Former President Barack Obama, one of the key speakers at the Democratic convention.
The 2020 Democratic National Convention has ended, and it was a skillfully run, hard-hitting success During their mostly virtual event, the Democrats covered several important bases, including party unity (for example, by featuring Bernie Sanders strongly supporting the Joe Biden–Kamala Harris presidential ticket) and party appeal, by having prominent Republicans such as John Kasich, Christine Todd Whitman and others speak in support of Biden and against the reelection of Donald Trump. The Democratic convention also highlighted some stars and several stunning speeches:
On Monday night, for example, Kristin Urquiza, spoke about her “healthy 65 year-old” father who died of COVID:
He voted for [Trump], listened to him, believed him and his mouthpieces when they said Coronavirus was under control and would disappear, and that it was OK to end social-distancing rules before it was safe… So in late May, after the stay-at-home order was lifted in Arizona, my dad went to a karaoke bar with his friends. A few weeks later, he was put on a ventilator. And after five agonizing days, he died alone, in the ICU, with a nurse holding his hand…. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that he paid with his life.
Then Michelle Obama gave an impassioned takedown of Donald Trump, even including a callous quote on U.S. COVID deaths from Trump himself:
Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.
On Tuesday night, the convention featured a marvelously produced state roll call. This is the typically corny event on the convention floor where a spokesperson from each state, often citing state mottos and other palaver, declares that the state’s delegates endorse the nominee. In this case, however, the cameras highlighted people speaking directly from their home states with emotion, humor or drama. One powerful example was Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter was killed in the 2018 high school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Standing on the beach in Fort Lauderdale, Guttenberg stated:
When my daughter was murdered in Parkland, Joe Biden called to share our family’s grief. I quickly learned about his decency and his civility. But I also learned about his toughness, and how he’s beaten the NRA. Together, with the other victims of gun violence, and our nation’s youth, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will take on the NRA again, and win.
Then Dr. Jill Biden, standing in an empty high school classroom where she once taught, gave a heartfelt speech about her husband Joe. Mrs. Biden spoke about Joe losing his first wife and their one year-old daughter, and how Dr. Biden came into their lives, helping to bring the family together, with Joe’s bravery, love and understanding. Dr. Biden then made the case that Joe, Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party would bring those same values to bear in healing the nation from the Coronavirus pandemic.
On Wedenesday night, former President Barack Obama gave what was probably the most stunning speech by a former president in U.S. history. According to President Obama:
I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously, that he might come to feel the weight of the office, and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care. But he never did. For close to four years now, he has shown no interest in putting in the work, no interest in finding common ground, no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends.
President Obama went on to warn that, under Trump, America is in danger of losing its democracy. Obama appealed to Americans to “make a plan” to “get involved and vote… as early as you can.”
President Obama paved the way for Kamala Harris to give an uplifting speech that included her diverse biography as the daughter of immigrant parents from India and Jamaica, respectively. Harris showed her personal warmth, as well as her resolve to serve all the people as Vice President. Harris successfully advocated for the Democratic vision of an America that is both “strong and decent, just and kind.”
Finally, last night, after supportive statements from his 2020 Democratic presidential primary rivals and his family members, Joe Biden took to the podium. In his speech, Biden promised:
If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst…. United, we will overcome this season of darkness in America. We’ll choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege…. We can choose a path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, more divided, a path of shadow and suspicion. Or we can choose a different path, and together take this chance to heal, to reform, to unite…. Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy, they’re all on the ballot.
Biden also laid out a number of plans, such as battling COVID by relying on scientific experts, creating a national mandate to wear masks, and giving the American people the “honest, unvarnished truth.” Additionally, Biden said that Trump “has failed to protect America,” a theme that we have pushed for many years. It was all a powerful reminder that Biden successfully climbed to the top of the polls, and has stayed there, by showcasing himself as the authentic anti-Trump, setting up a clear choice for voters in November.
Photo by U.S. Secretary of Defense, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/7tXMpp
