Today marks a wrap for the 2020 Democratic National Convention (DNC). In the first-ever fully online convention, Joe Biden took center stage to accept the Democratic nomination for president, and vowed to end the “chapter of American darkness.”
The past couple of days have been chock-full of speeches from various members of the Democratic Party, from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Jill Biden, Chuck Schumer, Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, Pete Buttigieg, Tammy Duckworth, Andrew Yang, and of course, Joe Biden himself. (See our post about day 1 of the DNC here.)
Jill Biden, speaking on Tuesday evening from the high school she taught at, emphasized her role in education and the care about the pain faced by millions during the COVID-19 crisis. She said that the way to make a broken family whole, was the same as making a nation whole: “with love and understanding, and with small acts of compassion; with bravery; with unwavering faith.” She promised that “these classrooms will ring out with laughter and possibility once again.”
There were also appearances of many Republicans on Tuesday who endorse Biden, most notably John Kasich, former Governor of Ohio. Cindy McCain, the widow of John McCain, Republican presidential nominee in 2008, also spoke. This will definitely help sway over some on-the-edge Republican voters.
The Roll Call Across America on Tuesday was where all 50 states, 5 territories, and D.C. cast their delegate votes for the presidential nominee. To the surprise of no one, Joe Biden won the nomination of the Democratic Party. Again, this really played into the theme of unity, to show that people across every corner of the country were united in electing Joe Biden as president.
Barack Obama’s speech Wednesday once again displayed his amazing speaking skills. He warned that Donald Trump was a grave threat to American democracy and blasted him, saying that “he hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t.” Obama said that “he’s shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.” Obama said that Americans must “not let [Trump] take away your [voting] power. Do not let [Trump] take away your democracy.”
Among many other excellent speeches by Senator Elizabeth Warren, who praised Biden’s child care policies and plans to bring back union jobs, Senator and veteran Tammy Duckworth, who said Trump was a “coward-in-chief” that used the military to “stoke his own ego,” Kamala Harris, who accepted the nomination as Vice President, and lots, lots more.
Wrapping up the convention was Joe Biden’s nomination acceptance speech, which cast Donald Trump as a failing, selfish president who made use of hatred, racism, and chaos to achieve his own political goals. Pledging to be “an ally of the light, not of the darkness,” he promised to “end this chapter of American darkness” and deliver on the “promise of America,” where the nation will “open the doors of opportunity to all Americans. To save our democracy. To be a light to the world once again.” The speech tried to unite together Americans and promised, to people working in all different sectors, from manufacturing to technology, to transportation.
It was a mistake, though, for the convention to not include more progressives. Bernie Sanders was really the only progressive who was asked by the DNC to speak there. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was only there to speak on behalf of Sanders, to “nominate” him as one of the candidates for president. By including more progressives, the Democratic Party would be able to further affirm progressives’ backing of Joe Biden, thereby preventing a bitter repeat of 2016 where Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders fought till the very end for the nomination. And Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, two of the best-known progressive congresswomen, were nowhere to be seen.
Whether or not Joe Biden gets a convention boost from this highly unconventional online convention waits to be seen. However, he sure has made a good case against Donald Trump. I’ll definitely be watching the Republican National Convention next week. See you then.
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