San Franciscans Cheer On Kamala Harris at DNC Watch Party

Dozens of San Franciscans lined the walls of Manny’s in the Mission on Monday, cheering at a single TV in the popular cafe. No 49ers playoffs or Drag Race All Stars here — they came to see Vice President Kamala Harris and others take the stage at this week’s Democratic National Convention.

The convention comes about a month after Biden ended his reelection campaign and announced his support for Harris, who recently selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. Energy was high on Monday in Manny’s, a popular civic salon, as people rooted for their favorite politicos and passersby gathered at a front window to get a peek.

“I feel really optimistic about the race right now. Kamala is such a better candidate than Biden, and I think she has a good chance of winning, and I love Tim Walz. I think they will capture the young vote and people like me,” said DeVon Thompson, a 20-year-old from New York City living in San Francisco for a summer internship in the mayor’s office.

Thompson was among about 60 people who stopped by Manny’s to catch the first night of the four-day convention, which kicked off Monday in Chicago with speakers including Hillary Clinton, Steve Kerr, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden.

“I don’t have too many friends here yet, so I came out to make more, and I’m excited just to watch,” Thompson said, adding that it was his first convention to watch and his first election he’s able to vote in.

Others at Monday’s gathering have been steeped in politics for years. Noe Valley resident Doug Neilson remembers watching parties for the Democratic National Convention when Barack Obama was running for president, and now he’s riding the wave of enthusiasm for Harris. He plans to travel to Nevada and take part in a phone banking to campaign for the vice president this fall.

“I remember the celebration that night (when Obama was elected), and the reason I’m here is to help that happen again for Kamala Harris,” Neilson said. “I’ve never felt this energy before, from being very, very concerned to now having an incredible amount of hope. But we also have to fight.”

For most of the roughly 60 people who came through the party on Monday, it was a chance to meet neighbors and share both optimism and fears about the upcoming election.

“I thought it would be fun to see this with people in the neighborhood and build excitement,” Mission resident Alice Liu said. “It’s been hard to see a fractious Democratic party, and I’m really excited to see how the different politicians can unite. The political environment has been really all over the place.”

This week, more than 4,000 delegates will meet at the convention in Chicago to recognize Harris as the Democratic nominee. Harris is already the official candidate, however, as she already earned the majority of her delegate votes in a virtual vote in early August.

Other speakers planned for this week include former President Barack Obama, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former President Bill Clinton and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.

Walz will speak on Wednesday night to accept the vice president nomination, and Harris, who made a surprise appearance already on Monday night, will speak again on Thursday evening.

Sidath Perera, who lives in the Glen Park neighborhood, stopped by for the camaraderie during the convention. He has visited other political events at Manny’s, which regularly hosts talks and forums with community and government leaders, and said he wanted to feel the excitement of the moment alongside some new faces.

“I really like the trajectory now. I was feeling really pessimistic after the debate (between Biden and former President Donald Trump) and am really thankful for the people who stuck their neck out and urged Biden to give the next generation a chance,” said Perera.

During Biden’s appearance on Monday in Chicago, he said that selecting Harris as a running mate was “the best decision I made in my whole career.”

“She’ll be a president our children can look up to. She’d be a president respected by world leaders because she already is. She’d be a president we can all be proud of. And she’d be a historic president who puts her stamp on America’s future,” Biden said.

David George Johnson, a San Francisco resident and mailman, was particularly moved by speakers like UAW President Shawn Fain, who called Trump “a scab” — a term referring to someone who crosses a picket line — in his DNC remarks.

He said the high cost of living and inequality are two of the issues he is most concerned about, and he felt proud that his union endorsed Harris for president last week.

“This convention is really important because of our democracy,” Johnson said from a barstool at Manny’s. “We need to elect someone who can resonate with us here in the Bay Area and around the United States.”