CHICAGO — On the second night of the Democratic National Convention, the party tried to counter the GOP’s four-day long pitch in Milwaukee last month in a single night.
The RNC featured paeans to Trump. Democrats got his former employees and supporters to belittle him.
The RNC had Teamsters President Sean O’Brien deliver a speech. A whole flock of Teamsters showed up to thank Democrats for saving their pensions.
The RNC had a full arena in Milwaukee. The DNC had full arenas in Chicago and Milwaukee.
The RNC compared Democrats to communists. The Democrats featured a former Republican and Nicaraguan American who compared Trump to Latin American dictators — and had a former credit card CEO tout Vice President Kamala Harris’ capitalist credentials.
And the DNC actually managed to get their presidential candidate’s spouse to speak at the convention. Oh, and a former president — and that former president’s spouse, who mostly disregarded her past advice to go high when Republicans went low.
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black,” former first lady Michelle Obama said, before delivering one of the night’s standout lines, a reference to an awkward-at-best moment from the first presidential debate: “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?”
Democrats’ need to counter the RNC pulled together an otherwise scattershot night, which at one point featured Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an avowed Democratic socialist, followed by a billionaire governor and a former CEO. If there were uniting themes, it was outreach to moderate voters, star power and testimonials about Harris. But if there was an overarching goal, it was to own the GOP.
There are questions over how effective harsh attacks on Trump can be, since many of the marginal voters Democrats may need to win over like at least some things about him. And political operatives in both parties say defining Harris is the more important task at the moment, though Democrats did not skimp on that either.
The party also quickly put aside last night’s themes, with unpopular President Joe Biden largely relegated to an afterthought. A few early speakers, like Sanders, celebrated him, but he went mostly ignored in speeches from Michelle and Barack Obama and second gentleman Doug Emhoff.
One of the night’s first speakers, former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham, revealed Trump used to refer to his supporters as “basement-dwellers.” Other former and current Republicans followed her, including Kyle Sweetser, a former Trump voter, and John Giles, the mayor of Mesa, Ariz., one of the nation’s largest suburbs.
“I have an urgent message for the majority of Americans who, like me, are in the political middle: John McCain’s Republican Party is gone,” Giles said. “And we don’t owe a damned thing to what’s been left behind. So let’s turn the page. Let’s put country first. And let’s put the adults in the room our country deserves.”
And though O’Brien was notably not among the labor leaders who spoke on Monday night, a number of rank-and-file Teamsters joined Michigan Sen. Gary Peters on stage to celebrate how Biden’s signature American Rescue Plan legislation saved their pensions.
After a very musical roll call of state delegations formally nominated Harris, the cameras cut to a Harris in the battleground state of Wisconsin. Her supporters had filled the same Milwaukee arena where Republicans hosted their convention last month.
The focus then jumped to another former Republican, political strategist turned-television personality Ana Navarro, who turned the “communist” attack back around on Trump and Republicans, comparing Trump to Latin American dictators Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua, the Castro brothers in Cuba and Nicholas Maduro in Venezuela.
But the highlights were clearly the final three speeches of the night. They provided star power the RNC has simply been unable to match, with Trump’s predecessors as GOP president and vice president unwilling to endorse him and his wife apparently unwilling to speak on his behalf.
Emhoff, Harris’ husband, gave a speech that leaned into the two most powerful things a political spouse can share about their partner — their dedication to the country and their humanity.
Exuding a goofy, dad-like charm, Emhoff shared the story of his first date with Harris (and how he kind of blew it) and spoke to her strength as a candidate.
“She finds joy in pursuing justice,” he said. “She stands up to bullies, just like my parents taught me to. She likes seeing people do well but hates when they’re treated unfairly.” He added: “Her empathy is her strength.”
It’s a far cry from Melania Trump’s appearances — or lack thereof — on the 2024 campaign trail. While the former first lady appeared briefly at the RNC, she did not speak. Nor has she been seen at campaign events or made public statements, barring a brief message after the attempted assassination on her husband.
The Obamas finished the night, reminding viewers who tuned in why they remain two of the most coveted speakers in Democratic politics.
The strong implication of the tag-team performance, which prompted roars of applause, laughter, and emotional tears from audience members, was that Harris is prepared to take up the torch not only from Biden, but from Barack Obama, who conjures nostalgia among many Democrats. It was an effort to paint Harris, who serves in the current administration, as at once a change agent and a throwback to an era when Democrats were inspired by their leaders.
“Something wonderfully magical is in the air, isn’t it? Not just here in this arena, but spreading all across this country we love — a familiar feeling that’s been buried too deep for too long,” Michelle Obama said.
“You know what I’m talking about? It’s the contagious power of hope!” she continued.
Barack Obama completed the picture of a more hopeful and unified country by invoking his grandmother and Michelle’s recently deceased mother, and how they shared a sense of sacrifice and common purpose despite their different backgrounds.
That kind of shared purpose is still attainable for the country, Obama said — if Democrats spared no effort to elect Harris in November.
“We’ll elect leaders up and down the ballot who will fight for the hopeful, forward-looking America we believe in,” he concluded. “And together, we too will build a country that is more secure and more just, more equal and more free.”
