‘Let’s get to business’: ranking the top 10 stars and their best quotes from DNC 2024

The top 10 moments of the DNC

I for one am sad that the convention is over, but thrilled to move forward with Kamala and Coach Walz and watch them take us full speed ahead to victory in November. The convention was flawless, with the exception of going way over time on the first three nights, but hey, all conventions do that.

So, after watching each night, and live blogging and writing about it for The Advocate, here are my choices for the top 10 stars of the 2024 Democratic National Convention, along with one quote that stood out.

Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris

“Let’s get to business!”

Harris certainly did in her speech Thursday night, and Democrats showed, through a series of exceptional speakers, moments, and videos that they are ready to get to the business of electing not only Harris but other Democrats in federal, state, and local elections.

The vice president last night was able to give the American people an idea of who she was, her background, what she stands for, and what her principles and priorities are. The speech didn’t have any memorable lines for the ages, but that was a good thing. Harris' sspeech and her candidacy shouldn’t be a buzzy sound bite. It’s more nuanced than that.

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz (and his family)

"Hope, Gus, and Gwen: You are my entire world, and I love you.”

America fell in love with Tim Walz and his family, whose love for each other jumped through the TV screen on Wednesday night. The exuberance of his son, Gus, stole the show for many, but what really stood out was the closeness of the family and their love for each other. The cameras caught Hope, Gus, and Gwen twice with tears running down their cheeks.

America also had a chance to see who else Harris could have picked for her running mate. They all spoke, Josh Shapiro, Gretchen Witmer (stopping here, Trump’s first word “chauffeur” drove big laughs — pun intended), Mark Kelly, Andy Beshear, J.B. Pritzker, and Pete Buttigieg (we’ll get to him in a minute). And while they all showed the depth of the Democrats' bench of talent, watching Walz — and his family — proved Harris made a stroke-of-genius choice.

President Joe Biden

"I've made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you.”

It’s easy to forget that President Joe Biden kicked things off Monday night and received perhaps the longest sustained applause of all the week’s speakers. And while his speech seemed angry at times, and references to Harris forced at times, the above line said it all about who Biden is. He has the humility to admit his mistakes, and he did give his best to us over a remarkable 52-year career in public service.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama

“Who's going to tell him that the job he's currently seeking might just be one of those 'Black jobs'?"

There were some remarks on social media Tuesday night that said, in effect, “Obama’s speech was amazing, and her husband didn’t do a bad job either.” And her husband validated that point when he said, “I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama,”

Michelle Obama brought her best game, as she might say, in her wildly popular speech. And she was the right person to let Trump have it about “Black jobs.”

She has a way of getting under his skin — well, after this week most everyone did because Trump’s lunatic, desperate, frantic posts on Truth Social show he’s running scared.

The convention wasn’t making a big issue that Harris was Black or a woman; instead, speakers found ways to use Trump’s words about Blacks and women against him that quietly underscored Harris.

Former President Barack Obama

“There’s the childish nicknames, the crazy conspiracy theories, this weird obsession with crowd sizes,.

Barack Obama had so many wonderful lines, like his wife, that it was hard to choose one. But someone had to do it: address Trump’s obsession — and it is — with crowd size, and Obama found the perfect way to do it.

I remember my jaw dropping when the first press conference Trump’s White House press secretary Sean Spicer gave was trying to convince the media and the public that Trump's inauguration had the biggest crowd in history. Photos show he was glaringly short of even coming in 45h place.

And, what else was Obama referring to when he delivered the line? Just asking!

Former President Bill Clinton

“I will be so happy when [Kamala Harris] actually enters the White House as president because she will break my record as the president who spent the most time at McDonald's.”

At 78, Bill Clinton still has the ability to make people laugh with casual language while making a point. As with the cats, there were so many references to Harris working at McDonald's, and there should have been, because nothing speaks more to humility than working at the fast food restaurant.

But Clinton was the perfect person to highlight that about Harris. If you are old enough, you probably thought about Phil Hartman’s portrayal of Clinton on Saturday Night Live, when he shows Clinton ostensibly coming back from a run (three blocks), going into McDonald's, and going table to table, talking to “the American” people while eating their food, fries, burgers, shakes and all. He was famous for his penchant for McDonald's. Here’s the video if you haven’t seen it.

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton

“So no matter what the polls say, we can’t let up. We can’t get driven down crazy conspiracy rabbit holes. We have to fight for the truth. We have to fight for Kamala as she will fight for us.”

The biggest danger for the Democrats is complacency among the party’s constituents in going out to vote on Election Day, and no one knows the danger of being complacent more than Hillary Clinton, given what happened to her failed bid for the presidency in 2016. It’s something that needed to be addressed at the convention, and it was reinforced by reminding voters about what happened to Clinton — polls showed her beating Trump handily right before the election, and many just assumed that “someone else” would take the time to go and vote for her so they wouldn’t have to.

Oprah Winfrey

“When a house is on fire, we don’t ask whose house it is. If the place happens to belong to a childless cat lady, well, we try to get that cat out too.”

There were several references to JD Vance’s now-infamous line about childless cat ladies. And so many have found unique ways to call him out on uttering such a stupid remark; in fact, I went from laughing about the line to shrugging, thinking, OK, so many curious jokes are killing the cat.

But Oprah’s line put that in a context that showed Vance’s remark was cruel, cold, and uncaring, and that the Democrats care, revering the lives not only of childless cat ladies but their cats too. In other words, they both matter.

Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff

"For generations people debated when to call the person you're being set up with. And never in history has anyone suggested 8:30 a.m.”

The second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, talked about a specific moment that so many of us have lived and agonized through — how to approach a love interest for the first time without making an ass of yourself. Movies and TV shows are littered with phone calls, first dates, and first approaches gone wrong. It brought the second couple down to something that is so common and often joked about when people reminisce about how their love affairs started.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

“Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d hear myself saying. I’m Pete Buttigieg, and you might recognize me from Fox News.”

If you’re bold enough to do a Sunday morning drinking game during a Fox News political show, take a sip every time Pete stymies a derogatory question from a Fox interrogator. You will be passed out by noon!

Pete Buttigieg continues to amaze and endear himself to the American public. Arguably, he is the most famous LGBTQ+ person in America — and if not the country, then most certainly to Fox News viewers. I’ve said it before, but If there's a deity in the LGBTQ+ community, let's be honest — it's Pete.

When he spoke to the crowd Wednesday night, there was a sea of Pride flags, hats, and bracelets — a visual symphony of Pride that was absolutely stunning and, at least to me, tear-inducing. It was one of those "wow" moments. Pete doesn’t just make us proud; he makes us downright euphoric. Those Pride flags weren’t just flying — they were soaring.