CHICAGO \u2014 Welcome to The Campaign Moment, your guide to a 2024 election in which we\u2019ll apparently have to make do with Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
(Make sure you are subscribed to this newsletter here. And also listen to the Campaign Moment podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We dove into Tim Walz\u2019s ascent Thursday, and we\u2019ll have a brand new episode Friday.)<\/p>\n
The Democratic National Convention concluded Thursday with Vice President Kamala Harris capping weeks of a whirlwind run for her party\u2019s nomination with her acceptance speech.<\/p>\n
Below are our final nightly takeaways from the convention.<\/p>\n
1. Harris offers the simplest of pitches: Normalcy and competence<\/p>\n
There was some question ahead of Harris\u2019s speech about whether she would unveil a long-awaited robust policy agenda, or perhaps lean into what the Obamas seemed to tee up for her Tuesday \u2014 the chance to claim to be the successor to a movement of transformational change.<\/p>\n
Harris instead emphasized something much simpler: a promise of normal competence.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur nation with this election has a precious, fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past, a chance to chart a new way forward,\u201d Harris said.<\/p>\n
She continued with a series of not-subtle contrasts to Donald Trump\u2019s unwieldiness.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can always trust me to put country above party and self, to hold sacred America\u2019s fundamental principles, from the rule of law to free and fair elections, to the peaceful transfer of power,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She promised to be \u201ca president who leads and listens, who is realistic, practical and has common sense and always fights for the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n
In case those \u201crealistic\u201d and \u201cpractical\u201d references weren\u2019t clear, Harris ultimately began invoking Trump by name, pitching herself as the antithesis of his unseriousness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn many ways, Donald Trump is an unserious man,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the consequences of putting Donald Trump back in the White House are extremely serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
She highlighted Trump\u2019s often-strange comments about dictators and called him \u201ceasy to manipulate with flattery and favors.\u201d She cited \u201chis explicit intent to jail journalists, political opponents and anyone he sees as the enemy\u201d and \u201chis explicit intent to deploy our active-duty military against our own citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n
She spent much of the rest of the speech rehashing many of the same attacks on Trump that featured throughout the convention, including the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and the overturning of Roe v. Wade. She outlined the broad strokes of her policy agenda, which included protecting voting rights and reproductive rights, as well as middle-class tax cuts and standing by Ukraine.<\/p>\n
None of it was overly detailed.<\/p>\n
She actually spent about as much time on the war in Gaza as any other issue \u2014 despite the convention previously treating the issue gingerly. Harris made strong statements about Israel\u2019s right to defend itself, while also emphasizing the suffering in Gaza and the need for a cease-fire, which she insisted was her huge priority right now.<\/p>\n
In sum, she was asking: Do you really want to go back to that chaos?<\/p>\n
So far, being viewed as a competent if somewhat undefined alternative has worked for her, and she\u2019ll apparently keep riding with that.<\/p>\n
2. Democrats go for a contrast \u2014 darkness into light<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s program had a markedly different feel from the first three days. Instead of featuring a series of high-profile speakers leading up to the main event, the convention opted for a slow-building contrast, going from a program of darkness into the light of Harris\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n
The first few hours were heavy, with multiple speakers addressing ugly recent moments in America\u2019s history. There were gun-violence survivors including former congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and Abbey Clements, a former teacher at Sandy Hook Elementary, scene of a massacre of schoolchildren in 2012. There were members of the \u201cCentral Park Five\u201d \u2014 more recently known as the \u201cExonerated Five\u201d \u2014 whom Trump spotlighted while calling for New York to institute the death penalty. There was Anya Cook, who nearly died after being denied care after Florida instituted an abortion ban. And there was the family of Brian D. Sicknick, a police officer who died after the attack on Jan. 6.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family knows how dangerous Trump is,\u201d said Sicknick\u2019s brother, Craig Sicknick. \u201cHe incited the crowd while my brother and his fellow officers were putting their lives at risk. We need a real leader, not an autocrat who is stuck in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
After all of them spoke, musical artist Pink played \u201cWhat About Us,\u201d a song about the government leaving people behind.<\/p>\n
To be clear, there were heavy moments the three prior days, including when speakers recapped their painful stories related to abortion bans. But these heavy moments were packed together Thursday in a way that suggested the convention wanted a contrast between some of our country\u2019s most tragic problems and the solution: Harris.<\/p>\n
3. A more muscular message on police, veterans and foreign policy<\/p>\n
Democrats have spent much of the week trying to flip the script on some key issues, including border security and the perception of which party is more patriotic.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, the convention made a concerted effort to align itself with a muscular vision for the military, foreign policy and law enforcement \u2014 in a way that past conventions wouldn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n
In addition to Sicknick\u2019s family, the program featured Genesee County, Mich., sheriff Craig Swanson, who said that under the Biden-Harris administration, \u201ccrime is down and police funding is up.\u201d That was a notable contrast to the \u201cDefund the Police\u201d movement, which gained traction in certain corners of the party years ago \u2014 and which Harris in 2020 expressed some sympathy with. (She stopped shy of endorsing its agenda.)<\/p>\n
More than that, though, the program was practically crawling with military veterans. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) spoke of the justness of the first Gulf War. Kelly, Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Republican former congressman Adam Kinzinger (Ill.) criticized Trump for not siding more with Ukraine. Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), a candidate for Senate, brought dozens of elected Democratic veterans onstage and pointed to Trump\u2019s denigration of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).<\/p>\n
Many of them, of course, cited Trump\u2019s other reported disparagements of injured veterans and dead soldiers \u2014 such as calling them \u201csuckers\u201d and \u201closers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harris herself ultimately called for making sure \u201cAmerica always has the strongest, most lethal fighting force in the world.\u201d She also made a strong statement about combatting Iran, saying she would \u201cnever hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend our forces and our interests against Iran and Iran-backed terrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a marked turn in American politics in recent years to see Democrats become the party of pushing for more funding for Ukraine, while Republicans balk. And Thursday night, the party embraced the perception that it\u2019s more aligned with military strength and an active foreign policy \u2014 and even police \u2014 while setting itself up as the true ally of veterans.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemocrats signal voting rights bills will top the agenda if Harris wins\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span> CHICAGO \u2014 Welcome to The Campaign Moment, your guide to a 2024 election in which we\u2019ll apparently have to make do with Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s voice. (Make sure you are subscribed to this newsletter here. And also listen to the Campaign Moment podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We dove into Tim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":8409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstriumphs.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cDispute emerges over lack of speaker on Gaza at Democratic convention\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>
\n\u201cThe story behind Kamala Harris\u2019s \u2018When we fight, we win\u2019 slogan\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span>
\n\u2018 \u2018Tampon Tim\u2019 is looking more like Teflon Tim\u201d (Washington Post)<\/span><\/p>\n