The first thing to understand about the Democratic National Convention is that while it’s taking place in Chicago, it is not a Chicago event. It belongs to the nation. Even the United Center was stripped of its local identity, with the Bulls and Blackhawks championship banners taken down for the duration of the event. Everywhere I looked in the arena, I saw rising from the floor a forest of signs bearing the names of the states, just like in the cartoons, or the vintage photographs. California was closest to the stage, since it’s providing the nominee. I leaned on a railing separating me from the Arizona delegation, which seemed to be equal parts white, Latino, and Native. The Washington delegation wore white cowboy hats with flashing lights — the show offs. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who will be Speaker if the Democrats win the House of Representatives, walked past me, hugging people, posing for selfies.

From where I stood, the speakers on the podium were the size of action figures. Ashley Biden introduced her father. According to the schedule, James Taylor was supposed to sing a song, but the program was running late, so they skipped him and went straight to the president. A shame. It would have been good exposure for Mr. Fire and Rain, at least reminded America he’s still alive.

Biden could barely begin his speech. The delegates waved “WE (HEART) JOE” placards and chanted “Thank you, Joe!” — although whether they were thanking him for his service or for stepping down to make way for Kamala Harris was unclear. The Democrats thought they would be forced to nominate this hoary old frog for one more term, but instead, they’re getting a queen.

“There’s an excitement I haven’t seen since ’08,” when Obama ran for president, a Maryland delegate told me earlier in the day. “We’ve got someone new, fresh, and exciting.”

Biden’s speech was a reminder of why the delegates never felt that sort of excitement about him. There’s an old political saying: you campaign in poetry, but govern in prose. Biden campaigns in prose. On this August night, he was an august knight. He made a few remarks about saving democracy and fighting “a battle for the soul of the nation,” but soon he was ladling out statistics, like the senator he was for 36 years. The Chips and Science Act is spending tens of billions of dollars to build new microchip factories. The nation created 800,000 new jobs during his presidency. The nation’s 1,000 billionaires pay an average tax rate of 8.2 percent. He wants to raise it to 25 percent.

“We saved democracy in 2020 and now we must save it again in 2024,” he concluded. Then he waved, lifted his upper lip to flash that toothy grin, and left the stage for Washington. It was no longer his convention, or his party.

The DNC isn’t just taking place in the United Center. Every afternoon, there are caucuses and panel discussions inside McCormick Place. On Monday, the most heavily attended was “From Gaza to Washington: Democrats for Palestinian Human Rights,” moderated by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. I was handed a flier for the event by two women wearing keffiyehs labeled “Democrats for Palestinian Rights” and buttons identifying themselves as Ceasefire Delegates. Gaza is not as big an issue as it would have been with Biden as the nominee, but it’s still the most significant source of protest. Even as hundreds gathered in this room, thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators were marching from Union Park to the United Center.

James Zogby of the Arab American Institute called Israel’s war in Palestine “genocide. It is the erasure of a people, their memory, their history, and we’re enabling it.”

Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric surgeon who has worked in Gaza, told a story of a boy who lost his entire family.

“He said, ‘Everybody I love is in heaven; I don’t want to be here anymore.’”

Another member of the panel stood up and left the room, returning minutes later with a tissue to dab away her tears. Audience members were crying.

“This is not an Arab issue, a Muslim issue, a Jewish issue, this is a morality issue,” Zogby said. “The vice president has been working hard on her campaign. She’s trying, but we have to hold her accountable.”

On the bus between McCormick Place and the United Center (which took two and a half hours to make its journey, supposedly because the protestors had breached the security perimeter), I met several delegates from Minnesota who were at the convention as “uncommitted” delegates, representing voters who had refused to cast their ballots for Biden in protest of his Gaza policy. There are 36 uncommitted delegates at the convention, 11 from Minnesota. They all cast their ballots in the name of Palestinians killed in the war.

Fun fact: Minnesotans aren’t Democrats, their “DFLers,” members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor, which was formed as a merger with a populist party during the Great Depression. I asked the DFLers how they felt about their governor, Tim Walz, as the party’s vice presidential nominee. A woman in a hijab boasted that her organization, Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment, had lobbied for the “period bill,” which guaranteed tampons and pads in all public schools.

“The Republicans are calling him ‘Tampon Tim,’” I said.

The DFLer made a face.

“Republicans always find reasons to make fun of women, and people who support women,” she said.

It turns out the woman, whose name was Jorad, had lived in Albany Park before moving to Minnesota.

“All right,” she told me, “let’s settle it. What’s the best pizza in Chicago?”

“Are you talking about actual pizza or that lasagna?” the Maryland delegate piped up.

“Thin crust,” I said, glad for a teachable moment. “That’s what most Chicagoans eat. I like J.B. Alberto’s, because it’s in my neighborhood.”

“You should try Pequod’s.”

“New York-style pizza is the best,” the Marylander said. “Those huge slices.”

“You can eat that some other time,” I said. “Not this week.”

As the bus drew closer to the United Center, it passed a long line of Chicago police officers.

“You can see they’ve got a lot of zipties,” the uncommitted delegate said. “Their nightsticks are straight — not for restraint, just for clubbing people. Things you learn from living in Minneapolis in 2020,” during the George Floyd protests.

That night, before Joe Biden spoke, dozens of dignitaries took the stage: congresspeople, Hillary Clinton, even Harris herself. But no one spoke a word about Palestine. Stay tuned. They’ll have to confront it eventually.