Democratic Convention: Best and Worst Moments of Night 3
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-convention-best-worst-night-3.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Welcome to Opinion’s commentary for Night 3 of the Democratic National Convention. In this special feature, Times Opinion writers rank the evening on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 means the night was a disaster for Democrats; 10 means it could lead to a big polling bump for Biden-Harris. Here’s what our columnists and contributors thought of the event, which highlighted Gabrielle Giffords, Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama and Kamala Harris.
Best moment
Wajahat Ali Democrats revealed their values and policies through the real stories of women: Gabby Giffords, a gun violence survivor, playing “America (My Country, ’Tis of Thee)” on the French horn; and an undocumented mother sitting with her daughters.
Jamelle Bouie Elizabeth Warren’s call for universal child care. Warren is one of the most skilled speakers in the Democratic Party, and she used all of her powers in this short speech, weaving biography together with policy (and partisan attack) in a compelling call for the United States to treat caregiving like any other vital infrastructure. It was very impressive. (The “Black Lives Matter” Easter egg in the background was fun, too.)
Elizabeth Bruenig It was ladies’ night at the Democratic National Convention, with every vignette in the final act giving a nod to the girls. Only Elizabeth Warren felt sharp and focused. It’s tough, at times, to be a woman — but the fix isn’t some species of girlbossery, it’s subsidized child care, universal health care and paid parental leave.
Frank Bruni The immediate buildup to Kamala Harris’s climactic appearance with a montage of family members and other Americans whose palpable elation over her selection as the Democratic vice presidential nominee beautifully personalized her and communicated the excitement of her history-making ascent.
Michelle Cottle Duh. Obama. Pull up the clip now and watch — or rewatch — the whole thing.
Michelle Goldberg Barack Obama is known for his Spock-like steadiness, so it was bracing to see that he is, like so many of us, afraid and heartsick for our democracy — he seemed to have tears in his eyes. He spoke directly to the cynicism and hopelessness that Donald Trump’s presidency has engendered, reminding us of the Black civil rights activists who were failed by America but still insisted on realizing its ideals. “If anyone had a right to believe that this democracy did not work, and could not work, it was those Americans, our ancestors,” he said. Trump tweeted angrily through it. I’m glad he was watching.
Nicole Hemmer Gabby Giffords has toiled for years to regain her ability to speak after being shot. As she said in her short, powerful speech, “I struggle to speak, but I have not lost my voice.” Thank god she hasn’t — every word testified to what gun violence took from her and what she’s taken back.
Liz Mair The obvious answer is Obama’s speech, and it was truly good. But the more heart-wrenching and human example of great communication was the video featuring the little girl whose dad was a Marine and whose mom was deported. Immigration is no longer being treated as an abstract policy issue by the Democratic Party. Now it is personal.
Daniel McCarthy The first third of Elizabeth Warren’s speech, which put working- and middle-class economics front and center. Jobs have otherwise been peripheral, a footnote to climate change and green energy. Warren’s themes could win Trump voters.
Melanye Price Women ruled the night. All the best moments involved them. Clearly the future of the Democratic Party is women, but especially women of color.
Mimi Swartz Former President Barack Obama. Breaking with the tradition of circumspect former presidents, he seized the moment to tell the harsh truth about his successor and to lay out the desperate stakes we face. Remember leadership? For a few minutes, yes.
Héctor Tobar The convention’s gatekeepers did something uncharacteristically bold. They gave voice to 11 million people who cannot vote and who have been vilified by Donald Trump — the undocumented. They even allowed some of them to speak in Spanish: That was a sweet sound to this son of Latin American immigrants.
Peter Wehner Barack Obama’s speech was brilliant: elegant, educational, passionate and persuasive. His words about his “brother” Joe Biden were generous, and his case against Trump was withering. I also appreciate his appeal to active citizenship. Obama’s speech was a reminder of what a rare and remarkable political talent he is.
Will Wilkinson “Now my mom is gone, and she’s been taken from us for no reason at all.” Eleven-year-old Estella’s letter explaining to the president the unspeakable cruelty of his administration’s deportation of her mother made me furious with grief and hunger for vengeance.
Worst moment
Wajahat Ali Where was the Muslim speaker? Trump’s anti-Muslim bigotry and his Muslim ban are hallmarks of his campaign and presidency. Trump just supported the anti-Muslim extremist Laura Loomer, who won her Republican congressional primary. A missed opportunity.
Jamelle Bouie I thought Kamala Harris’s acceptance address was fine in content and delivery but what did not work was the setting. Without a crowd to clap or cheer, speaking from that kind of formal podium looks stilted and unnatural. I would have preferred something more casual or at least more intimate.
Elizabeth Bruenig Hillary Clinton appeared to beam in from heaven to relitigate her 2016 loss. She’s still miffed that voters let her down, and she still seems to think winning the Electoral College was some kind of underhanded maneuver on Trump’s part, but whatever: If I’m H.R.C., I’m prosecuting that grudge forever. You go, girl.
Frank Bruni The immediate aftermath of Harris’s remarks, when she, her husband and the Bidens beamed and waved at . . . what? A video grid of voters’ faces? A dark void? That near-empty auditorium was a brutal setting for a big speech. Better not even to approximate the usual convention tableau.
Michelle Cottle Hillary Clinton’s speech wasn’t bad exactly. It was just meh, mostly because the delivery was oddly flat — as if maybe she were reading it for the first time. Secretary Clinton is an icon who means a lot to a lot of women. She shoulda, coulda brought more oomph to the moment.
Michelle Goldberg I have nothing negative to say about Night 3, other than that it’s heartbreaking that Kamala Harris had to give her history-making speech to an almost empty room when she should have been bathed in cheers.
Nicole Hemmer Michelle Lujan Grisham had the misfortune of following a tear-streaked nearly 10 minutes on gun violence with some boosterism for New Mexico’s environmental policy. Rather than making her a recognizable national figure, her speech ended up serving as an emotional palate cleanser.
Liz Mair Elizabeth Warren’s speech was policy-heavy and clunky. It was pigeonholing, stereotyping and patronizing to women, a lefty twist on Phyllis Schlafly’s views of womanhood.
Daniel McCarthy Barack Obama is smooth, but when he says, “Political opponents aren’t un-American just because they disagree with you” only to criticize “those who enable him” — anyone who votes for Donald Trump? — in the next breath, he proves why the unity he symbolized in 2009 turned to national division and defeat for his party in 2016.
Melanye Price I think the worst moment was probably had by Donald Trump. He had to watch his worst nightmare: a diverse America that wasn’t used to scare the hell out of white people.
Mimi Swartz I wasn’t sure we needed Billie Eilish, but if her performance gets millennials to the polls, O.K.
Héctor Tobar Hillary Clinton. More than any other speaker at this convention, she needed an auditorium filled with cheering people. Absent the love of her true believers, her charisma deficit became all the more obvious.
Peter Wehner It wasn’t what happened at the D.N.C. so much as what it catalyzed. Seeing the effect Obama’s speech had on the current president, who is so psychologically broken and emotionally unstable that he was repeatedly rage tweeting in ALL CAPS. The contrast between Obama’s refinement and Trump’s crudeness is almost painful.
Will Wilkinson It’s nice that President Obama punked Vice President Joe Biden with a surprise Presidential Medal of Freedom (with distinction!), but I could have done without five minutes of watching the back of somebody’s head blocking Biden’s lachrymose aw-shucks mug.
What else mattered
Wajahat Ali This was very likely the first convention where the call to vote was not just to rally the base but rather to ring the alarm, warning all Americans about the threat Trump and Republicans pose to our democracy. To remind us all of what’s at stake, Obama had to stand in front of the Constitution and drag Trump.
Jamelle Bouie Barack Obama’s speech, or should I say warning, about the stakes of the election. He didn’t just call on Americans to vote; he called on them to save their democracy from Trump. Obama cast his successor as a destructive authoritarian figure. This was a very different Obama from the one we’ve seen in the past, speaking in a tone that one reserves for war and disaster — which is probably the most appropriate tone to take in this moment.
Elizabeth Bruenig Biden is running on a return to normal, and judging by Republicans’ outlandish attacks on Harris as a far-left fundamentalist (if only!), they realize it’s his best bet, too. A reclusive, grandfatherly presidency will probably lower national blood pressure somewhat, but it’s hard not to mourn that that’s all we can hope for.
Frank Bruni It’s commonplace — a cliché — for leaders to talk about their stubborn faith in America, about how great we truly are. But to hear that from Hillary Clinton, in an upbeat voice, after what went down in 2016? It was genuinely moving. It made you want to prove her right.
Michelle Cottle The overarching, oft-repeated message of the evening was vote, vote, vote. It doesn’t matter how, when or why, just do it. This cannot be hammered home enough. As President Obama pleaded, “Do not let them take away your power.”
Michelle Goldberg This was the night that the Democratic Party spoke directly to every parent in America whose life has been wrecked by public school shutdowns. Elizabeth Warren, like Jill Biden before her, didn’t just speak from a classroom because she was a teacher but because empty classrooms are some of the most devastating reminders of what this president has cost us.
Nicole Hemmer Conventions have featured moving speakers in the past, but never has a modern convention been stacked with so many deeply emotional moments. Credit the medium: You don’t get this kind of intimacy on a convention stage.
Liz Mair Gabby Giffords — it’s great to see how hard she has fought to recover and how successful she has been. Probably a good reminder to all of us who are whining our way through the coronavirus pandemic and struggling to deal with things like distance learning and going to the grocery store that there are much worse things. If Gabby Giffords can come back from that and play the French horn, maybe all of us complaining about the changes of this year really need to suck it up.
Daniel McCarthy Billie Eilish’s performance was genuinely good and a breath-catching break from politics — but her song’s last lines might be a grim prophecy for Biden and the Democrats: “I’m in love, but not with anybody here. I’ll see you in a couple years.”
Melanye Price All the women who watched from home know how hard it was to get women to this point in American politics.
Mimi Swartz I have been waiting for more Latinx representation. Better tonight than the first two, Eva Longoria notwithstanding. Estella for president, 2045!
Héctor Tobar This was a night to stir up the base. Exit the sympathetic Republicans, enter Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama and ordinary folk speaking to an array of progressive and women’s issues.
Peter Wehner When the D.N.C. ends, Democrats are going to have quite a let down, realizing that they have to go to battle against Trump with Biden rather than Obama. Their enthusiasm for Obama is deep and visceral; their enthusiasm for Biden is much more manufactured and obligatory.
Will Wilkinson “No Drama” Obama isn’t prone to hyperbole, which made his dark warning that “this administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win” all the more chilling — and fortifying.
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About the authors
Jamelle Bouie, Frank Bruni and Michelle Goldberg are Times columnists.
Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) is a playwright, lawyer and contributing opinion writer.
Elizabeth Bruenig (@ebruenig) is a Times opinion writer.
Michelle Cottle (@mcottle) is a member of the Times editorial board.
Nicole Hemmer (@pastpunditry) is an associate research scholar at Columbia University and the author of “Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics.”
Liz Mair (@LizMair), a strategist for campaigns by Scott Walker, Roy Blunt, Rand Paul, Carly Fiorina and Rick Perry, is the founder and president of Mair Strategies.
Daniel McCarthy (@ToryAnarchist) is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Quarterly.
Melanye Price (@ProfMTP), a professor of political science at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, is the author, most recently, of “The Race Whisperer: Barack Obama and the Political Uses of Race.”
Mimi Swartz (@mimiswartz), an executive editor at Texas Monthly, is a contributing opinion writer.
Héctor Tobar (@TobarWriter), an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine, is the author of “Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free” and a contributing opinion writer.
Peter Wehner (@Peter_Wehner), a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, served in the previous three Republican administrations, is a contributing opinion writer and the author of “The Death of Politics: How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump.”
Will Wilkinson (@willwilkinson), the vice president for research at the Niskanen Center, is a contributing opinion writer.