Judging by online comments, observers of the Democratic nominating convention hope Democrats never return to the old format. Noise. Hoopla. Press. Crowds. Stupid hats. Press interviews of people in crowds of stupid hats. Politicians shouting speeches and trying to tell a compelling story over all of it.
Perhaps the coronavirus death count and economic tragedy make all that seem even more tasteless. Real people telling their stories from their homes, announcing delegate counts with their far-flung states and territories as backdrops feels less contrived, more personal and more intimate, even knowing how much technology is behind it. It’s a big, diverse country. This format reminds us of that just when we need reminding.
We get to think about that and feel it without pundits interrupting to tell us what we should think and feel.
The intimacy gave viewers space to choke up at how much work went into former Rep. Gabby Giffords delivering her message against gun violence through her gunshot-damaged brain.
The quiet made room for eleven-year-old Estella’s story of having her world torn apart by Donald Trump’s jihad against immigrants. Her small voice drew tears from those who have any left.
Friends in the business of storytelling complained for years that Democrats are fools to leave that to political flacks instead of Hollywood professionals. Someone tweeted that the Republican convention will make even clearer where writers and filmmakers find their political home. Whether it is the right format or the right talent (finally), the difference in this Democratic convention is stark.
So is the choice this November, assuming democracy still exists here by then. We should “expect a president to be the custodian of this democracy,” former President Barack Obama said last night. The acting president is not only not up to that job, he has no interest in it.
Obama ‘s speech Wednesday night he delivered from the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia. He did not have to shout it into a microphone. There was no crowd he needed to stoke. No pauses for applause, no cutaway shots of the arena. It was a fireside chat without the fireplace. More than that, it was a presidential version of “the talk” black parents have with their children about the stark realities of navigating a white-dominated world. For that is the old world Trump wants to remake by guile or by force or by theft.
After pitching Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Obama celebrated the life of John Lewis and Civil Rights Movement activists. He recalled their struggles to make America, “somehow, some way,” live up to its myths of freedom and equality. To finally “include the voices of those who’d once been left out,” in the original Constitution. Now that work falls to a new generation:
I’ve seen that same spirit rising these past few years. Folks of every age and background who packed city centers and airports and rural roads so that families wouldn’t be separated. So that another classroom wouldn’t get shot up. So that our kids won’t grow up on an uninhabitable planet. Americans of all races joining together to declare, in the face of injustice and brutality at the hands of the state, that Black Lives Matter, no more, but no less, so that no child in this country feels the continuing sting of racism.
To the young people who led us this summer, telling us we need to be better — in so many ways, you are this country’s dreams fulfilled. Earlier generations had to be persuaded that everyone has equal worth. For you, it’s a given — a conviction. And what I want you to know is that for all its messiness and frustrations, your system of self-government can be harnessed to help you realize those convictions.
You can give our democracy new meaning. You can take it to a better place. You’re the missing ingredient — the ones who will decide whether or not America becomes the country that fully lives up to its creed.
That work will continue long after this election. But any chance of success depends entirely on the outcome of this election. This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win. So we have to get busy building it up — by pouring all our effort into these 76 days, and by voting like never before — for Joe and Kamala, and candidates up and down the ticket, so that we leave no doubt about what this country we love stands for — today and for all our days to come.
Stay safe. God bless.
It was the only time last night I missed having an audience to shout, “Amen!”
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
For The Win, 3rd Edition is ready for download. Request a copy of my free countywide GOTV mechanics guide at ForTheWin.us. This is what winning looks like.