With Democrats set to meet in Chicago next week for the party’s national convention, a behind-the-scenes person from the South Side is already looking ahead to fall activism by rank-and file Democrats.
As chair of the Democratic National Convention, Minyon Moore has been involved in overseeing the nominations of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as the ticket standard-bearers.
While the convention will hear from them and many other prominent Democrats Aug. 19 to Aug. 22, Moore had lots of advice for those wanting to support the ticket, including phone banking and even traveling across state lines to spread support.
“Travel to the midwestern states like Michigan and Wisconsin and all of those battleground states,” Moore said.
She reminded the audience that it’s not just about getting people to vote, it’s about the Electoral College and winning majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“We don’t need to just get the popular vote. We have to get the Electoral College too,” Moore said, which is why so-called “battleground states” are so important.
The former director of White House political affairs, Moore made her remarks Aug. 9 at a fundraiser of the Ida B. Wells Legacy Committee at Truth Italian Restaurant, 56 W. Pershing Road, Bronzeville.
When asked about the Harris campaign, Moore discussed Harris being a Black woman and the unprecedented nature of her nomination to be president.
“We are trying to blaze a trail that has never been blazed before,” Moore said. “It’s a mind shift for everybody that can look at her and say, ‘She can be a commander in chief.’ I know she can be one. But we have to constantly prove that to America.”
She praised President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race, saying, “He gave the selfish act of stepping out of this race. What he did was decided to say, ‘I can no longer do this in my capacity, but I have somebody that can.’”
She further said of Biden, “He’s been a good steward of this country. He is truly one of the finest public servants I have ever had the opportunity to work with, and I’ve worked with them all.”
Moore, a South Side native, has had a storied career, serving the Biden-Harris Administration as Nomination Advisor for Engagement during Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the U. S. Supreme Court. She was also director of White House political affairs under President Bill Clinton and headed Dewey Square Group, a consulting firm based in Washington D.C.
Early in her career, Moore was an advisor to the presidential campaigns of Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1984. In 1988, she worked closely with his Rainbow Push Coalition.
At the Ida B. Wells fundraising event, Hermene Hartman, publisher of the Chicago-based newspaper N’DIGO, oversaw the discussion with Moore about the convention and the campaign ahead.
Moore also shared that social media influencers will be at the Democratic National Convention, with their own spot on the convention floor.
“We wanted to give those folks that got these millions of followers an opportunity to tell the story inside the convention hall.” Moore said.