CHICAGO (WHDH) – Members of the Massachusetts delegation to this week’s Democratic National Convention were excited Monday morning ahead of the first day of speeches in Chicago.
Speaking with 7NEWS, delegates said they were specifically eager to give President Joe Biden his time in the spotlight while also rallying around the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
“There’s a new enthusiastic response by the Democratic party,” said Bob Colt, a DNC delegate from Winchester. “People are saying ‘Hey, we’ve got new life. We’ve got new energy.’”
Colt has been a delegate since 1992. Following Biden’s decision last month to end his reelection campaign and endorse Harris, Colt said the party is “ready to roll.”
“It’s rolling pretty well so far,” he said.
Biden faced mounting calls to step aside following his performance on the debate stage against Donald Trump in late June.
He will now headline Monday’s DNC speaking program, passing the torch rather than carrying it.
“He’s very enthusiastic about going to Chicago tonight,” former Biden White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told CNN.
Among other remarks, Klain said his former boss is excited to make the case for Harris and Walz.
Darnell Williams, the assistant whip to the Massachusetts DNC delegation, said Biden “showed me a profile in courage,” with his decision.
“He stepped aside and elevated Kamala,” Williams said. “…Now it’s a whole new ballgame.”
Harris secured a landslide of endorsements within hours of Biden’s announcement that he would end his campaign.
She formally secured her party’s nomination for president in a virtual roll call vote earlier this month.
After a weekend spent campaigning in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, Harris was in Chicago Monday where she discussed her expected speech to the DNC on Thursday.
“It’s almost done,” she told reporters. “There are just some little…