🔵 How Pa. is influencing the DNC | Morning Newsletter

Happy warm and sunny Thursday, and congrats to Romano’s of Delco: Their stromboli-inspired chips won this year’s “Flavored by Philly” contest.

Pennsylvanians have been prominently featured at the Democratic National Convention this week, from the governor to influencers. Below, we dig into how and why content creators from the Philadelphia area are covering the DNC.

And The Boss is back on the “Streets of Philadelphia” this week. For some local fans, loving Bruce Springsteen is a family affair.

Read on for these stories and many more.

— Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

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Pennsylvania has been front and center at the DNC this week (literally, in the case of the state’s delegates, who are seated right in front of the stage).

Among those in attendance are Philly-area content creators participating in the first cohort of influencers covering the convention — many getting more exclusive access than journalists — as the party seeks to reach younger voters.

For ‘burbs-based Alex Pearlman, that means sharing memes and seemingly off-the-cuff moments with Gov. Josh Shapiro. For new-to-Philadelphia Dara Starr Tucker, it’s shifting her content’s focus from national to state politics since getting more connected to local peers.

What’s the value of posting from the convention? Politics reporter Aliya Schneider has the story.

Here are more local moments from the DNC and beyond:

🔵 Shapiro gave his definition of “real freedom” in a prime-time speech Wednesday. He’s spent the week boosting his national profile while keeping a potential eye on the 2028 or 2032 presidential race, as politics reporter Julia Terruso writes from the ground.

🔵 Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff earlier in the week discussed growing up in north-central New Jersey.

🔵 Harris’ campaign will launch new ads focused on Asian American voters in battleground states, including Pennsylvania.

🔵 Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, one of the largest historically Black sororities, held their conference in Philadelphia last week and emphasized the importance of voting.

🔵 Artist Sheryl Oring brought her typewriter to town and invited people to express their thoughts directly to the next U.S. president.

Visit Inquirer.com throughout the day for the latest from Chicago.

It’s Bruce week in Philadelphia, as the Monmouth County, New Jersey native plays two makeup shows at Citizens Bank Park.

🎸 For some Philly families, The Boss is the tie that binds. They bond over lyrics, name their pets after song titles, and have seen dozens of concerts together across the country and beyond — some upward of 80 times. But they say nothing beats hometown shows.

🎸 “It’s much deeper than just going to a concert or loving his music or loving the experience,” one Montgomery County devotee told The Inquirer. “It’s part of the roots of our family.”

🎸 Arts reporter Rosa Cartagena has the story on Springsteen’s multigenerational appeal.

Want more Bruce? Read up on how the rocker transformed into a political artist 40 years ago and which album is the favorite of Democratic VP candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, or take The Inquirer’s lyrics quiz. Look out for music critic Dan DeLuca’s review of night one, plus the setlist, today on Inquirer.com.

A Kensington distillery has gone national thanks to the popularity of which breakout drink?

A) Fishtown Iced Tea, Rectified Spirits

B) Surfside canned cocktails, Stateside Vodka

C) Vieux Carré absinthe, Philadelphia Distilling

D) Bloody Butcher bourbon, New Liberty Distillery

Think you know? Check your answer.

🥃 Joining: The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s rare whiskey lottery by Friday.

🧗 Learning: The ropes at these Philadelphia climbing gyms.

📚 Reading: A Philly Bookstore Crawl guide to the best books of 2024 so far.

The Philly songstress who performed on the second day of the DNC.

PLIABLE LATTE

Email us if you know the answer. We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Walter Tsou, who solved Wednesday’s anagram: Steve Van Zandt. The Jersey-raised guitar player, backup vocalist, and musical director of the E Street Band plays with Bruce Springsteen in Philly this week.

👋 Enjoy the rest of your Thursday. Back at it tomorrow!

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