Notes from the DNC; The Obama Show
I'm Tired, This is a quick entry, but The Obamas Were Perfect Last Night
Keeping this one short today. I’m tired, I was up late last night watching this and I have to get going to my normal job. But here are my quick thoughts on the DNC, Day 2:
Roll Calls: *Sigh* I always HATE this part of the conventions. They take too long, everyone talks too much and it takes forever. My favorite one ever was the one in 2020, which because of COVID, was done with a short video clip from each state, showcasing the unique qualities, diversity and people that comprise the Democratic Party. Last night, was…OK. Look, I get people got all excited over L’il Jon singing and Samwell Gamgee making a cameo, but it was the same old stale, tired Roll Call. They made it more interesting to be sure and it was still a HUGE step up from the Republicans version of it, but the amount of time spent on this was still way too much and mostly uneventful.
Republicans against Trump; I liked parts of these speeches. If there is anything that is going to bring in non-Democratic Party voters, its things like this that give encourage a permission structure for Republicans and leaners to vote Democratic. Stephanie Grisham gave a good 5 minute speech about what she saw on January 6th. Ana Navarro was pretty effective, as was the Mesa, AZ Mayor.
Michelle Obama, God Bless Her. She doesn’t always love to be in the spotlight but when she’s there she really kind of nails it. Her role tonight was the “Call to Action” to get people engaged, involved and working toward the goal, and she did not disappoint. Outside of her husband, probably the most effective Democratic messenger there is; she finds common themes and reaches out to everybody.
Finally, the big kahuna of the night, Barack Obama. You may recall that it was Obama’s dressing down of Trump at a WH Correspondent’s Dinner1 that ignited Trump’s ambition to run for President.2 Obama’s speeches have a real non-chalant quality to them, and it’s rare for someone to look so at ease in front of millions like this. He’s probably the best political communicator I’ve seen in my lifetime. That said, Obama was PERFECT going after Trump in this speech. Every little dig and mockery, I could envision the walls of Mar-a-lago getting covered more and more with ketchup as Trump threw food all over in a tantrum. This was Truth Social during Obama’s speech, courtesy of George Conway.
Obama got the best of him AGAIN. Everyone in the United Center and in living rooms across the country were HOWLING at it. The best line, was when he commented on Trump’s “weird fixation on crowd sizes” while doing an accordian hand gesture meant to be a metaphor for something we’ll just refer to as “Trump’s Mushroom.” My 11 year old son even got it and started cracking up. “Did he just say Trump…” and I cut him off there with a “YUP!” But the main part of the speech, that the Democratic Party was for everyone while the GOP was only looking out for Donald Trump resonated. The former President showed he can still give a great speech; this almost seemed like a bookend to his 2004 Kerry Nomination Speech where he said “There is no Red America or Blue America, there is only The United States of America!” The message was the same, but this time he gave it as a former President and party elder instead of a brash, up and coming Senate candidate. Some things just get finer with age.
All in all, Day 2 was much better than Day 1. Day 1 was too backward looking, and they made the pivot forward in Day 2. Tonight we get Tim Walz accepting the VP nomination, which should be an interesting speech. If there is anything that is going to bring over more independents and Republicans this week, this is the moment. The Obamas set up the table, it’s up to Walz and Harris the last two nights to knock them down.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
The Trump campaign released an AI picture of Taylor Swift dressed as Uncle Sam endorsing Trump. In response, this started circulating around the Internet:
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Footnotes and Fun Stuff
Which was also the night the United States killed Osama Bin Laden.
The ambition was always there really, he just used that as the story and took advantage of the opportunity in 2016.