DNC live updates: Protesters rally as Democratic National Convention kicks off in Chicago

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the convention

On the floor of the convention, I just caught up with Minnesota Democrat – and one-time challenger for the party’s nomination – Dean Phillips.

Phillips, who launched a long-shot presidential bid in October 2023, says that he believes Joe Biden “did the right thing” by stepping aside, a move he says breathed new life into the Democratic Party.

“This [his challenge to Biden] was never personal. It was about the numbers, and about winning,” he tells reporters. “I knew that if a change was made, we’d feel a generational shift, energy, excitement, possibility, optimism.”

The current mood among his peers in the party, he says, is similar to that which he recalls around the 2008 election of Barack Obama.

“That’s what politics is all about, inspiration. You’ve either got it or you don’t,” he adds. “You can’t quantify it. The only thing you can quantify is polls, and it was clear Joe Biden was going to lose.”

Phillips says he hopes that tonight will be a “celebration” of Biden and his achievements before passing the torch to Kamala Harris.

“But I think the way things are working out is actually for the best,” he says. “It’s working out quite well.”