Oregon delegate shares perspective from the Democratic National Convention

On Monday, the Democratic National Convention kicked off in Chicago. It comes four weeks after President Biden’s decision to drop out of the presidential race and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic party nominee. Harris quickly ramped up her campaign and won a majority of delegate votes to secure the Democratic presidential nomination earlier this month, and shortly thereafter announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.

Kien Truong is a delegate from Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District, the chair of the Young Democrats of Oregon Caucus and is currently attending the convention. He is also a gay immigrant from Vietnam who became a U.S. citizen in 2021. He joins us from Chicago to share his perspective and efforts to mobilize young, diverse voters ahead of the November general election.

The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer:

Geoff Norcross: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Geoff Norcross, in for Dave Miller. The Democratic National Convention is underway in Chicago. On the first night speakers took moments to acknowledge President Biden’s lifetime of service to the nation and to look to the future with Kamala Harris as the nominee. We wanted to get an update from Chicago. So we reached out to Kien Truong. He is one of Oregon’s delegates to the convention and he is also the chair of the Young Democrats of Oregon.

He joins us now from Chicago. Kien Truong, welcome to Think Out Loud. It’s good to have you.

Kien Truong:  Hey, Geoff. Thank you for having me.

Norcross:  So what’s it like at the convention? What’s the mood now?

Truong:  Well, all I feel is just energy. Thousands of people came here to Chicago from across the country and they show their pride. They show their excitement in different ways. We have people who dress up. On Sunday we had the welcome party, on Monday, yesterday, and this morning, we had people who have all of the buttons and swag and ways that show their pride for the party. Yeah, there are just so many great speakers. We had the floor session every night, but in the morning and in the afternoon we also had so many other activities. It’s just so great to just be with Democrats.

Norcross:  What are you wearing? Are you wearing any of that swag?

Truong:  Actually, I am wearing one t-shirt that says “Vote pho our future,” like Vietnamese beef noodle soup.

[Laughter]

Norcross:  “Vote pho our future,” I get it. You had a floor session this morning already? What did you do?

Truong:  Oh, we had a floor session last night. So this morning was just different workshop and caucus meeting that I went to.

Norcross:  The highlight from yesterday was a speech by President Biden. What did you think of it?

Truong:  About a few hours before the floor session, we knew that he was confirmed to speak. And we had so many speakers before him that spoke and energized us. And before he even got to speak, he had a really long standing ovation from everyone on the floor, people chanting “We love you Joe,” and “Thank you Joe,” and just went on for three or four minutes.

Then I think he gave that really long speech about all of the accomplishments that his administration has already made. He spoke to why he decided to pass on the torch, something that I am sure was not an easy decision to make. To just hear, probably, one of the last major speeches that he is gonna give to us here at the convention. To just soak all of that in, and see how far and what has been done in the last few years, and look ahead to the future.

Norcross:  Yeah, he did speak quite a long time and he took the opportunity to tell the accomplishments of his administration. Was there a particular note that he hit that really resonated with you?

Truong:  I mean, there are so many great major policies that his administration passed like here, from home, the infrastructure package. We saw so many investments coming to Oregon. Also the Inflation Reduction Act. Those are the things that I feel like everyday Oregonian[s] get to see and experience, seeing some of the impact that is already hitting the ground here in Oregon. Those are great. But yeah, just to hear him talk about all of these and how he said he will be the most devoted volunteer to help Kamala [get] elected. And that we get to call her “Madam President.” It was really great.

Norcross:  The convention just comes four weeks after Mr. Biden decided to drop out of the race and endorse Vice President Harris. Do you remember where you were when you heard that news?

Truong:  Yes, very clearly. It was actually Portland Pride Parade. I and so many volunteers were just waiting in line to march and I think it was about 15 to 20 minutes before we were actually marching. We got the announcement from one of the event organizers. And I think they were shocked for a few seconds because we did not expect that coming in. And then the small group started chanting, “Thank you, Joe.” And then everyone just did the same thing. But for me personally, it did not hit me until probably a day or two days later. I was never an advocate for him to step down, but I was glad that he made that decision. But it took me a few days for that to hit.

Norcross:  You said that you were an advocate for him to step down. But when he did …

Truong:  I was not an advocate for him to step down. I just felt like he decided to run and we had a primary and we had voters who voted for him. So he’s our nominee and my job is to help him and Vice President Kamala Harris to be reelected. So I was not an advocate for that to happen, but I’m glad that he made that decision.

Norcross:  We have some polling now [showing a] head to head contest between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in the presidential election, mostly being done by The New York Times. And they’re showing that Kamala Harris is making up ground and maybe even pulling ahead in some of the swing states. And that’s primarily due to the reenergizing of young voters and voters of color. Are you feeling that and seeing that in your delegation too?

Truong:  Oh yeah, like 100%. We have 19 Young Democrats as part of the 78 [person] delegation and all of us support the vice president. I have to be honest too – before the president decided to pass the torch to the vice president, I did not feel the same energy among my group of friends and within Young Democrats. We know that as Democrats, the choice is very clear and we will work our best to get the ticket elected. But when that decision was made, and even before that decision was made, we had several polling showing that the vice president is very well positioned to earn the support of young voters in 2024. So now the energy is way, way better and I can feel it.

Norcross:  What will it mean to you personally as an Asian American – as you said

you are from Vietnam – to have a presidential candidate whose mother is South Asian, is Indian?

Truong:  It’s really personal to me. I came to Oregon in 2014, but I did not become a U.S. citizen until November of 2021. In the U.S. history of 248 years, this is gonna be the first time we have a nominee [of] Asian descent who I get to vote for. So she is going to be the first presidential candidate that I get to vote for. So just to see a woman, a woman of color make it to the ticket, it hits different, right? We work to elect Democrats, but when I see my community being represented at the higher ticket, it hits differently. Yeah, I am committed more than ever now so that we can work and we get to call her Madam President.

Norcross:  There was a recent article in The New York Times that described the steps that have been taken to expedite and streamline citizenship applications for immigrants in the US. And it showed that more than 3 million have been naturalized during the Biden administration so far. So as an immigrant from Vietnam who, as you say, became a citizen in 2021, what do you make of that trend?

Truong:  We know that people are working really hard to become a U.S. citizen. Even for me, when I passed the citizenship test – I shared this story several times – before I even called my mom and my dad to tell them that I passed the test, I got in the car and I registered to vote. That’s the first thing that I did because it’s a really major accomplishment. I felt like, “Oh my God, I’m an American now that I get to vote.” And we have so much data to show that the number of our community becoming U.S. citizens just keeps increasing. And we’re going to become that margin of victory. We are a marginalized community. [But] now if we have enough resources and support … in our community, they know their rights to resources available to them, they know that their voice can be heard too. We will make an impact in an election, not just at the national level, but here in Oregon as well.

Norcross:  You’re also a member of Gen Z. What do you say to young people who maybe aren’t feeling energized, maybe feel apathy about this election or think that their vote won’t matter?

Truong:  Even just among my group of friends, most of the people that I know, I encourage them. They know my background and my involvement. So I talk to them a lot about voting. And to those who are listening right now and they feel like their vote does not matter, I hope that they understand their vote truly does matter, especially in a state like Oregon, where we have vote by mail, where the state has made so many efforts to make voting as easy as possible. There’s no reason [not to vote] and I will keep reminding them about my story too.

There were so many people before us that fought so hard to get the right to vote. And I hope that voting is the least that we should do. If you or any of us feel really passionate about a candidate to share our values, we should volunteer, we should do phone banking, text banking. We should volunteer to mobilize and to just get more, even appear to show up to vote.

Norcross:  If you had the ear of the Harris campaign, what would you tell them they should focus on in order to appeal to younger voters like yourself?

Truong:  I would tell her or her team that even though there’s so much enthusiasm among young voters to support her and her candidacy, our vote cannot and must not be taken for granted. We still want the administration to continue their progress and invest more money to tackle climate change, to invest in green union jobs, to tackle the housing crisis that affects so many of us right now. Myself and my family, we’ve been trying so hard to become a homeowner and we could not do that. So they have to tackle that. They need to keep tackling big pharma to bring down the cost of insurance, not just among seniors, but for all Americans. They have to keep investing in public education so all of us do not go to college with a massive amount of debt.

And she have to work to earn our vote, right? We are a different generation. We are more active on TikTok, on Instagram. So they have to do it differently. As soon as the president decided to pass the torch, we saw that momentum. We saw that wave of that big momentum on TikTok. And I think it’s still growing. And they must reach us where we are. We also have high school students, seniors who are going to become a first-time voter. They have to figure out a different way to reach those young voters where they are.

Norcross:  Kien, this is your first Democratic National Convention. Does it live up to your expectations?

Truong:  Yes. And there are just so many activities. We got some training before we arrived in Chicago and I think Governor Barbara Roberts told us, “Pace yourself, don’t try to do everything.” And it did not really hit me until I arrived in Chicago. There was literally so much to do and we have the floor session that is mandatory for a delegate that goes between 5pm, sometime 4pm, all the way until 11pm. And yesterday it went late, all the way until I think 11:30 pm. And then we had to be up and be ready at 7am to get our credentials. In addition to that, there are just so many activities during the days.

So, yeah, I think I am glad that I’m here and I’m so excited that I got to run into so many different [inaudible] that I only got to see on TV. Like yesterday, I got to hear from Peggy Flanagan. She is the lieutenant governor of Minnesota. And if the Governor Tim Walz wins in November, she is going to become the first Native American woman to be a governor in our history. And those are huge. These are the stories that I think I did not get to hear often, and I got to hear from her. It was just so amazing.

Norcross:  OK, well the convention goes through Thursday. What are you most excited about over the next three days and three nights?

Truong:  We get to rally and get to formally nominate the vice president. She gave us a surprise appearance last night. But, of course, she was not planning on speaking long. But I am very much looking forward to hearing her nomination speech because I think that is her opportunity to lay out her vision for America and for our future, and draw some contrast between her candidacy and former president Donald Trump. For me, I’m a Democrat. I know the choice is really clear to me. But we also have so many non-affiliated voters and we have undecided voters. So I think as the world is watching to see what our party is about, I’m really curious on how she is going to make that case to voters and how other people should support her.

Norcross:  Kien Truong, it was great to talk to you and safe travels back to Oregon this week. I appreciate it.

Truong:  Thank you so much, Geoff.

Norcross:  Kien Truong is an Oregon delegfate at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Also the chair of the Young Democrats of Oregon and chief of staff to Oregon State Senator Kayse Jama.

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