A Hopeful Convention
A stark contrast in vibes.
For a variety of reasons, not least of which being that the highlights are scheduled well after my bedtime, I haven’t seen a minute of either party convention live. But, rather clearly, they’re presenting radically different tones.
NPR (“With humor and hope, Obamas warn against Trump, urge Democrats to ‘do something’“):
Barack and Michelle Obama, Chicago’s favorite power couple, declared “hope is making a comeback” with Vice President Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, at the top of the Democratic presidential ticket
The former president and first lady headlined the second night of the Democratic National Convention, delivering a message of exhilaration at the possibility of electing the first woman in history to the White House – and the critical importance, they added, of preventing former President Donald Trump from securing a second term.
“We want something better. We want to be better,” Obama said. “And the joy and excitement we’re seeing around this campaign tells us we’re not alone.”
They also warned, from firsthand experience, of the battle ahead to elect Harris – a path marred by what the former president called the “bluster, bumbling and chaos” of Trump on the campaign trail.
“For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us,” Michelle Obama said of Trump’s campaign in 2016. “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.
“Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those ‘Black jobs’?” the former first lady quipped to raucous applause.
AP (“Obamas close DNC’s second night with rousing Harris endorsement and pointed warnings about Trump“):
Barack Obama, the first Black president in U.S. history, insisted the nation is ready to elect Harris, who is of Jamaican and Indian heritage and would be the nation’s first female president. He also called Trump “a 78-year-old billionaire who hasn’t stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”
“It’s been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually gotten worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala,” he said.
[…]
A symbolic roll call in which delegates from each state pledged their support for the Democratic nominee turned into a party atmosphere. A DJ played a mix of state-specific songs — and Atlanta native Lil Jon ran out during Georgia’s turn to his hit song with DJ Snake, “Turn Down for What,” to the delight of the thousands inside the cavernous United Center.
And various speakers offered personal stories about Harris, who has served as a California senator and vice president, but remains largely unknown among many voters.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who would become the nation’s first gentleman if his wife wins the presidency, shared details about his relationship with the vice president — their cooking habits, their first date and her laugh, which is often mocked by Republican critics.
“You know that laugh. I love that laugh!” Emhoff said as the crowd cheered. Later, he added, “Her empathy is her strength.”
WaPo (“Obamas electrify Democrats at Chicago convention“):
Former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, two of the Democratic Party’s most popular figures, electrified delegates at the party’s convention Tuesday, saying they saw the same sense of excitement and hope that characterized their own rise to the White House now surrounding Kamala Harris.
“I’m feeling hopeful because this convention has always been pretty good to kids with funny names who believe in a country where anything is possible,” Barack Obama said, a reference to his emergence as a political star at the 2004 convention. “Because we have the chance to elect someone who’s spent her whole life trying to give people the same chances America gave her.”
The former president sought to frame the election as a stark choice.
“We don’t need four more years of bluster and chaos. We’ve seen that movie — and we all know that the sequel’s usually worse,” he said. “America is ready for a new chapter. America’s ready for a better story. We are ready for a President Kamala Harris.”
In her remarks, Michelle Obama delivered a similar message. “America, hope is making a comeback,” she declared.
As many analysts have noted, the entire tone of the Democratic message has changed since Biden was cajoled into quitting and ceding the stage to Harris. Whereas the old message was that Trump was an existential threat to democracy, they’re now making fun of Trump, Vance, and the MAGA wing as “weird.” She and Walz have campaigned as “happy warriors,” laughing and dancing and otherwise seeming to be enjoying the spotlight. The Obamas and others have largely followed suit. (I am a bit surprised they didn’t save the Obamas for later in the week.)
This is a stark contrast with the nastiness of the Trump campaign and a bizarre Republican convention that was both mean-spirited and cultish. And, frankly, Biden was doing a poor job countering that vibe with a more reassuring one of his own. Indeed, the bits of his handoff speech Monday night that I heard were more of the same: angry and harsh rather than hopeful of a brighter future.
Harris is ahead of the polls and—unlike her opponent—will surely get a bounce from this convention. There are still weeks to go and we’ve seen plenty of twists and turns in a contest that seemed frozen in place just a month ago. Still, the candidate who presents the more optimistic vision tends to win modern presidential elections.
Man, folks just will not stop smearing Joe Biden with their fake narratives lol
I don’t know how someone could watched the convention speeches and reached this conclusion. The Obamas’ fantastic speeches were much more harsh, snarky, and bitter towards Trump than Biden’s (and Trump deserved it).
Oh, wait a minute…
Oh. Lol
Good grief.
@DK: I heard probably 10-12 minutes of Biden’s speech via The Daily podcast. He sounded like
HomerGrandpa Simpson.Shining city on the hill vibe. 😉 I like it.
First, I truly don’t understand how James Joyner continues to trust the narrative presented to him by the media. At this point, it’s like he enjoys being lied to.
Second, isn’t it odd how every single error of the following nature ALWAYS results in Democrats looking better or Republicans looking worse?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/business/economy/us-jobs-economy.html
I have been very gratified by the new messaging. Democrats are meant to be the fun party, the young party, the party of the future. And this convention has been showcasing all that. I am very relieved especially to see Democrats rediscovering humor. Genuine good humor translates as confidence.
Trump has never been capable of humor – he’s a bully, with a Nelson Muntz notion of what’s funny. Haw haw, someone fell down. Haw haw, you’re different. Haw haw, made you flinch.
It really is a contrast of light and dark, hope and rage, future and past. Young and old. And Trump is flummoxed. He’s paralyzed. Trump is a conman, a huckster, an entertainer. He sees the world in terms of his audience size, and dumb as he is, he knows he’s losing his audience. Just as bad, his genuinely excellent predatory instincts are failing him. He’s a great white shark losing his teeth. Mr. Nickname has got nothing.
Autocrats/Dictators/Thugs always overplay their hand. See: Vladimir Putin. See: Xi Jinping. Trump is in his Downfall stage, sitting in his Mar a Lago bunker, screaming at his generals to deploy non-existent armies.
@TheRyGuy: Right. Everything we know is a lie. You alone know the Truth. That is an old, old, story, and it never ends well.
I don’t recommend you take anyone or anything as gospel, just that you consider that the world is maybe not built on a foundation of bad faith.
@James Joyner:
D’oh?
@Michael Reynolds:
That last gave me an image of Augustus demanding of the late Quintilius Varus “Give me back my audience!”
@TheRyGuy:
I have a question for you, did you read past the headline? I am not trying to be flip, genuinely curious. If you read to the bottom of the article you find that things are not so bad, and fyi…the downward revision is the combined total for a period of 12 months.
There is nothing in that article that made me go gulp, the Democratic Party is in trouble.
In fact, this article will be presented as evidence by many Democrats that the Fed needs to lower rates sooner than later, which of course will not hurt Harris’s chances of becoming our next President.
I want to repeat that I get the vibe that you simply saw an article with a huge negative number in the title and just assumed that this article is bad news for the Democratic party.
Nope, it is actually quite the informative article if you bother to read it from start to finish.
@TheRyGuy: It’s simply harder for the Republicans to look good with Trump and Full Family Kits*. You’ll just have to accept that as the reality you face.
*And the AI that makes suggestions as I write suggested both “Family” and “Kits” without prompting from me. And I’ve only used the phrase once. AI can be amazing sometimes.
Very easy to watch on a computer in real time with links like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KWMYn7IpG0
Or you can watch the speeches etc. later, e.g. next day with links like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oeuh-w9Uihw
Above link is 7:40 minutes of AOC, very engaging, she is a real superstar.
Michelle Obama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgJBFBwRXvc&t=1s
Barack Obama:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwLmOI6r_XY
People obviously having a lot of fun at the convention, very upbeat ambience.
BTW, during the roll call vote in Chicago, Harris and Walz were simultaneously in Milwaukee speaking to a packed arena, the same arena the RNC used a few weeks ago for their convention.
The Harris/Walz rally in Milwaukee is on youtube also.
@Michael Reynolds:
One may hope well into narcissistic collapse.
@TheRyGuy:
The irony of you saying this is galactic in scale. You support one of history’s most prolific liars, a man who uttered literally tens of thousands of verifiable lies while President, and tens of thousands since. You must derive near-orgasmic levels of pleasure from being lied to.
@James Joyner: Well, now you’re just wildly flinging poo at the wall like a baby, not even pretending to make sense. Homer Simpson is a lovable doofus, he’s not “angry and harsh.” Which is it, bruh?
Or maybe you’ve watched as little of The Simpsons as you have of the main convention speeches? There was nothing invited speech as harsh as Barack making fun of Trump’s penis size, or as angry as Michelle raking Trump over the coals for his racism.
You sound too hopelessly biased negatively against Biden to give sensible analysis.
@DK: *There was nothing invited speech
There was nothing in Biden’s speech, I meant.
@Michael Reynolds:
Trump is peddling anger and hostility. He made a point of scowling for his mugshot in Georgia, subsequently using that scowling picture on the tee-shirts MAGA is peddling. Harris, by contrast, is more into smiling, looking happy.
@just nutha: Had to Google. I knew about the jizz cups but hadn’t heard “full family kit’. What can one say except weird.
@gVOR10:
Trump has sometimes looked pretty lethargic lately, speaking in dull monotone.
@charontwo: It reminds me of George Costanza (on Seinfeld, for you youngsters) looking irritated at work to give people the impression that he’s working hard. As with Trump, it’s all just a sham, trying to play a part and fool people to succeed. As not with Trump, unfortunately, Constanza was funny and fictional.
@charontwo:
I would be looking and sounding pretty rundown at my rallies if I started to notice that the folks attending my rallies were falling asleep as they listened to me speak, seeing that would not put any pep in my step. I have seen some youtubes where it is very clear that Trump’s audience is not exactly jumping up and dancing in their seats and in some cases are indeed straight up sleeping in their seats.
Also, Trump is 78(!) years old, it really makes you start to wonder why anyone on the planet would not also look at Trump and go yikes, the dude is getting rather old, and also wonder why the GOP is desperately (trying to Swift Boat Walz felt pretty desperate to me, and seems to have floated as well as a lead balloon and just not gone anywhere) trying to install Trump.
They just need someone to sign the pieces of paper Republicans put in front of him, and there are plenty of much younger Republicans that could perform the same actions to benefit the GOP.
There are multiple failures of imagination that are plaguing the GOP, one of them is that no one bothered to look at Trump more than 6 months back and go yikes, we want someone who is not almost 80 years old to be our standard bearer, so let’s put in the work to marginalize Trump’s desire to get back into the White House.
The other failure may be fatal to the GOP’s efforts to remain in power going forward, they spent who knows how much time and money to get pretty much everyone in the U.S. to notice how old Biden is and no one (really, no one?) in power in the GOP really stopped to think and say to themselves, okay…we did it, everyone has noticed that Biden is old and is not looking good to win the election in November, so we seem to have this in the bag, but we should be prepared just in case they (the Democratic party) surprise us by deciding to replace Biden on the ticket.
The thing I want to most yell at the GOP is how the hell could they have been caught pretty much with their pants down when it came to Democrats going forward with replacing Biden on the ticket. I get that the GOP is arrogant, but c’mon, maybe a handful of influential folks in the GOP should have seen this coming.
For example, Richard Uihlein, a very wealthy Conservative business man who seems to like Trump a whole lot, you would think he would have had a moment in time over the past 6 months or so where it occurred to him to maybe tap Trump on the shoulder and go Trump, you are maybe doing too good a job of getting folks to agree with you that Biden is old, and have you considered that maybe, just maybe, enough folks who are Democrats might agree with you and maybe consider replacing Biden on the ticket with someone much younger? Your team should be prepared for such a scenario.
@DK: I meant “Grandpa” Simpson, not Homer. The stretches I heard were very much Old Man Yelling At Clouds.
@inhumans99:
You can’t replace the personality in a cult of personality. There is no Republican Party.
@James Joyner:
I agree. At first I thought it was ineptitude that pushed Biden’s speech into the wee hours. Now I wonder if it wasn’t a choice. They’d have seen his speech before he gave it. You don’t tell the President of the United States to do a rewrite. So you make sure no one sees it.
The theme was hope and the future. Biden was not on message.
@Michael Reynolds: Beyond that point, lots of Democrats were wondering whether it was even possible to replace Biden at this stage in the game. It’s not unreasonable to think Republicans would have considered such a change impossible and potentially suicidal. I know I didn’t think they’d pull it off.
I have seen a couple of online conversations about the Dem convention, a California candidate, and the long-awaited revenge of the West Coast on scheduling :^)
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1826076612787327405
Milwaukie and Chicago simultaneously.
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1825978535896297708
Man, the head of the Teamsters really picked the wrong convention to go this summer. Talk about an unforced error.
@James Joyner:
You could just say that your ageist bigotry renders you incapable of offering serious and fair assessments of Joe Biden and be done with it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Again, there was nothing in Biden’s
@inhumans99: The problem with the Trump “strategy” is that it’s entirely negative. It’s all about tearing somebody down.
So they spent 3 years tearing down Joe Biden. They didn’t worry about Harris because Trump (personally) was never going to face her – he’d be in his second term – and only Trump matters..
So they demonized the wrong guy for years and years, then he backed out – destroying all of their hard work.
I can’t fault them on the strategy. It worked very well on Hillary Clinton. After 25 years of bashing her, people just didn’t trust her but couldn’t tell you why.
Problem for the Rs is they don’t have 25 years, or even 3 years. They have two months and a few days – and they still don’t have a strategy.
The crazy thing is that they are somehow competitive despite all this. That’s a rich white guy’s “affirmative action” at work.
@charontwo: I read his lethargy and monotone as sulking. “They’re making me say this, I don’t want to.”
@TheRyGuy:
Please, as you know full well. it’s not a lie, remember?
As Kellyanne Conway told us back in 2017, there are ‘alternative facts.’
It is very easy to explain: It’s all a conspiracy.
The existential threat narrative was rather evidently something that only the Pre Sold were following (which to avoid misreading is not to say there was not a fundamental truth in it, but fundamental truth and winning new sales (aka votes here) are not the same thing).
The Weird and laughing at the Weird seem to be good strategies – and frankly those two are bloody weirdos. Trump going on about how he’s more handsome than Harris???? What the actual fuck? That’s in bizarro creepy territory to any reasonably normal person.
@TheRyGuy: I am generally entertained that party political partisans are always convincned The Media (aka the Mainstream Media [etc]) are treating their side unfairly – the Lefty Left here were in deep dungeon until recently about how unfairly they felt they were being treated… End lesson: unless things are going their own way, partisans will always see any non-own-side media as unfair to them.
Of course Joyner noting that actual vibes – well what’s really happening (for whatever queer value of “really” one invents) doesn’t bloody matter (as Madame Clinton can report) – it’s what the image of what’s happening is.
Actual observation from outre-Altantique – Trump’s fundamental limited competence, properly warned of by Mesdames Cheney and Haley [etc] – is showing in a series of blunders. And it is blunders – any competent observer who’s not a partisan can see them.
The Democrats may still lose (and the MAGA foist on the world a third rate rerun of a US president) but they are playing a better game at present.
@Tony W: Their strategy worked well with Ms Clinton as there was a traction – it is not just gender, she was always a poor retail politician who was in the wrong job track, and the sooner the Democrats admit that the better it will be. Ms Harris is showing very solid signs of being quite the good retail politican who is able as well to learn lessons. no one is perfect but Ms Harris was clealry very substantially underestimated (and I shall not say I was not amongst the mis-underestimators).
@DK: Nancy Pelosi, who is older than Biden, led the effort to force him out. Like it or not, he just wasn’t up to the job of beating Trump. I’d far prefer a more able Biden to Harris, but we don’t have one available.
@DK: I agree. I watched Biden’s speech live. I didn’t find it angry and harsh at all. It was nostalgic in places, proud in others, and patriotic overall. “I love my job, but I love my country more.”
The entire contemporary conservative movement is wedded to negativity.
It’s foundational premise that we are falling, forever falling.
Crime is always rising, the kids are running amuck, wimmin are misbehaving and neglecting their purpose, and queer people are preying on the young.
And the thing is, this has never changed since the earliest days.
No conservative can point to an age when things were good. No matter what date they point to, there was a conservative lamenting the fallen state.
This is why joy and hope are like kryptonite to them
They have no response except sulking with a curled lip of cynicism.
@Chip Daniels: It wasn’t always like that, which is what my shining city on the hill jab meant.
It is fascinating that they just don’t get it.
Fear is a powerful motivator, but it is exhausting. Doom and gloom 24/7 isn’t sufficient.
@Tony W:
Yes indeed. And as Michelle Obama said last night,
Great line. She wasn’t necessarily going high or low–more like on the level.
@Jen:
You’re right. 2020 Would have been a great time for the incumbent Republican to wage a Morning In America campaign.
Except it is never morning in conservative world, it it alway a dark and foreboding landscape.
@James Joyner:
Disagree. I think you are wrong on that. In my opinion, he was and would have won.
But that’s a moot point that has nothing to do with your preposterous insistence that Biden’s speech was angry and harsh in comparison to the Obamas’ speeches. I doubt even Nancy Pelosi would agree with that. But she watched the whole speech, unlike you, who are just making things up based on bigoted ageism that colors negatively everything you have to say about Biden.
@Monala:
Pretty much. But you won’t get fair, calm, sober reactions to Biden from the weirdos who were screaming “F*** Joe Biden” a few weeks back, trashing him as a “Weekend At Bernie’s” case while he was working the phones to bring to fruition a multi-country hostage deal.
Their describing Biden’s words as angry and harsh looks like Trump-style psychological projection.
@Jen:
This would explain why in the 2020 campaign, El Felón ran as though Biden had been in charge of the federal government the four years prior.
You know what matters to Trump tonight? Night 2 of the DNC beat his show by six million viewers. He’s chewing his own liver.
And Putin and Elon and Bibi have got to be getting worried.
@James Joyner:
FWIW, I’m 70 and I’m not seeing ageism, just seeing analysis of what is.
I think there’s condescension in pretending that age isn’t age. I’m there and I am determined to avoid self-deception. I’m old. It’s as real as puberty. My term life insurance expires in 8 years and I just emailed my financial advisor asking whether it makes sense to pay to extend it. That’s a dead (heh) giveaway that you’re old.
Joe Biden is the best president of my lifetime, which, as mentioned above, covers quite a few presidents. But he got old. It happens – if you’re lucky and avoid dying young. This is what winning looks like: you get to be old. I hope, and believe, that Joe has the wisdom to see that he has done the right thing, for the right cause. I hope he realizes what he’s done for this country. He’s done well with his life. Don’t feel sorry for the man, be jealous, and hope you have a fraction of the impact on life.
@TheRyGuy:
It’s not that surprising, given that everything everywhere these days results in Democrats looking better and Republicans looking worse.
@Lounsbury:
No no, we still are! It’s not like the NYT and WaPo have suddenly started presenting the unvarnished facts about Trump, or stopped expressing deep but sympathetic concern about trivial aspects of Harris and Walz. (The Guardian does a much better job, but Americans mostly don’t see that.)
PS — your autocorrect apparently does not know the word “dudgeon“.
@DrDaveT: “Dungeon” is a word, too, and AI is not strong on context yet.
@DK:
James is on your side. Isn’t that enough? I’m an old white straight boomer who is also on your side. I guess I’m trying to say, aren’t there better targets for criticism than James?
@James Joyner:
Thanks for another interesting post and for running a great website. I greatly appreciate no pop up’s and annoying ads.
@Scott O:
Oh, don’t worry, I reserve my harshest anger for Drama Queen Donnie.
But why not ask Dr. Joyner if there aren’t better targets for his attacks than Joe Biden? I mean, Biden’s on James’s side—team spirit and all that.
If Joe Biden isn’t above criticism from his own team — and he’s not — then the same applies to me, Joyner, and the rest of us mortals.
In 2016, we let too many silly anti-Hillary narratives slide, as some were coming from the ‘mommy issues’ folks on our own side. Lesson learned. Nonsense wrapped in bigotry deserves a boot in the rear, our own side or no.
Mischaracterizing a Biden speech with lines like, “I love this job; I love my country more,” as the rantings of an angry old man — compared to less harsh speeches that made fun of Trump’s dick and accused Kamala’s rightwing critics of racism — is an (ageist, ableist) stretch.
Don’t scold me for pointing out biased inaccuracies from someone who admits they aren’t even really watching these speeches. Why’s he reviewing movies with such confidence when he only watched the trailers?
@DK: I’m not “attacking” Biden but analyzing the dynamics of the race. My one line about the tone of Biden’s speech wasn’t a movie review but part of an analysis of how much different the flavor of the contest is with Harris in his stead.
It’s certainly true that the Obamas’ speeches had a lot of jibes at Trump’s expense. But they were delivered humorously; they and the audience were having a good time. Biden’s delivery was staccato and came off to me as shouting and angry. It was a completely different tone. (The little snippets of Walz’ speech that I heard came off that way to me as well—and he usually doesn’t.)
What also everyone appreciated seeing was the obvious love the Obamas have for each other. So much nicer than watching Mr. “Walk behind me three feet” and his stone-faced wife. She may be classically beautiful, but there’s a definite “don’t touch me, I want to completely ignore you” vibe. But then, it’s pretty obvious that this whole “wife of a politician” is something she never signed up for.
Always worth remembering, just to emphasize how the Repubs are running purely on anger, how JD responded to being asked what makes him happy…
@James Joyner: Oh please, James. Michelle Obama’s extended attack on racism was not delivered humorously. It was delivered with righteous anger.
You viewed Joe Biden as an angry old man, so everything he does is going to come off as shouting and angry to you. Just like the sexists men cannot handle unapologetically serious and ambitious women viewed everything Hillary did as unlikeable. Same bullcrap, different toilet.
@James Joyner: Is it possible that the “little snippets” that you are being shown have been selected for their harsh and angry tone by the media platform you are watching?
@James Joyner:
and
You are taking those “bits” out of context and are very wide of reality, especially if you thought Walz was anywhere near angry. And given that his speech was only about 15 minutes, you really don’t have any excuse not to watch it.
If you aren’t willing of able to put in the time to watch a speech, maybe don’t post about it?
DK, I can’t tell whose the old cranky crabby Grandpa. You or Joe.
Stop with your pointless whining against Dr. Joyner. It’s really beneath your otherwise extremely erudite and well written and informative opinions.