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It’s election season, so state Sen. James Manning Jr. and Eugene City Councilor Matt Keating are giving Eugene Weekly an inside scoop on the inner workings of the quad-annual convention that nominates the Democratic party’s presidential candidate — the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC).
Both Manning and Keating are delegates — select individuals who vote to nominate the president. Taking place in Chicago, the DNC is a four-day-long event that celebrates the blue donkeys. Heavy-hitters like former-presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former President Barack Obama are giving speeches to rouse the liberal enthusiast.
Keating and Manning sat down with EW reporter Bentley Freeman to discuss everything from the nominee Kamala Harris, to vote-by-mail, to abortion access.
This Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.
What’s the process to become a national delegate?
Matt Keating: There’s an election every four years for DNC members.
And my wife [Becca Keating] is a delegate. Sena. Manning is a delegate as well. And both of them were elected respectively at a congressional district convention.
In Sen. Manning’s case, he was elected at a statewide convention held in Madras. The senator is a party leader elected as an official delegate. Once we’re all here, whether you’re the governor or a state senator, an educator or an electrician, you’re a national delegate. You’re part of our delegation, but I’m proud to say that Sen. Manning was the top vote-getter of the ordinance party leader elected officials delegates. So there’s a series of inner party elections. You can see all the Oregon delegation at DPO.org.
Then there’s lawmakers who are elected, including Sen. Manning.
Sen. [Aaron] Woods, Chief Senate President Rob Wagner, State Rep. Lisa Reynolds, State Rep.Travis Nelson are also a DNC members, and through our roles we’re delegates. There are several city councilors or school board members, like as I said, there’s folks who are carpenters, electricians and educators.
I happened to double as an IBEW [union] member working in the Legislature working for Sen. Manning. And so I’m a member of the labor family. And if I can just draw sharp contrast, if you don’t mind, we have Donald Trump and JD Vance, who are out there talking about Elon Musk and bragging about how many people they fire.
And at our convention we’re lifting up labor. And we’re talking about paying folks living wage jobs with full family benefits and retirement. I think I would rather stand on the side of history that is pro middle class, pro worker, pro labor, than the side that brags about ruining people’s lives and firing them from Twitter [aka X].
James Manning: Absolutely, and President Joe Biden said it best, it’s working to build the middle class out and up, not down.
What makes the Oregon delegation so special, and why did it decide to unanimously back Vice President Kamala Harris for the party’s nomination?
Keating: President Biden did the magnanimous thing, and I think the delegation thanks President Biden and for taking the lead. Nominating Kamala Harris was the cue I needed as a delegate, and it’s clearly the cue that our delegation needed to stand unanimously for Kamala Harris this election. It’s hope versus fear, it’s the future versus. Joe Biden last night passed the torch.
Hillary Clinton has passed the sledgehammer, and Kamala Harris is going to shatter a glass ceiling and become the next president of these United States.
Manning: We’re in a defining point of history where we have to determine as Americans, whether we want democracy and as it was characterized yesterday last night at the convention — we have a candidate that’s running with a resume. And we have Donald Trump running with a rap sheet.
These are concise differences. Do we want someone that has dedicated her life to representing the people? Or do we want a proven, convicted criminal to run the country into the ground for his own personal gain? Those are the choices and they’re clear.
This decision to nominate Kamala Harris without a primary has been characterized by many as an end run circumventing Democratic processes. What’s the delegation’s response to that?
Manning: When they think that they have something to complain about, they’re living in an alternative world. There’s nothing to do with that, everything that happened was procedural. and it was voluntarily. There’s no end run.
Keating: The DNC has processes for these, and we have followed those processes in Oregon. It was one of 13 states, as I understand it, that had all 84 members of our delegation vote unanimously to advance Kamala Harris as our party’s nominee tonight at the convention. We’ll do a ceremonial roll call vote. But Kamala Harris received 99 percent of the more than 4,000 delegates to earn the nomination of the Democratic party and the endorsement of our commander-in-chief. Yeah, we have a process. We voted for Joe Biden. He’s the president of the United States. He’s the leader of our party and our delegation.
Fifty states plus territories are standing united behind Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. As our next administration they could carry on and advance the progressive policies: pro housing, pro education, pro climate action policies that we know benefit the lives of everyday Americans. That’s why I’m standing behind Kamala Harrison and Tim Walz. That’s why Joe Biden is standing behind Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. That’s why Oregon’s gonna deliver for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
There’s a lot of excitement nationwide surrounding Kamala Harris’ candidacy. Tell me, what is the atmosphere at the DNC just as exciting?
Keating: When you wear a Kamala button — whether it’s on the plane or in the restaurant or in the streets, there are certainly in the convention atmosphere just strangers come up and they’re fired up. There’s a renewed hope that I haven’t seen since I was out knocking on doors and firing folks up for Barack Obama.
There’s a renewed hope in the American soul that Joe Biden has been fighting for. He said last night, he’s made it clear that selecting Kamala Harris as his vice president was the best decision he’s made. And again, it was a magnanimous decision — such a gesture, such a signal of public service for Joe Biden to pass the torch to the next generation. The energy and excitement is helpful, Bentley, and I’m excited to be a part of it.
Manning: When you look at the beginning of the conference, when they are surveying the entire United Center [where the DNC is being held] inside, there were unfilled seats. And that was because of the access to the United Center. I mean buses of delegates were held up. It took a long time.
However, by the time it got down to some of the main speakers and Hillary Clinton spoke — you can look around and see that there was not a vacant seat in the United Center. I know. I was there. I was part of it. It was completely full. People were standing in the aisles. They were sitting on the stairs. It was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like that before and it’s gonna get even better.
Keating: There is an energy that was electric in the convention itself, and there’s certainly an energy here in Chicago. I was getting texts from friends saying they could feel that energy translate through the TV. They could see here and feel the excitement in the air, and from coast-to-coast the United States of America feels this excitement. In just two short months voters in Oregon will be casting their votes in this election and it’s our job to take that message to the American people, catapulting off this exciting, engaging, inspirational moment in America history.
What’s the DNC’s primary platform headed into the November election?
Keating: It’s a people-based platform. Kamala Harris rolled out a platform that revolves around economic opportunity for all. Sen. Manning is the architect of Oregon’s universal health plan to put Oregonian’s on a pathway for universal health care for all. Sen. [Ron] Wyden and Sen. [Jeff] Merkley championed for vote-by-mail and is trying to take Oregon’s vote-by-mail nationwide. These are the things that we’re fighting for, but our overarching platform is a platform that is pro education and pro climate action that benefits the lives of everyday Americans.
That’s a sharp contrast to a platform that promotes tax breaks for billionaires.
Here’s economic opportunity for all Americans to provide middle-class tax relief with pathways to the middle class that promote the economic health and well-being of families, and well-being of our communities and the well-being of our planet. That’s a platform that I can get behind. It’s a platform come Nov. 5 I trust, and if we work our tail off the American people will get behind.
Manning: The platform is about the people. How we can improve health care to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, making sure that the system of fairness is provided equally and equitably amongst all Americans.
And in our case, we’re focusing on Oregon.
How can we improve the quality of life? Not just for some but for all. And what’s really important is how we can provide people with healthcare and housing? Because housing and health care are intertwined. You can’t have one without the other to have a successful, healthy life — which means that you’re improving the quality of life and improving family values.
You’re looking at education opportunities, not over-burdening people with bills just to get an education, but more importantly, you’re looking at apprenticeship program expansions and how we can raise fair wages. Not just minimum wage, but living wages because they vary from place to place. We need to help people get off of living paycheck to paycheck.
Access to abortion is a key issue this election. What is the current discourse about abortion access at the DNC?
Keating: Last night, there were personal stories from women who come from states where they don’t have access to abortion as a health care, and we have a former occupant of the White House who fundamentally doesn’t understand that care.
We have a candidate in Kamala Harris who actually is empathetic, and committed to enshrine access to abortion as a fundamental right. What the Supreme Court has done is disturbing beyond words, and what Donald Trump has done to pack that court is concerning and we need to fight at the ballot box and have that political fight for the right to access to abortion as health care.
Manning: In Oregon, fortunately, we’ve already enshrined reproductive health care for women and LGBTQ. We made sure that we updated it to protect doctors that perform these critical medical procedures. There was some fear at first that the doctors could be extradited for prosecution.
Not from Oregon.That’s not going to happen.
The other thing about this which is so important is the cost. The cost is going down. We’ll all benefit from it. Planned Parenthood just put out that a lot of men go to Planned Parenthood to have vasectomies. You don’t hear a lot about that. But there was something, I guess in jest — come to the DNC and get a free vasectomy. It’s not a joke. It is a real thing and we need to look at that.
I challenge the hardcore right, Trump and his minions, JD Vance — who is a disgrace to the U.S. military and the Marine Corps uniform. I challenged them to go get a vasectomy. That’s where we need to start making changes. Those hardcore MAGA men should go get a vasectomy now to stop the madness.
Editor’s note: Sen. James Manning spent 24 years on active duty in the Army.
How does Oregon’s delegation shape the national party’s platform?
Keating: We affirm our party’s platform at the state and at the national level. That’s what the national conventions are for, of course, but we are also representatives to the DNC. I’m one of those National Committee persons, and I’m honored to do so and honored to advance the Oregon way and Oregon values. I alluded to voting by mail in particular earlier. There’s a council that we’re creating called the Local Elected Officials Council, and our first meeting was yesterday, and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, the Biden and Harris administration transportation secretary, joined us. And whether it’s providing my perspective as a Democratic municipal official — whether it’s championing what’s working in our cities in regards to combating the climate crisis or making critically important housing investments, public safety investments or holistic equitable investments that benefit our entire community and sharing those best practices with other states — folks get fired up when they see an Oregon delegate because even on our lanyards here it says, “first in the nation vote by mail.”
It’s shocking. Our vote by mail system happens to turn out the most voters because when you give voters the access to participate, that’s what they do. They vote.
And we have one political party that wants fewer people to vote. And I belong to a political party that champions the most amount of Americans having access to the ballot box. I’m proud of that and so I give kudos and props and credit to Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, who are doing their work at the federal level to take vote by mail to the national level, and it’s my job as an Oregon delegate to enshrine vote by mail and preventing the purges of the ballot box with automatic voter registration — like we have in Oregon — through the Democratic party’s national platform.
There’s a stark, nationwide contrast between the Democratic and Republican platforms. What have you both noticed at the DNC that showcases where that contrast lies?
Manning: The energy level for one. Again, Matt said we’re a pivotal, historic moment in time. We looked at it and got to balance it out. You have someone that is representing the people. You have someone who represents himself. You have someone with a resume. And you have someone with a rap sheet. You have someone who has dedicated their lives, grown up in small communities, owned small businesses and then you have someone that was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
You have someone that understands people’s pain because they’ve been a part of that. And you have someone that doesn’t give a damn about anybody.
We’re talking about something that is unique. Is this a defining moment in time? Either we are going to continue on with the American experiment of democracy or are we gonna look back to the ’30s where you have fascists overrun.
And we’ve seen it happen in schools when they’re trying to delete history. Saying it didn’t happen. We saw it when the Louisiana governor put the Ten Commandments in schools. What about other religions? The Constitution says that there is freedom of religion.
So does that apply to other religious groups? You cannot do that. That’s why there is a thing called separation of church and state. And that’s really important, because right now white Christian nationalists — who are not Christians, they are a cult — are the same thing when you look back to the 1930s and the rise of Nazism in Germany. Those are the people that we’re looking at.
Let’s be honest. This is very dangerous and when you say things like “Black jobs,” what does that mean?
For me, that means Senate president pro tem of the Oregon State Senate. That’s my Black job.
Keating: With this election, Bentley, this election is where the U.S. will go, if it continues on the pathway of a dictatorship. Hillary Clinton put it best last night when she was talking about Kamala Harris already being tested on the national stage as vice president. She’s respected in the global arena.
And we know who Donald Trump wants to nestle up to — the autocrats. Whether it’s [North] Korea or Russia. We know we’ve endured four years of madness and uncertainty, checking our phone first thing in the morning just to make sure things didn’t go off the rails in the middle of the night. We don’t need to go back. Hillary Clinton also pointed out that it is the duty of the commander-in-chief to fulfill their oath of office. Kamala Harris cares, Donald Trump takes and doesn’t care about anything but just himself.