Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Here’s the thing: When a bunch of Democrats talk about themselves in front of thousands of union members, they’re going to spend most of their time listing all the picket lines they’ve joined, decrying the corporate fat cats getting rich while the rest of us struggle, and promising to create more jobs with decent pay and health care plans for all “working families.” And they did.
Nothing wrong with that, in my view–except that last night, that’s just about all they said. I know we’re months away from even the first primary, and yes, they spent a few minutes arguing over how to get what we want out of Pakistan and who’s bad enough to be able to do it, but I still walked away from Soldier Field wishing I’d just stayed home and watched American Pie 3: American Wedding . . . or done just about anything else more productive with an hour and a half.
By far the most genuine, moving moment of the night came when a former south-side steelworker said he’d lost a third of his pension and all of his health benefits when his company filed for bankrupcy. “Every day of my life, I sit across the kitchen table from the woman who devoted 36 years of her life to my family, and I can’t afford to pay for her health care,” he said, his voice cracking. “What’s wrong with America, and what will you do to change it?”
