Biden, Obama speeches set for first 2 days of convention

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    President Biden is reportedly expected to speak next Monday on the first day of the Democratic National Convention and former President Obama will address delegates on Tuesday as Kamala Harris hopes to ride a wave of momentum that has upended the campaign.
    Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz will be featured on Wednesday while Harris will close out the convention by accepting the presidential nomination on Thursday in Chicago, NBC News reported Monday.
    Former President Clinton will speak before Walz on Wednesday while ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will speak on Monday.
    It’s shaping up as a “gang’s all here” line up of political headliners for Team Blue. The schedule presents a dramatic contrast to the Republican National Convention, where former President Trump’s disputes with past party leaders kept most of them away from the GOP shindig.
    Democratic convention planners have had to completely rip up their old plans for a coronation of Biden after the sitting president pulled out of the race and endorsed Harris just three weeks ago.
    That stunning switch catapulted Harris into a remarkable rise in the polls, where she is now narrowly leading Trump in most surveys.
    Harris’s pick of Walz, a former high school teacher and football coach, has also energized the Democratic base with huge crowds serenading the duo in a blitz of battleground states last week.
    Now planners need to use convention stagecraft to showcase the new ticket as a younger, forward-looking alternative to the 78-year-old Trump.
    So far there is no word on celebrities who may show up to lend their voices behind Harris’s trailblazing bid to become the first Black woman president.
    It also isn’t clear whether popular former First Lady Michelle Obama will speak, although it would be surprising if she is not featured in some way, especially since Chicago is her hometown.
    A pro-Trump super PAC said it plans to launch a $100 million ad campaign in battleground states during the convention to blunt the Harris wave.

    web-interns@dakdan.com