Lineup of DNC speakers Tuesday
A former Ohio state representative will be one of 17 Democratic “rising stars” who will combine on the keynote address Tuesday during the party’s virtual national convention. Kathleen Clyde, now a Portage County commissioner who ran for Ohio secretary of state in 2018, will be part of a diverse group from across the country who “will weave together powerful and diverse voices from the next generation of party leaders into a unified pledge to step up and lead in this critical moment for the nation,” a convention release said.
“I think this invitation came about because Joe Biden recognizes the importance of Ohio in sending him to the White House,” Clyde told The Dispatch.
“Because of extreme gerrymandering and money in politics weighing heavily toward the GOP, I think this state looks more Republican than it actually is. Joe Biden sees past those cynical parts of our broken system and sees promise here for doing well with our voters who want and deserve much better from our president and commander in chief.”
Clyde’s remarks, which she already has videotaped, will last about a minute as part of an overall keynote that is expected to take only about 15 minutes.
“I think (Biden) was proud of the race I ran in 2018 where I won more votes than John Kasich ever got in either of his two statewide elections,” she said.
“Now and before as a legislator, I represent a county that twice voted for Barack Obama and then flipped to Donald Trump in 2016. Vice President Biden knows this is the type of battleground county in a battleground state that we need to win in 2020 to win the presidency.”
She said she has been sworn to secrecy on what she will say.
Joe Solmonese, the convention’s CEO, said, “The convention keynote has always been the bellwether for the future of our party and our nation, and
In order of scheduled appearance:
Keynote address by “rising stars”
Former acting Attorney General Sally Yates
Sen. Chuck Schumer, New York
Former Secretary of State John Kerry
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-cortez, New York
U.S. Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, Delaware
Former President Bill Clinton
Former second lady Jill Biden
when Americans tune in next week they’ll find the smart, steady leadership we need to meet this critical moment.”
Other speakers include Stacey Abrams, who fell just short in her 2018 run for governor of Georgia as the first African-american female major-party nominee in U.S. history; Robert Garcia, the first openly gay mayor of Long Beach, California; and Pennsylvania U.S. Rep. Conor Lamb, who won a nationlly watched race last year in a district President Donald Trump had carried in 2016.
Clyde, who has made elections issues a specialty, wrote an op-ed for The Dispatch last week calling for disclosure of “dark money,” which federal authorities say fueled a $60 million pay-to-play scheme involving House Speaker Larry Householder, lobbyists Neil Clark and three others.
“Stronger transparency requirements would expose the real manipulators of our system and act as a deterrent to further abuse,“she wrote.
Also slated to speak Tuesday night are Dr. Jill Biden and Bill Clinton. The remarks are scheduled to air between 9 and 11 p.m. drowland@dispatch.com @darreldrowland