New York state will have a big presence at this week’s Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Among the politicians who will speak from the podium, the state’s two senators.
Sen. Charles Schumer is an old hand at national conventions. He’s been on the podium for the last three, including the 2008 convention in Denver that nominated President Barack Obama to run against Republican Mitt Romney.
"If your focus is only on those like Mitt Romney, it’s not going to help the economy or help do enough for the middle class,” Schumer said in his address to the DNC four years ago.
And as he prepares to speak to delegates expected to nominate a former senator from New York, Hillary Clinton, this week, he says he’ll continue to keep the focus on the middle class.
"The party that captures the middle class and says we can make your lives better, and here is what we are going to do about it, and convinces people of that, is going to win. And our convention, I believe, is going to be focused on that issue,” Schumer said during a recent visit to Syracuse.
But while Schumer, who’s running for his fourth term in the Senate this year, has the experience, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is a novice at taking the convention podium.
"As a young woman, I certainly could imagine I would someday speak on the convention floor. It’s exciting for me personally,” she said.
But Gillibrand says she’s not nervous. She says she’ll be speaking on the floor to people she calls friends, who are also supporters of Clinton, whom she has called her longtime mentor.
"It’s not a big deal, it’s just, I don’t think anyone will be watching me on TV, so it doesn’t matter. I’m just going to be talking to my friends who are advocates and working on a grassroots basis for issues that I care so much about,” Gillibrand told WRVO News during a recent visit to Syracuse.
Gillibrand says her message will be that Clinton will fight for issues that affect families, like affordable daycare, access to universal pre-K and paid family leave.
“Hillary will fight for our children as hard as she’s going to fight for her own grandchild, and she understands the issues that face every day working families.”
Other New York Democrats who are scheduled to speak at the DNC include Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
