Tim Walz to speak at DNC's third night with party's rising stars (2024)

With just three months to go before the 2024 election, thousands of people have gathered in Chicago this week to support Vice-President Kamala Harris at the Democratic National Convention.

After the first two days of the party's celebration, Democrats are gathering at the United Center Arena on Wednesday to hear from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, the party's nominee for vice-president.

The evening will feature a full slate of prominent Democrats, including rising stars Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Maryland Governor Wes Moore and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The convention started off on Monday with prime-time remarks from President Joe Biden - an emotional speech that was frequently interrupted by thunderous applause and chants of "Thank you Joe".

Tuesday brought the ceremonial roll call vote in which state delegations declared their support for the Harris-Walz ticket, and the evening closed with rousing speeches from Barack and Michelle Obama.

The party has already officially nominated Vice-President Harris as its candidate after President Biden dropped out of the race. The in-person roll call on Tuesday was a formality, with performances from celebrities including rapper Lil Jon.

US political conventions, which happens every four years before a presidential election, date back to the 1830s, when a group of Democratic delegates supporting President Andrew Jackson gathered in Baltimore to nominate him for a second term.

Here’s what to know.

Wednesday’s line-up features former President Bill Clinton, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Ms Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, will give the night's prime-time speech after his nomination.

Before Mr Walz speaks, delegates will hear from prominent US senators, including Cory Booker of New Jersey, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota.

Two Democratic governors - Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Wes Moore of Maryland - who represent the next generation of party leadership will also have prominent roles.

But the night will not only feature Democrats.

Olivia Troye, a Trump administration official, and Geoff Duncan, a Republican who served as Georgia's lieutenant governor until 2023, will give remarks as well.

The most important night of the convention is Thursday, when Vice-President Harris will take the stage. She will formally accept the presidential nomination and give her speech on the final night of the convention dedicated "For the Future".

After the convention experienced a number of delays on Monday, DNC organisers said that the programme would begin earlier Tuesday, though speakers still ran late in the evening.

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During back-to-back speeches on Tuesday, Barack and Michelle Obama mixed gags with serious exhortations to Democrats to get out and vote in November - pointing out that Ms Harris was in a close race with Republican Donald Trump.

"Hope is making a comeback," said Mrs Obama. This was a contrast with the "bluster and chaos" of Trump's time in the White House, Mr Obama added.

Another of the speakers was Trump's former spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, who said she had switched to voting for Ms Harris, explaining: "I couldn't be part of the insanity any longer."

And America's Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, was introduced to the stage by his son Cole, who called him a "goofy dad". Mr Emhoff went on to laud his wife, Ms Harris, as the "right person" for him and the presidency alike.

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On Monday, the convention heard from Mr Biden. During an emotional defence of his presidency, he said: "America, I gave my best to you."

Hillary Clinton, who was presidential candidate in 2016, offered her own tribute to Mr Biden the same evening, and voiced her hope that Ms Harris could finally break the “highest, hardest glass ceiling” in the US by becoming the first female president.

Others who spoke that night included progressive lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Americans affected by abortion bans in Republican-controlled states.

Because Ms Harris and Mr Walz were already nominated ahead of the event, this year's convention is focused on speeches from prominent Democrats and the adoption of the party’s platform.

Delegates are working during the day to finalise the platform, a draft of which has already been released.

It focuses on a broad range of issues, including plans to lower inflation, mitigate climate change and tackle gun violence.

In the draft, Democrats contrast each of the party positions with Project 2025, an ultra-conservative blueprint for what a second Trump administration could look like, authored by the Heritage Foundation. Trump has sought to distance himself from the project, though several of his allies were involved in writing it.

Members of the public can only attend the convention in person by becoming volunteers. But as with the Republican convention, there will be plenty of national media coverage, and the convention itself will offer live-streams on social media platforms.

You can follow BBC News coverage - featuring on-site reporting and analysis - across the website and app, and on our live-stream.

The BBC News Channel will carry special coverage from 20:00 ET (01:00 BST) each night. You can find special episodes of The Global Story and Americast podcasts on BBC Sounds and other podcast platforms.

Sign up to North America correspondent Anthony Zurcher's election newsletter US Election Unspun for his take on the week's events direct to your inbox.

Around 50,000 people are expected at this year's convention in Chicago. This includes thousands of delegates chosen by state Democratic parties as well as super delegates, who are major elected officials, notable members of the Democratic Party and some members of the Democratic National Committee.

Thousands of members of the media will also be in attendance.

It will be a star-studded convention with appearances from several celebrities. In 2020, actors Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Eva Longoria attended the convention, while Elizabeth Banks and America Ferrera appeared in 2016.

Rumours have swirled about whether mega-stars Beyoncé and Taylor Swift will attend this year, but neither has confirmed.

Demonstrations have been taking place outside the DNC venue centre, focusing on opposition to US support of Israel’s war in Gaza.

A protest on Tuesday near Chicago's Israeli consulate culminated in scuffles between demonstrators and police and led to several arrests.

Earlier, thousands of marchers took to the streets for a mostly peaceful protest on Monday, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to US support for Israel. Several were arrested when dozens of them broke through a security fence.

The turnout appeared to be well below the tens of thousands that organisers had hoped for and short of the 15,000 they claimed were there.

In that night's address, Mr Biden acknowledged that the activists "have a point", going on to say that "a lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides".

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