Georgetown DNC Delegates Psyched for Chicago 

The excitement and joy were contagious at a dinner at Martin’s Tavern with former Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Monica Roaché and well-known community leader Christine Warnke, just days before they were to travel to Chicago for the Democratic National Convention. The convention will be held Aug. 19 to 22 in the United Center.

“It’s my first time getting to go to the national convention — and then as a delegate,” Roaché said, clearly excited. “We’ll be there five days, and I want to take advantage of every minute.”

“There is so much to do, so many activities,” added Warnke. This convention will be the eighth she has attended in various capacities, including as a superdelegate. “We’re just now getting schedules of the official events,” she said. “There will be dozens of gatherings at the convention that we can attend as well.”

Many of the most anticipated DNC events will happen in the evening, starting around 7 p.m. Events often go past 10 p.m., with invitation-only events taking place afterward. One of the most anticipated is the formal roll call, where each spokesperson gets a chance to laud his or her own state’s attributes, prior to proclaiming the delegation’s choice of presidential candidate

This year, in order to meet early ballot printing deadlines in some states, the official voting by Democratic Party delegates took place from Aug. 1 to 5 via an online platform operated by the DNC. Vice President Kamala Harris received some 95 percent of the delegates’ votes for president. She announced on Aug. 6 that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz would be her running mate. The formal roll call is expected to confirm that vote.

Other evenings at the convention will feature speeches and presentations by party leaders and elected officials, with lots of floor scenery, music, costumes and hoopla.

State delegates usually stay in hotels together, often meeting in the morning to talk policy. The District of Columbia will be sending 20 pledged delegates and 29 unpledged delegates to Chicago.

The D.C. issue that Roaché and Warnke want to highlight most among delegates and political leaders from across the U.S. is District statehood. The two agreed that it is always amazing to see how many politically savvy people don’t really know that the nearly 700,000 D.C. residents have no senator or representative — only a nonvoting delegate. It’s D.C. Dems’ perennial issue. “But we’re getting closer each year to Congressional approval,” said Roaché.

“I also want to go to as many of the afternoon caucuses as I can,” she said. Every afternoon, the DNC organizes meetings around specific interest groups and issues.

“I look forward to meeting Democrats to gather party talking points that I can share with D.C. residents about how Democrats plan to address concerns, especially about Blacks and education,” said Roaché, an Arlington, Virginia, assistant school principal and a fifth-generation resident of Washington and Georgetown.

Warnke also wants to attend caucuses, especially of ethnic interest groups. A Greek American, she founded the D.C. Hellenic American Women’s Council and was recently a director of international affairs for D.C. government.

Besides wanting to try a real Chicago deep-dish pizza, the two hope to get in some sightseeing. Roaché will visit the headquarters of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, of which Harris is a member. “Many sorority sisters attending the convention plan on wearing pink and green in support even though we are a non-partisan organization.”

The grand finale is the speech by the presidential nominee. Roaché and Warnke foresee coming away from the convention energized and inspired. But they must not get overly confident, noted both. “There are still some 90 days before the election,” Warnke observed.

“At this point, it looks like a very tight race,” Roaché said. “No one really knows right now who is going to win the presidency.”