DNC: VP Nominee Walz Headlines the Night

Vice Presidential nominee Tim Walz was the featured speaker on day three of the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, and he delivered a fiery speech that built on the campaign's theme of "joy." He talked about his childhood in a Nebraska town with 400 residents, and his time as a high school teacher in Minnesota -- and went into detail about what that word means, contrasting it with the themes of Donald Trump's Project 2025.

In one of his better zingers, Walz said "Is it weird? absolutely. But it's also dangerous...We've got something better, and it starts with our candidate, Kamala Harris."

The key word for tonight's program was "freedom." and the messaging was all about that -- reproductive freedom, freedom to marry, freedom to read books of your choosing and freedom of religious worship.

Oprah Winfrey, who appeared near the end of the program, pushed that narrative, calling those fighting for abortion rights "the new freedom fighters" and saying that if reproductive rights are curtailed, "there is no American dream."

Former President Bill Clinton was surprisingly low-key, praising President Biden for his work in battling the pandemic and taking on Russia in the Ukraine. He also compared Biden to George Washington for his willingness to leave the White House without losing an election. He also got in a quip about "still [being] younger than Donald Trump."

Overall, the evening moved along quickly, with more people delivering short, snappy speeches -- likely a reaction to complaints about the previous two nights dragging past midnight. Most stuck to singing the praises of Vice-President Harris and her accomplishments, but some also leaned into criticisms of the Republican nominee.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries compared Trump to "a boyfriend you broke up with who won't go away," adding "Bro, we broke up with you for a reason."

A number of Latin-American officials, including California congressman Pete Aguilar and Texas sheriff Javier Salazar, spoke passionately about Harris's ties to their communities.

Geoff Duncan, who served as the Republican Lieutenant Governor of Georgia until last year, appealed to other Republicans to cross party lines, calling Trump a cult leader and saying "if you vote for Kamala Harris, that doesn't make you a Democrat, it makes you a patriot."

Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro, who many thought would land the VP slot, was enthusiastic in his praise of VP Harris, and kept driving home the point that she would guarantee basic American freedoms, drawing chants of "USA! USA!"

the DNC tried to drive home the patriotism angle by airing a series of graphic videos showing Trump supporters storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, attacking law enforcement and setting up a gallows, chanting "Hang Mike Pence."

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was in the Capitol that day, carefully avoided saying the name of the former president, but said "“Let us not forget who assaulted democracy on January 6th. He did. But let us not forget who saved democracy that day. We did,”

The musical portion of the program ramped up considerably on Wednesday, too, with Stevie Wonder performing his classic "Higher Ground" and Maren Morris delivering the on-message call-to-arms "Better Than We Found It."

And overall, it was a positive evening. Pete Buttigieg put it into context when he said that the GOP ticket, particularly VP pick J.D. Vance, were pushing a dark vision and "America is not in the market for darkness."