A GWENT councillor has described seeing Kamala Harris confirmed as the Democratic Party’s nominee for US president in person as a “bonkers” experience.
Labour councillor for Griffithstown on Torfaen County Borough Council, Nathan Yeowell, pictured at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Picture:
Griffithstown Labour councillor Nathan Yeowell attended the Democratic National Convention, in Chicago, where political heavyweights, including former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria endorsed the current vice president.
Ms Harris’ nomination was confirmed after Joe Biden decided, at the eleventh hour, against seeking a second term and the event was staged as a giant celebration of the candidate credited with re energising what had been a faltering Democratic campaign.
Cllr Yeowell was in the United Center arena, that holds more than 20,000 and is usually home to the Chicago Bulls basketball team, for the celebratory roll call where tracks, such as Sweet Home Alabama and California Love, were played as delegates from each state announced their votes and rapper Lil Jon performed his hit, and sports crowd favourite, Turn Down for What to introduce Georgia’s nomination.
The Torfaen Borough Council member was also in attendance for Harris’ acceptance speech when singer P!nk and outspoken country group The (Dixie) Chicks performed.
“The atmosphere for Harris’s speech was electric, and the crowd went absolutely bonkers, you could feel the energy pulsing round the auditorium.
Labour Party Conferences
“I’ve been to more than twenty Labour Party Conferences but have never seen anything like the roll call in real life; thousands of delegates, a mixture of party activists, politicians and celebrities, whooping and cheering, pledging their votes, state-by-state.”
However, his personal highlight was the former first lady: “The speaker of the week for me was Michelle Obama. Carefully in control of her emotions, you could feel the sparks crackle as she took aim at Donald Trump. Eloquent, composed and on point, she got the crowds roaring to their feet, and roaring for more.”
He had been invited in his role as a director of The Future Governance Forum think tank he founded to push progressive policies and the trip funded by American think tank PPI – the Progressive Policy Institute which helped shape President Clinton’s policy agenda.
Other Labour figures who attended included party general secretary David Evans, newly elected MPs Lucy Rigby from Northampton and Mike Tapp from Dover; and former MP Jonathan Ashworth.
Though the star-studded event may seem the opposite of Britain’s more reserved political set pieces Cllr Yeowell, who has previously worked for the BBC and the Labour Party, said there are similar challenges facing both countries, and progressive or centre left parties.
That includes the “growth of populist politics” which Cllr Yowell described as “most obviously the chokehold of Donald Trump on the US Republican Party and Nigel Farage’s efforts to ape his celebrity-cum-politician-cum-provocateur status here in the UK.”
Reform, previously the Brexit Party, has had encouraging electoral results in Labour heartlands, including Torfaen and other areas of South Wales, and now has a presence on the borough council after three former independents formed its first council group in Wales.
Cllr Yeowell said “Trump and Farage have both tapped into real concerns over the economy, national and community safety” which, he said, have been used to create “more extreme political dividing lines.”
He said he took from the DNC how “united, focused and positive the Democrats were” and said: “They tackled Trump’s talking points at source, demolished and countered them with hopeful arguments that stressed the need for their countrymen and women to come together and tackle the issues facing them collectively, not as alienated individuals or as warring red v blue states.
“Another takeaway was the need for progressive parties on both sides of the Atlantic to respond to the needs and concerns of their electoral base. The Democrats in the US, Labour in the UK, have to prioritise the cost-of-living crisis, re-create strong and cohesive local communities and deliver more effective, quality healthcare.”
The councillor acknowledged it was easy to believe, at the convention of party faithful, November’s election will be an “easy a slam-dunk” for Harris but isn’t making any predictions.
“I have never been to a more joyous political event, and it’s easy to get carried away in that environment. At home in Griffithstown, a long, long way from Chicago, and back in touch with reality, the best call I can make is 50:50. If she has any chance of winning, Harris has to take the energy created in Chicago last week and campaign with every ounce if she’s going to pull off a victory.”