position?

AV: Exactly, who knows?

JS: Heather, how about Mayor Johnson? How was this week for him?

Heather Cherone: I think that it went as well as he could have possibly hoped, and there were no major sort of incidents of police-on-protester violence, and I think that that was really something that would have been very damaging. He promised to re-envision the Chicago Police Department after decades of scandals and misconduct. He was also facing pressure from the other side with the feeling that his heart was too much with the protesters, and that he was going to basically tie the hands of the police department and let the protesters run wild.

So, I am certain that he would not admit this in polite company, but I think it is politically helpful for him that there was a confrontation, a limited confrontation between protesters and police that he can now point to and say, ‘look, we didn’t let the protests get out of hand. They got out of line. We pushed them back into line. However, we did it proportionally, and nobody was injured seriously.’ And I think that helps him. Also, there was no surge of crime outside the convention center in the neighborhoods. There was a lot of a lot of concern that there was going to happen with all of those cops focused on the United Center and McCormick Place.

JS: We have a picture on our website of Mayor Johnson and Gov. Pritzker passing each other at the convention. Is there anything notable to say about the relationship between the two of them?

HC: I mean, there was a lot of chatter that Johnson wasn’t on the floor when the Illinois delegation cast their votes for Harris. It’s hard to know exactly why he wasn’t there. We don’t know whether he wanted to be there or, you know, he didn’t want to be there because they’re secretly enemies. But I would say that while there’s been significant bumps in their relationship, that’s sort of at a low ebb at this point, and perhaps, the era of good feelings about the convention this could maybe put them on a little bit of a smoother path.

JS: Amanda, what do you what do you think about that?

AV: I think that that’s all true. I think that it is hard to know. And I would say it’s just impossible to know what goes on there. I don’t personally make too much of ‘yeah, he’s not standing there (during the Illinois delegate vote).’ He had his time on stage here. He’s not head of the state party. He’s the mayor of the city of Chicago, whereas the governor was literally, like, co-chair of the campaign. He (Pritzker) basically installed the head of the Democratic Party of Illinois.

HC: Yes, DPI (Democratic Party of Illinois) is a wholly owned Pritzker subsidiary!

AV: Like Heather said, there have been bumps in the road between the governor and mayor. I don’t think they’re besties. And while they might be some good feelings after success last week, the battle for CPS funding, I think is going to put them back on a bumpier road, perhaps than ever.

NB: I also think you have to remember that Mayor Johnson isn’t necessarily what you’d call a mainline Democratic Party guy, the way that Pritzker is. I mean, on an array of policy issues, he aligns with them. But he’s not someone who, for example, in years past, would have just been like a member of the delegation going to the breakfast every morning, schmoozing with all these folks, so I think that’s part of it too. Certainly, he and Gov. Pritzker had a mutual interest that this convention went well, that it showcases the city in a positive light. So in this, instance, it’s very easy

for them to sort of be like working towards one purpose. But I don’t know that there’s anything to read into it there, because, you know, I don’t know if it’s a snub, if it isn’t a club he was ever really in.

WTTW News reporter Heather Cherone interviews Mayor Brandon Johnson during the DNC. (WTTW News)

JS: You were very close to it all, but do you have any perspective on how Chicago came off in the glare of the national spotlight?

HC: I mean, I think Chicago really lucked out that this the weather was perfect because it was low humidity, it was sunny. So I think Chicago was at its best weather wise. And I think that because there was such a big amount of tension about (what could happen with) protests and everything else, when that really didn’t materialize, it felt like everybody was like, ‘oh, this is so much greater than I thought.’ So I think that sort of like difference between expectation and reality really made Chicago shine even more.

NB: Yeah, I think anecdotally, I mean all the out-of-town folks that I talked to who hadn’t spent much time here before enjoyed themselves and were impressed. And I think convention organizers put in a real effort to try and get people out and seeing some of the beautiful parts of the city, so that they got an experience that wasn’t just, you know, a convention center and an arena.

JS: Heather alluded to this, there was a lot of talk in the run-up to the convention about protests and possible violence. Before we get to the Chicago Police response, give us a sense of how the protest activity matched up with your expectations prior to the convention.

HC: Well, I think the biggest difference between reality and expectations was that organizers of the big pro-Palestinian marches said they were expecting 30,000 people on Monday. No more than 4,000 people showed up and I think that that gives you a sense of the magnitude of the protests. They were not what people either feared or hoped, depending on where you stand. I think that all the protests were permitted (protestors had obtained a permit from the city), with one major exception. Those groups worked closely with police to map the route and that sort of thing. So, there were not a lot of surprises for most of the protests. They exception being the protest outside the Israeli consulate that got violent.

NB: Yeah, I mean there were some other unpermitted ones, but that was a huge one for sure. And yeah, I mean, I think 4,000 people is still a heck of a lot of people. And being alongside and in front of that march on Monday, I mean, it was a wall of humanity. And there was a lot of fervor, and people were very expressive, very, very critical of the DNC, but there was not a sense of anxiety or being on the precipice of violence or anything. I mean, certainly people were very charged up. But I think the general tenor of it was one of all the protesters and demonstrators kind of looking out for one another and trying to create an environment where they could vigorously but safely express themselves. I covered a number of them, and at no time did I feel like anything was about to turn south, which we certainly went in prepared for. We were ready and it did not materialize.

JS: What about the CPD? Police Superintendent Larry Snelling made a point to tell reporters to “stop talking about 1968.” How do you think the police responded to the protests and security in general? How would you grade them and how are they grading themselves?

HC: Well, they would give themselves ‘A’ plus-plus with extra credit. As a first indication of their sort of new approach, and by new I mean different than in the summer of 2020. I was at the first protest Sunday night downtown, and the officers assigned to patrol that march were not in riot gear. They were on bicycles, and they were wearing reflective safety vests, which is a different force posture. It sort of sends a different message to the groups that were here in a protector role, as opposed to an antagonizing role. And, you know, I think even with the protests that did turn violent, there was an attempt to let the protest sort of take its natural course, as long as it stayed within parameters.

Now, I think these protests were different because they were very much a rally then a march, as opposed to just a march. So all of these policies are essentially brand new, because they had to rewrite all of them after the summer of 2020, so this is the first time they had executed a mass arrest under these news policies. This was the first time that they operated under a First Amendment policy which makes arrests only as a last resort and only when there’s a threat of violence or public destruction. So I think the police are pleased that the officers followed those policies, and that they did not initiate violence in a way that officers did during the summer of 2020.

WTTW News reporter on the scene of a protest during the DNC. (WTTW News)

NB: I think the real test is going to come when they have to execute this new kind of a response with something that they don’t have advanced warning of because, you know, even the ones that were spot demonstrations this week, they knew it was the week of the DNC. They knew it’s a very politically charged moment, and they could expect it. So I think the real test is going to be when something happens real quick, like it did in the summer of 2020. Are you going to go for the old instinct and throw on the riot helmet and go, or are you going to operate from this new posture? I do think they made a very, very large show of force, one that activists and, you know, the National Lawyers Guild would say was not in proportion to any sort of a threat, and having been out there, just a wall of officers, even if they are bike cops in reflective vests and lining an entire street, you know, depending on how you perceive the police as a protector or a potential threat, that can be potentially intimidating. But certainly they seemed to be committed to letting folks express themselves over the course of the week.

JS: You were at both the RNC and DNC. In a few words, can you describe the similarities and differences in the vibe?

AV: There’s a huge difference in vibes between the two conventions, and it’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, but it is palpable. For one, at the Republican National Convention there’s a lot of bling. I am talking rhinestone earrings and pins and hats and jackets emblazoned with Trump’s name. It’s not to say that there aren’t a lot of pins and shirts and other fashion fanfare for the Harris/Walz ticket, and I did see people wearing T-shirts that read “Ballz to the Walz” and lots of Kamala pins. But it’s not the same level of merchandising as at the RNC. I don’t think that is an indication of a lack of enthusiasm. It’s just a sort of cultural difference.

NB: I think the thing that was most notable about Milwaukee is just how much the entire convention was focused on the person at the top of the ticket. That’s not to say that the DNC wasn’t heavily focused on Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, because of course, it was. But you heard from an array of you know folks within the party, past, present and future, in a way that you didn’t necessarily at the RNC. The RNC was so much more focused on Donald Trump as a figurehead. And you know, we commented at the time that folks within the Republican Party that don’t align with him, that don’t agree with him, they’re not at the RNC anymore. Maybe one day again, they will be, but it was very much singularly focused on one person, versus being a celebration of party.

HC: Yeah, that’s right, and I think that it’s hard to separate the Milwaukee convention from the assassination attempt, because it was so fresh. And there was also the sense in Milwaukee that the election was in the bag, and that there was no possible way that Donald Trump could lose to Joe Biden, and that the assassination attempt and his survival was like, some sort of message from God, we heard a lot about that. And I think that, for it only being 25 days later, or something like that, it’s a little bit mind bending to understand that that’s not really sort of where the Republican Party is now.

JS: How well do you think Democrats did in reaching out to independent voters and disaffected Republicans? Did they make their case, or did they stay too far to the left?

NB: No, I think they put a lot of effort into reaching Republican voters, certainly. I mean seeing former Trump White House officials, very much tried to make that case. Seeing someone like Congressman Adam Kinzinger help to make that case. And I think they really did their best to try in their in their speeches, particularly in Kamala Harris’s speech, to appeal to some of the concerns that a more independent minded voter might have, although those voters are few and far between anymore. But saying things like we want to have, we want America to have the most lethal fighting force in the world that is not some like a leftist California granola policy but more of a muscular, one might argue, hawkish foreign policy stance, and I think that’s the kind of thing that was aimed at a swing voter, should those people still exist.

HC: Yes, I agree.

AV: Yeah, I think the Democrats went out of their way to try. We don’t know yet how well it worked, but they certainly made every effort to do so, be it with speeches like the one from former Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, or by talking about policies that resonate, like tax breaks for the middle class. They definitely tried.

JS: Give is a little insight into what your days reporting on the convention were like. For example, when did they start and end?

NB: (The day would start) sometime between 7-9 a.m., and you’re back (at night) between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. I’d say.

HC: Yeah.

AV: I would be out later, 2, 3, yeah, yeah.

NB: You’re an energizer bunny. (all laugh)

AV: So, yeah, states all begin the day with a delegation breakfast. So my day would begin traveling to that hotel and then covering whoever was on the menu. Ha, ha. Then you do stories from that filing for the web, writing an article, and then we use a lot of that video to turn it and include it in our TV shows later on. And so that’s what I sort of spent the bulk of the afternoon doing, and then you’d have to hurry up and get to the convention center to get through the long security lines and such, so that we could be ready to go at showtime.

HC: I think the unusual thing about the Chicago convention as compared to the Milwaukee convention, was that there were much more sustained protests in Chicago, and so there was the politics, and then there were the protests, and we were dividing up how to cover both.

JS: What might our readers be surprised about in terms of logistics and movement around the security perimeter and at the United Center?

HC: The frustrating part is that you are not in control of your own destiny, right? Because if there’s a long line, you just have to wait (sometimes for hours) to get in and cover the convention. And the larger footprint, especially having two separate places (United Center and McCormick Place) I think made for some confusion. So the problem is, is that once you made it inside the security perimeter, it was fine, but it was hard to make sure that you could get in in a timely manner.

NB: I think people would be surprised by how accessible a lot of people are, who are very like big name politicians, and celebrities, particularly at the DNC. But you’re just like, oh, Gretchen Whitmer just walked past me on the concourse. And I think if you’re a political junkie, it’s the kind of thing that it’s like, oh yeah, it’s weird seeing your face not in a box on the television, and all in one place. You’re standing right there.

HC: Bernie Sanders barreled right by me, and I was like, ‘oh, that’s so on brand!’ That was so fun. I enjoyed that.

AV: I evidently was, I don’t know what I was doing at the time, if I was on Teams or tweeting or what, but I evidently nearly killed Lester Holt. I didn’t even notice. Blair (WTTW News producer/reporter Blair Paddock) was like ‘that was Lester Holt, and you just really narrowly avoided him!’

WTTW News reporter Amanda Vinicky reports from inside the DNC. (WTTW News)

JS: Finally, give me a couple moments that stick out to you from the week, from the convention itself or something personally that you encountered.

NB: I was watching the John Legend and Sheila E. performance, and ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ has been stuck in my head ever since, which I’m not mad about!

HC: I think after Hillary Clinton lost in 2016, I think a lot of women my age particularly thought that that was the best shot at being alive to see a woman elected president. And I think it was fascinating to see a woman up on that stage accepting a nomination. And also, she was not leaning into her status as the first, you know, Black woman or South Asian, or potentially the first female president. She was just sort of up there as a candidate for president. And I think I’m still grappling with all of that, because it was a very different vibe than 2016.

AV: I have many, but one that really hits me is just the historic nature of this race. At both conventions, that was something that I was acutely aware of, as were delegates. At the RNC, you had a former president who had just been shot at, and many delegates who felt as if his life had been spared so he can lead the nation. At the DNC, the historic nature of a potential woman in the White House was acute, and brought some Democrats to tears.

NB: I think the non-musical moment that will stick out to me was the way Michelle Obama began her speech, when she asked the audience, ‘have you been feeling the same sense of dread?’ And saying that a lot of people who vote Democratic had been feeling that sense of dread and inevitability. And I think when Biden was still at the top of the ticket, at least publicly, Democratic Party officials were kind of projecting this idea of like, ‘no, we’re still in this everything is fine,’ you know, let’s keep chugging along and get Joe Biden reelected. And I think a lot of everyday folks didn’t see that as viable and had a real, palpable sense of dread. So I thought it was very interesting for Michelle Obama to acknowledge that so openly. And I think it ultimately was rhetorically a very effective setup for where she then took her speech and was echoing the 2008 themes of hope.

JS: Thanks again for the insights and all the reporting last week.