At the risk of sounding like a thousand years old, can you tell me about a few of the memes that have, like, really done well for them?

One of the memes that just went insanely viral that involves Kamala Harris was involving the coconut tree, and they really.

Took this is Camilla de Charles. She's a CNN white House reporter, and she was nice enough to humor me. As I asked about the surge in online enthusiasm around Vice President Kamala Harris that we've seen ever since she took over for President Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket. You've probably seen or heard this clip by now.

You think you just fell out of a coconut tree

And people took that and ran with it, making songs about it, making remixes. You exist in the context.

You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you.

This was an organic kind of thing, but the Harris campaign has really leaned into it, and Kamala did some reporting on the real work that was started by the Biden administration to target Gen Z voters and people who don't consume traditional media. Both Biden and Harris actually invited some of these influencers to the white House, brought them into policy discussions at the ground level in hopes they'll spread the word to their followers. And the Democratic Party wants in on that as well.

So what's pretty interesting is that the DNC convention is inviting more than 200 content creators to come to the convention. They're really trying to target people that have a following of audiences and people that don't necessarily engage or pay attention to what's happening in politics and in the hope in an effort that that will get them to kind of wonder, okay, who is Harris? Maybe I should vote for her in this upcoming election cycle.

So as thousands of delegates descend on Chicago this week to celebrate Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, we went to the Democratic National Convention to hear from her new coalition, from influencers to party leaders, to try and find out if this wave of enthusiasm, both online and IRL, can actually beat former President Donald Trump in November. From CNN this is one thing. I'm David Rind.

Well. So I do want to ask about the food. That's right. Because here at the United Center concession stand. What what are your impressions of this man?

It's a little bare bones, but I will say we're in Chicago. So the fact that we have a Chicago hot dog, I think that's appropriate. Crinkle cut fries. My favorite kind of fries. So I'm excited to see that...

So as Camilla said, the Democratic Party credentialed more than 200 content creators to cover the DNC. That includes plenty of influencers not primarily known for their politics content. People who have never been anywhere near a political convention like this before.

Spicy vodka, chicken parm, and the best garlic bread ever. Yeah, let me tell you why.

People like food influencer Jeremy Jacobwitz, who posts restaurant and food reviews for his 315,000 followers on TikTok.

I guess the obvious question is how did you end up at a political convention?

Because I'm very political.

Jeremy told me after 2016, he decided not to just stick to food anymore. In fact, he says he gets DMs from people when he doesn't speak out on certain issues. Elizabeth Booker Houston may be a comedian and lawyer by day.

Let's talk about Minnesota governor and Kamala's VP pick, Tim Walz. Now, I was mispronouncing this man's name all wrong in my last video. It is not Waltz, it is Walz...

But politics drives her content.

So I'm just really trying to bridge the gaps where I can and also just fight disinformation and misinformation and bring people correct information whenever possible, regardless of, you know, who they're voting for. It's just really important to understand how our laws work, how politics work in the United States.

Now, all of the content creators I spoke to said Kamala Harris has inspired a surge of joy and hope among their followers. And you could definitely hear that inside the United Center as the vice president made a quick cameo on Monday night.

Good evening. It is so good to be with everyone this evening in this hall and everyone at home. This is going to be a great week!

But all this energy that those influencers are feeding off of actually translate to more votes than Donald Trump in November. I put that question to actress, musician and activist Malynda Hale.

I think that my stuff is encouraging some people. It may not be to the degree that I would like, because there are some people that just have their feelings about the whole democratic process in general. But I think with Harris now being the elected official and the way that I open up my content, I'm hoping that I can get more people to get involved and go out and vote, because I'm talking about things in a very relatable way that people are realizing, oh, these things affect me, and my vote does really matter.

It's like, I guess I'm wondering because like the the administration has brought courageous, like to the white House. So I briefed them on specific things like, do you ever worried that you're just kind of being used as a mouthpiece?

I wouldn't worry that it be used, but I think, you know, if they see that this is an outlet that is a positive and they see that this is what young people are advocating for, why not use those voices in a positive way? I don't think it's a negative at all. I think it's a positive because, again, where the direct line to that demographic they're trying to reach and getting them involved and my content will get more people to vote in my content or be able to be involved in the issues and care more than use me.

Now, it's been a real party atmosphere inside the United Center this week, but there is some discontent around the edges.

Let them go! Let them go!

'The pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in large numbers to march on the DNC to protest the Biden administration's Israel policy, as the war in Gaza rages on. It was largely peaceful, although dozens of demonstrators did manage to break down a security fence near the United Center. Police say four people were arrested back inside the arena, with dozens of uncommitted cease fire delegates in the crowd. Protesters tried to unfurl a banner which read stop Arming Israel. It was quickly shouted down, and President Biden continued to say they're working on getting a ceasefire deal done.

Most trusted those protesters out in the street. They have a point. A lot of innocent people are being killed. Both sides.

First of all, tell me what your sign says.

My sign says Michigan demands not another bomb.

'But before the march, I met a bunch of people who said the Biden-Harris administration is just not doing enough to end the suffering in Gaza. Now, let's be clear. The war doesn't rate as a top issue for most voters, but it has struck a chord, especially with young people.

My sign says 15,000 dead kids in Gaza, and it says your taxes at work.

'A lot of the people I met traveled in from the swing state of Michigan, home to one of the country's largest Arab-American communities in Dearborn. Many of them said they weren't going to vote for Kamala Harris in November, or at least they had serious doubts about it. And they were particularly turned off by how she handled the disruption at a rally a few weeks ago.

It is a plan to weaken America's middle class.

Yeah. What was her response? Shut up. Yeah, she said, I'm speaking. Now.

You know what? If you want Donald Trump to win, then say that. Otherwise I'm speaking...

Did that rub you the wrong way? That response.

Absolutely that. That pissed me off so much. Because what about the kids that are screaming and you're going to sit here talking about I'm speaking now? No, we are speaking now because you haven't said that's going to do anything for us. If anything, it's just been getting worse.

Hiba and Sumayaa said they're both voting for Jill Stein of the Green Party in November. You might remember Jill Stein. She ran against Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton back in 2016, and many believe she's siphon votes away from Clinton in the process.

So what do you say to the idea that your vote could help tip the scale towards Donald Trump?

That's stupid, because whoever you are, whoever name you put down, is where your vote goes. I didn't write down Jill Forbes. That doesn't give a point to Donald Trump. That's just bullshit. And you need to get over that.

It sounds to me like you guys are pretty dissatisfied with the way the political system works currently. Is that.

Fair? Well, we're pissed, we're pissed. It's been like that since forever. It's gotta change.

Well, how do you think that could change? Like, is this part of it? Like what? Like what else beyond that?

Yeah, this is what happens here as we had actually couple conversations with Jewish fellows that just wanted to come and see what our assets are. And we had a very good conversation. We talked and we are having dialog with people that have never been exposed to this. There's a lot of tables here for education from different organizations have nothing to do with Palestine. Right. So we're learning about other grassroots, our local and other struggles, our local struggles that align with Palestine. So it's very interesting. We're learning something.

I can answer that with an analogy. If you build it takes one brick every day to build a house. This is our brick right now. Every single protest is a brick adding to that house. So though we might not see results now, if we as long as we stay consistent and we stay strong and united, we can actually become the change. And not only a temporary change, but create a lasting change. And that's our goal. We want to end this for good completely. I don't want my children to grow up in a country like this the same way that I grew up.

We'll be right back. So the people we heard from in Chicago before the break are trying to get Harris elected, or tell her why they're upset. Largely from outside of the party machine. But there are other young people trying to make an impact from within the party. Well, so for North Carolina, it seems to be somewhat back in play, since Harris has kind of.

It's always been in play, baby. Come on now.

Anderson Clayton is one of those people. She's the chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. She's just 26 years old, the youngest state party leader in the country. And in the last few weeks, North Carolina has become a target again for Democrats. But to flip the state, they're going to have to cut into Donald Trump's margins in the rural communities he often dominates. I was curious how Clayton's party planned to do that.

We're in a political realignment right now, and a lot of people are looking at what candidate and what policy speak to me as an individual and who's going to take that forward. And I'm like, right now she's got the best case, I think, to make, especially in a state that's got a 59% rural population in it. When it comes to the economic opportunities that this administration has invested in rural communities, I think this party coming together like we have and under her right over the last three weeks has shown that she is someone that can unite people from across all demographics and also make it so that people are excited for something and that feel hope in politics again.

It does seem like there's that excitement and that hope. Do you get the sense that people are also looking for specifics on policy, like what she'll do?

Yeah, I think they're getting it right now. And I honestly feel like that was one of the her like critiques of previous administrations, whether that be Democratic or Republican, is that sometimes, you know, people paint that broad brush picture with like, you want to see honestly what they could take health care, for example. Right. Like you have a big sort of fight in the Democratic Party with whether you want to keep Obamacare or whether you want to try to go for Medicare for all. And I sort of think that, you know, that's not good enough for young people right now. Either one of those two policies, thinking about it in that way, young people are sitting there being like, how do you get my mom, who doesn't qualify for Eli Lilly's $35 insulin plan right now? How do you get her insulin to be cheap enough so that she can afford it every single month? That's what young people want to know. Like. And I think that sometimes the way that we've painted broad brush strokes, broad brush strokes, strokes over things has made it so that, like, we don't actually dive into the weeds.

Well, I'm wondering also about young people, young Democrats, maybe people that were like totally disillusioned by Biden and Trump, you know, or just the politics in general. Like, do you get a sense that they're kind of reengaging with the process in general?

Yes. But I also think. I think, and this is from my own personal little North Carolina bubble. I don't think that like I'm supposed to, because I don't believe young people are monarchists. Like, I actually think that we are very diverse in how we think about things, like we're just like any other voting bloc, even though we always want to fit us into like, these categories. Right? But I'm like, I, I truly think that young people in North Carolina were motivated because of a state legislature this last year to get out and vote. That's why I every event that I go to, I've made this thing where I like, I've gone all 100 counties in North Carolina, and I've done a stop at each one of them. And I'm the youngest state party chair in the country. Right? So naturally, every single time I go to a stop, I have a parent couple that comes up to me and they go, my kid's not going to vote this year. My kid does not understand why they need to vote this year. And I'm like, are you the one asking them to vote? Because if that's the case, we need to flip that script around. You need to give me their phone number and I need to text them, and I need to introduce myself to them, and I need to ask them about what issues are important to them. And I need to actually talk to this person, because there's no way that your kid doesn't care. The fact that people think that young folks right now are so disassociated that we don't give a shit about the people around us, is what's offensive to me, actually, because I'm like, young people care more than any demographic that I've seen. And yes, there's an apathetic group of them. Yes, I feel like it's half and half sometimes because I know that you're like Anderson girlfriend. I got friends that are not actually engaged in any of this shit and mocking those people.

Then you look at college campuses and the protests around the war, on the war and things like that. So obviously they have a lot of energy going on.

And that's the thing is, like, they care. But and I'm tired of people looking at me and saying, like, young people are disengaged or young. And I'm like, no, they are the smartest group that we will ever have come up, I think, in political history, and it's something where we need to empower these folks to realize what organized power does and not something we're like young people. I'm not asking you to change the world right now. Go change your backyard. Go get on your city council, your county commission. Like go figure out the ways in which you can win those races at that local level, because it's possible. And if you don't feel like you can enact it at that great level, fine. You don't need to.

Now, another way the Democrats are planning to convert rural voters is through the ticket itself.

I was born in West Point, Nebraska. I lived in Butte, a small town of 400 where community was a way of life.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has been playing up his farm boy roots on the trail as he tries to speak to middle class voters where they are. That includes in his home state of Nebraska.

You know, rural people often are misunderstood and are often seen as racist rednecks and, you know, stupid.

Jane Kleeb is the chair of that state's Democratic Party.

And the reality is, real folks really hate big corporations. They see big corporations coming into their towns and taking advantage of their communities, whether that's in big corporate ag or in energy communities. So there's a lot in common with our Democratic base voters and rural voters, and that pure economic sense of wanting fairness and wanting fairness for the little guy. There's also huge gaps in rural America that we also see in urban America hospitals, public school funding, infrastructure, grocery stores these are all common threads that you hear black and brown communities talking about in urban communities as well as rural voters. And so it's our job as the Democratic Party to stop focusing only on the coasts and urban centers and realize that we can actually win back rural voters who used to be in our corner.

Well, on some of those policies, do you think that people are they want to see and hear more specifics about what a Harris administration would do in terms of some of those areas?

Rural voters look for cues, and so they look for not only what you're wearing. So the car and camo actually do matter for rural voters. They're also looking for specific things like country of origin labeling, right to repair, protecting public schools. These are policies that urban people may not be talking about on a daily basis, but rural people definitely do. And they know how much those policies are for their bottom lines. So those will be big cues that, you know, we're obviously wanting Tim Walz and Kamala Harris to be talking about.

Finally, it's worth remembering what a historic President Kamala Harris would be the first woman president, the first black woman president, the first South Asian American president. But there is still a real question whether America is ready to elect a woman president. Harini Krishnan, who is a California delegate and the national director of South Asians for Harris, thinks she knows the answer, though.

Hell, yeah.

Krishnan worked on Harris's failed presidential campaign in 2019. She says that loss impacted her deeply. But those bad vibes have been completely erased in just the last month.

I am proud to call her a friend and to think that this could happen. I don't think in my ancestors wildest dreams I imagined this moment. So this is.

A little emotional about it.

Yes, I am. You know, I. I've waited five years, more than five years for this. You know, I, I stood with her when she launched her campaign in Oakland. I was there when she came to California after she suspended her campaign. And I gave her a hug. And I remember feeling incredibly distraught and emotional after working on her campaign. And I was there when President Biden announced, that, you know, she, you know, she was his choice for vice president. And there's a video of me there that is viral, of me crying somewhere out there that BuzzFeed shared. It's the worst possible video of me. But I am emotional to think that we've overcome all these hurdles. And to your point that I do think our country is ready to elect a woman president, and I do think that she appeals to such a wide segment of our population who has gotten to know her. And to think that this is going to happen is just overwhelming.

Obviously, we don't know if Harris will be able to pull it off. She has pulled ahead in some national polls in recent days, and it seems she has more paths to 270 electoral votes than Joe Biden did. Remember, though, polls are just a snapshot in time and the margins are still close. Former President Trump and his running mate JD Vance, also continued to hit battleground states as they worked to counter programed the DNC. But for now, the many different parts of the Democratic Party were so often at odds with each other, have come together and are looking forward. And as we look forward on the calendar, it's important to note the first ballots will be mailed out to North Carolina voters in less than three weeks.

One Thing is a production of CNN Audio. This episode was produced by Paola Ortiz and me, David Rind. Our senior producers are Felicia Patinkin and Faiz Jamil. Matt Dempsey is our production manager. Dan Dzula is our technical director. And Steve Lickteig, is the executive producer of CNN Audio. We get support from Haley Thomas, Alex Mansory, Robert Mathers, John Dianora Leni Steinhart, Jamus Andrest, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Amaral. Special thanks to Zach Wasser, McKenna UN, Diane Gallagher, Matt Abshire, Mags Dawson, Wendy Brundage and Katie Hinman. We'll be back on Sunday with another episode. In the meantime, dot CNN.com or the CNN 5 Things podcast is the place you want to be for all the DNC updates. I'll talk to you later.