(soft upbeat music) - Nolan, we're gonna start with you 'cause you are actually on the ground in Chicago.

- I am.

- So tell us what's going on, what's it like?

- Well, I mean, they're fired up and ready to go as they say.

It's been a very enthusiastic convention.

A lot of excitement about the new candidate at the top of the ticket.

It's not only relief, it's almost euphoria.

I mean, you'd have thought that Kamala Harris was the person they wanted all along here, but it is, there is a lot of energy, a lot of excitement in the United Center for those folks who could get in.

It's been hours long commute to get into the convention hall and a lot of frustration about that, but, you know, they have fully embraced Kamala Harris.

I think this is the least amount of grumbling I've heard in any of the dozen conventions I've covered over the years.

- Stephen, there is, it's just clear what seemed to be enthusiasm that had been tamped down on the Democratic side that has just sort of exploded over the past month, but we're really particularly seeing it on display at this convention.

I mean, that's what conventions are for.

- That's what they're for, right?

- Right, right.

- Yeah, but I mean, I do think there's, you know, I was thinking about this the other day when the Obamas spoke at the convention.

You know, there is a sense of order and discipline to what's happening with the Democratic party with this ticket and with this convention that you don't normally associate with Democrats, right?

I mean, the consistency here, the lack of controversy of any kind rearing its head in any way, it's just not like the Democratic Party.

Usually it's Republicans who mastered that kind of strategy during campaigns and, of course, their campaign, the Trump-Vance campaign is the one that seems less disciplined and more challenged, and disorganized right now.

You know, the momentum is what you're looking for out of a convention if you're the party.

You've gotta come out of that convention with people believing that there's energy behind the ticket going into the fall.

The Republicans couldn't master that this year.

I think the momentum the Democrats will come out with this time may seem at least insurmountable for a bit.

I mean, it is really, really powerful right now.

- Nolan, is the Big Mo, as they like to call it, insurmountable?

- Oh, I think there's no question they'll have momentum coming out of this, but Harris is walking a rather delicate line and Democrats are walking a delicate line.

They wanna embrace Joe Biden as one of the most accomplished presidents of our time.

And, you know, his sendoff was all about the great job he did and the wonderful direction he put the country on.

And yet you keep hearing about change and that word is bouncing all over this convention that Kamala represents change.

And you gotta ask change from what?

If the Biden policies were so great what is it you're going to change?

And that's a question she'll have to answer because the American public, you know, really doesn't think those policies were all that great if you believe the polls.

They're worried about some of the consequences of those policies when it comes to immigration and inflation.

So Harris is walking this line between embracing the old and trying to chart a new course for herself.

And it's interesting, even the democratic platform still has Joe Biden's name in it as the candidate.

They didn't even bother to go back and put Harris's name.

And so, I mean, she's gotta find her own path here and she's going to have to convince the American people that she could set the country on a better course than the administration she was part of had it on.

- Stephen, I was talking with Congresswoman Debbie Dingle, who we all spend a lot of time talking with when we want sort of that vibe check of what voters are feeling in Michigan, and I said, look, what does Vice President Kamala Harris need to say, if you were just talking about a Michigan audience this week?

And one of the things she said is she wants to see Harris be authentically herself and also talk about the bread and butter issues, as Nolan is saying, right?

It's the economy, stupid.

What do you think we're going to see from Harris Thursday night, both to sort of introduce herself to some voters who may not know her record, and also what she needs to do in the now 70 plus days until election day?

- Yeah, you know, it's a great question and Nolan's right.

I mean, so some of this is about the job she has now.

She's the vice president.

She can't come out and say, I didn't like any of the things that Joe Biden did, or I would do it terribly differently because she is part of this administration.

You know, at the same time she's gotta offer voters, you know, a contrast with the things that haven't worked.

I do expect that she will spend a lot of time countering the narrative that Nolan was just talking about.

If you take the totality of what they inherited from Donald Trump, which was an unmitigated disaster, and what has been accomplished over the last four years for the economy, both at the top and at the bottom.

The Dow hit 40,000 while Joe Biden was president.

The growth, the job growth has been almost unprecedented over the last four years.

At the bottom of the economy, you know, we almost eliminated child poverty with the child poverty tax credit.

There are all kinds of new things that are giving working and middle class people access to opportunity in the economy.

She has spent a lot of time talking about that stuff because it counters some of the criticism about inflation, which is very real and that people are feeling every day.

She's gotta talk about how she's gonna deal with that, but it will be in the context of this investment agenda that they have been on for the last four years that's helped everybody.

It's not just about the wealthiest people in our country.

It's about lifting everyone up.

The convention's done a good job so far of focusing on that, and drawing the contrast between that message and what Donald Trump has done or is talking about, which is about feeding the top, and hoping that it trickles down to everybody else, but convention speeches are also not platform speeches.

I mean, this is not where you're selling very specific stuff.

You're selling a message, and you're selling the difference between you and the other side.

And, you know, this idea of we won't go back is gonna resonate.

People remember where we were in January of 2021 when Donald Trump finally left the Oval Office.

- Stephen Henderson, Nolan Finley, we are gonna have to leave it there.

Nolan safe travels back from the Windy City.

- Thank you.