Gwen Moore Uses DNC Speech To Call For Healing Divisions

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee used her brief speech at the virtual Democratic Convention Monday to sing the praises of her home city and call for unity in America.

Moore was the first elected official to speak during the main program at the DNC, which was originally planned for Milwaukee before it was switched to a mostly virtual format because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“I sure wish you all were here in the city of Milwaukee,” Moore said. “This is a city where blood was shed for labor rights. Where a fugitive slave was freed from prison. Where women’s right to vote was first ratified.”

Moore said the virtual gathering gave people a chance across the country a chance to nominate the U.S. presidential ticket of former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California.

“We gather unified in spirit, unified in our values and purpose to heal divisions and together move the nation competently into a prosperous, inclusive future,” Moore said.

Moore also had special praise for Harris, calling her a “VP VIP nominee.”

Moore spoke for a total of 82 seconds Monday, which was one of the shorter speeches for public officials.

Earlier in the evening, she said during a Zoom call organized by the Wisconsin Democratic Party that she “couldn’t wait” to talk about Harris’ record as a prosecutor, which she said included prosecutions of banks, oil companies and for-profit colleges.

“She is dynamic,” Moore said. “She is smart.”

Joining Moore at the pre-convention event was Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is also from Milwaukee. Like Moore, Barnes lamented what could have been with an in-person convention.

“We were looking forward to beer and brats,” Barnes said. “We were looking forward to pandemonium, but all we got was a pandemic unfortunately.”