Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was in Raleigh on Saturday, headlining the North Carolina Democratic Party’s annual Unity Dinner as questions swirl around whether President Joe Biden will remain at the top of her party’s presidential ticket.
Biden was mentioned in speeches but briefly, with the focus on electing and mobilizing Democrats and defeating former President Donald Trump.
“What comes next is very important for our country,” Pelosi said, and the two differing visions of Democrats and Republicans. She said Democrats are about liberty and honoring values. She said that Republicans are about greed and “nationalist populism.”
Pelosi has previously talked about what the nomination process should be if Biden stepped aside, Politico reported. And the Associated Press reported that Pelosi has privately told Biden he may lose and bring down other Democrats on the ballot, too.
But she did not talk about any notion of Biden stepping aside in the campaign. She spoke about why the 2024 election is important for reproductive rights, affordable child care, a child tax credit and other issues.
Pelosi said that “elections are not about rewarding you for what you have done. They are about what you are going to do next.”
She briefly mentioned accomplishments of Biden and congressional Democrats, saying they “know how to do the job.”
Pelosi also talked about how North Carolina General Assembly battles are similar to Congress, over issues like state budget, education funding and teacher pay. She didn’t talk about the uproar in the party over the presidential ticket, nor did other speakers, instead focusing on state races and defeating Trump.
Pelosi urged Democrats in the room to “own the ground” during campaigning and work on their message. She also told them not to waste time or resources.
N.C. Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton said she needs Democrats to knock on doors and work “to be a new South again.”
Top Democrats speak
The most lively speech of the night came from state House Democratic Leader Robert Reives, who talked about party unity in his speech.
Reives said that in the country and in North Carolina it is “required that we hold hands, and it’s required that we are unified.”
He said the need to move forward, without specifying exactly what that means.
“As a party and as North Carolinians,” he said, “whether you’ve been here for 50 years or five months, we owe it to the people of this state to save our government.”
The theme of unity, which was also a theme at the Republican National Convention last week after the attempted Trump assassination, has been a priority for Democrats as some of them have called for Biden to step aside.
North Carolina is a swing state, so there is national focus here, including because Cooper’s name has been floated by several Democrats as a potential vice presidential pick if Biden were to step aside and Harris become the nominee. The Democratic National Convention is in August in Chicago.
Harris has been in North Carolina twice within a week this month, first in Greensboro, then in Fayetteville on July 18. Cooper spoke at both events. In his speech Saturday night, Cooper said he had met recently with Biden and Harris and pointed to what their administration has done around the state for “health care, for transportation, for clean water, child care, good paying jobs.”
He called the election “the biggest election of our lifetime. And that is not hyperbole, not hyperbole. So why is this year so important? I’ll tell you why, because this is just about what kind of leaders we want to have,” Cooper said.
Cooper also talked about Republican nominee for governor, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is running against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein.
“Donald Trump’s America is where the president is a convicted felon, a chronic liar and the king of chaos. Do we want Donald Trump’s America? Mark Robinson’s North Carolina is where women can’t lead, teachers are evil and political violence is OK. Do we want Mark Robinson’s North Carolina? Absolutely not,” Cooper said to cheers from the crowd of about 1,000 Democrats dining on Carolina-rubbed chicken breast, hydroponic bibb salad and honey mousse.
Cooper talked about legislative, Council of State and judicial races before introducing Stein.
Stein also talked about his own race and legislative races. He called Robinson’s campaign about culture wars and division.
“Here in North Carolina, the stakes facing our state could not be higher, and the choice could not be clearer,” Stein said, adding that his vision is about being positive, welcoming and creating opportunities for every person.
Like Cooper, Stein urged Democrats to work to get out the vote for all races.
“We will keep the White House and defeat Donald Trump,” Stein said as he ended his speech.
Before the banquet, Pelosi came into the room about an hour early and spent 20 minutes talking to Democratic supporters, including Clayton, the state party chair, and state Rep. Caleb Rudow, who is running for Congress. Rudow told The News & Observer that he was part of a group of Buncombe County Democrats who met Pelosi before the event began, and that Pelosi told him good luck, and “we need you in Congress.” Rudow is challenging the Republican incumbent, U.S. Rep. Chuck Edwards, in the 11th Congressional District.
During the event, N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice Allison Riggs talked about “a movement of voters who demand transparency and the highest ethical standards from their judges” and a movement of judges “who recognize that no person, no matter the rank, is above the law.”
Riggs, who was appointed and is running for election this fall, said that voters will reject extremism in the courts.
Senate Democratic leader Dan Blue told the audience that the General Assembly “is the beta site for all these crazy ideas” that Republicans have across the country. He said Republicans at all levels want Democrats to be scared of each other and turn against each other. Blue said that instead of unity through fear, he wants “unity through hope.”
Blue said he hopes Democrats “launch a blue tidal wave” in November.
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