Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, Elizabeth Warren Up First at Democratic Convention

In what could be described as political speed dating, 14 Democratic candidates for president of the United States are each getting seven minutes to make their pitch to the 3,400 delegates gathered at the weekend’s California Democratic Party convention in San Francisco.

Some 300 journalists are expected to attend and will amplify and analyze the candidates’ messages.

All of the top tier candidates, with the exception of Vice President Joe Biden, are on the bill Saturday and Sunday.

Here is our ongoing coverage of the highlights of each one’s message in order of appearance:

Senator Kamala Harris (California)

Kamala Harris took direct aim at President Trump, attacking his record on the environment, the economy, civil rights, voting rights, healthcare, a women’s right to choose and — finally, the Russia investigation.

“He obstructed justice and then hired an attorney general to clean up the crime scene,” she said.

Harris got a warm welcome from the crowd, telling the state Democrats that she was happy to be home with a group that’s “not afraid to fight.”

“As most of you know I was raised by a mother who’s a fighter — my mother was all of five feet tall but if you ever met her .. . you would have thought she was seven feet tall, and when we came home complaining about something she would look at you, maybe a hand on her hip and say, ‘What are you going to do about it?’,” Harris said. “So I decided to run for president of the United States.”

Harris slammed Trump for his trade war: “He said he would bring back jobs, and what did he do? He turned around and started a trade war. Let’s all call it what it is — it’s a trade tax, I like to call it the Trump trade tax,” she said, “and his trade tax is taking 1.4 billion dollars out of working family’s pockets every single month.”

But it was her closing line that really fired up the room.

“We need to begin impeachment proceedings and we need a new commander in chief,” Harris said to raucous cheers.

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (Texas)

O’Rourke was introduced by Los Angeles City Councilwoman Monica Rodriquez, who said that in his losing race against Sen. Ted Cruz last year, O’Rourke “led a 500 percent increase in youth voter turnout taking Texas from a red state to a swing state.”

Starting his remarks in fluent Spanish before he transitioned to English, O’Rourke hit on climate change, health care and immigration.  He noted that his 2018 campaign, which broke the record for money raised in a U.S. Senate race, was accomplished  without a single dime from a political action committee.

O’Rourke promised a “bold progressive agenda for everyone,” noting that he talked about gun control measures in a state with a deep pro-gun culture during his senate race.

Touching on most of the Democratic priorities, O’Rourke mentioned “universal guaranteed health care,” including “mental heath care and making sure a woman makes her own decisions about her body.”

He also called, in Spanish and English, for ending the school house to jail house pipeline,”” which he noted begins in kindergarten.

O’Rourke, who is not as well known in California as some of the other candidates, also talked about “ending the war on drugs” and expunging the records of people convicted of possessing “something that is legal in this country.”

He promised that if elected, he will sign a new voting rights act, including same-day voter registration and an end to gerrymandering.

On immigration, O’Rourke called for easing the path to citizenship for millions of legal permanent residents, and undocumented immigrants starting with the so-called Dreamers “as soon as humanly possible.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts)

Supporters of the Massachusetts senator packed the convention hall as Warren took the stage, where she railed against not only Trump but the Democratic Party as an institution. She said for too long, party leaders have been too cautious.

“If they dream at all, they dream small … Some say if we just calm down, the Republicans will come to their senses,” she said. “Our country is in a time of crisis, the time for small ideas is over.”

Warren, who has excited supporters with her detailed trove of policy proposals, played on that reputation.

“We need big, structural changes — and yes, I have a plan for that,” she said to cheers.

“We will pass the biggest anti-corruption plan since Watergate. We will make everybody who runs for federal office post their tax returns online. We will break up big ag, big banks, big tech.

We will make it easier for workers to join a union. And yes, we will pass a wealth tax that’s 2 cents on the dollar for people with fortunes worth more than $50 million — that is the top one-tenth of one percent, they can afford two cents.”

Like most of the other candidates, Warren didn’t take any direct shots at her 23 competitors in the Democratic Party — at least not by name. But she seemed to be hinting at how she will go after former Vice President Joe Biden, who has laid out a more cautious, centrist campaign stratgedy.

“Too many powerful people in our party say, ‘Settle down, back up… wait for change until the privileged and powerful are comfortable with those changes’,” she said. “Here’s the thing — when a candidate tells you all the things that aren’t possible … they are telling you they will not fight for you, and I am here to fight.”

STILL TO SPEAK TODAY:

Senator Cory Booker (New Jersey)

Mayor Pete Buttigieg (South Bend, Indiana)

Rep. Eric Swalwell (Dublin, CA)

Senator Amy Klobuchar

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee

SPEAKING SUNDAY:

Senator Bernie Sanders

Former H.U.D. Secretary Julian Castro

Former Rep. John Delaney (Maryland)

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