Kamala Harris was absent for a second day yesterday as Democrats pitched their message to the nation at their national convention in Chicago.
![Talk show host Oprah Winfrey speaks on stage during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 21, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F08%2F22%2Fid5710583-oprah-1200x800.jpg&w=1200&q=75)
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey speaks on stage during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 21, 2024. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Oprah Winfrey made an unannounced appearance and Stevie Wonder, John Legend, and Mindy Kaling also took the stage.
The star of the night was vice presidential nominee Tim Walz, who formally accepted the nomination. He then launched into his stump speech, which focused on his small-town upbringing, military service, and political philosophy.
![Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois on Aug. 21, 2024. (Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times)](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimg.theepochtimes.com%2Fassets%2Fuploads%2F2024%2F08%2F22%2Fid5710664-Tim-Walz-2024-DNC-1200x900.jpeg&w=1200&q=75)
Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois on Aug. 21, 2024. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times
“In Minnesota, we respect our neighbors and the personal choices they make, even if we wouldn’t make those same choices for ourselves,” Walz said. “We’ve got a golden rule: mind your own d— business.”
Former President Bill Clinton addressed the crowd too, touting “president-to-be Harris” as a model of service and praising Joe Biden for bowing out of the Democratic presidential contest.
Several speakers presented Harris as a tough-on-crime prosecutor who could balance border enforcement and compassion for people to reform the nation’s immigration system.
The effort appeared calculated to blunt Republican criticism of the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the southern border and accuse the GOP of inaction on the matter.
Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas said the lack of immigration reform is the result of Republicans’ inaction. “Republicans blocked legislation that would have funded border security and created a more humane immigration system.”
Republicans say they blocked the border security bill because it did not go far enough to stem the flow of illegal immigration.
“For 20 years, Kamala Harris has been tough as nails when it comes to securing our border,” Connecticut Sen. Chis Murphy said, pointing to her prosecution of drug smugglers and human traffickers as attorney general of California.
Democrats also recalled the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson described Donald Trump as a threat to Democracy, a familiar Democratic talking point.
“I had seen violence while serving in Iraq, but nothing, nothing, prepared me for Jan. 6,” retired Capitol Police Sgt. Aquilino Gonell said.
Rachel Goldberg and Jonathan Polin, parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, an American held hostage by Hamas since Oct. 7, 2023, addressed the crowd.
“Anyone who is a parent or has had a parent can imagine the anguish and misery that Jon and I and all the families of hostages are enduring,” Goldberg said.
“This is a political convention, but needing our only son and all the cherished hostages home is not a political issue—it is a humanitarian issue,” Polin said.
The convention crowd, including Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who has been outspoken against Israel’s military operations in Gaza, was respectful and largely stood during the solemn address.
The convention concludes tonight with an address by Harris.
JOBS REVISION
U.S. payroll growth in the year ending in March was 818,000 lower than initially reported, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) preliminary annual revisions.
Actual job growth was exaggerated by approximately 30 percent.
From April 2023 to March 2024, employment gains totaled 2.082 million, down from the previous figure of 2.9 million. The U.S. economy averaged roughly 174,000 new jobs per month in this span, down from the unrevised average of 242,000.
The Department of Labor’s adjustments were the largest downward revisions since the global financial crisis 15 years ago, revealing that the U.S. labor market was not as hot as the federal government reported.
Job creation was revised down in most categories, led by professional and business services (negative 358,000), leisure and hospitality (negative 150,000), retail (negative 129,000), manufacturing (negative 115,000), and trade, transportation, and utilities (negative 104,000).
Employment gains in private education and health services were adjusted higher by 87,000, followed by “other services” (21,000) and government (1,000).
Every year, the BLS revises the employment data in its monthly survey of companies’ payrolls and benchmarks it against state unemployment insurance tax records that most employers are mandated to submit.
In 2023, the final benchmark revisions totaled negative 359,000. In 2021 and 2022, the final benchmark adjustments totaled 840,000.
Economists are debating as to whether this signals a weaker labor market or it is a technical adjustments. Despite conversations market watchers are having in the aftermath of the BLS report, the White House says the newest figures do not dismiss the jobs recovery over the last three years.
“This preliminary estimate doesn’t change the fact that the jobs recovery has been and remains historically strong, delivering solid job and wage gains, strong consumer spending, and record small business creation,” said Jared Bernstein, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, in a statement.
Former President Donald Trump alleged that the current administration “padded the numbers” with jobs that “do not exist, and never did.”
“Massive scandal! The Harris-Biden Administration has been caught fraudulently manipulating Job Statistics to hide the true extent of the Economic Ruin they have inflicted upon America,” the Republican nominee said on his social media platform Truth Social.
The recent changes are preliminary and will not be finalized until February 2025.
BOOKMARKS
After months of lagging behind, the Democratic Party surpassed Republicans in fundraising, The Epoch Times’ Austin Alonzo reported. The party’s fundraising fell behind Republicans’ sharply in the wake of President Joe Biden’s debate performance in June, but Democrats have seen a wave of funding since Harris took over the ticket.
As rumors swirl that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will end his campaign for the White House, the Independent candidate said he would give an address on the “path forward” on Aug. 23, The Epoch Times’ Austin Alonzo reported. There are several reports that Kennedy will drop out and endorse Trump.
Trump is watching the RFK Jr. developments as well—and says he’d consider a role for the Independent in his administration, The Epoch Times’ Jack Phillips reported. It’s unclear what impact such an alliance would have on the shape of the 2024 race.
Around 60 people were arrested during protests Wednesday night in Chicago that turned violent, The Epoch Times’ Nathan Worcester reported. On Wednesday night, Chicago police declared a gathering of pro-Palestinian protestors to disperse, declaring the protest to have grown unlawful.