A Night To Remember

It's hard to imagine a better first night for the Democratic National Convention.  Every speaker I saw was impressive in some way (though I missed a few.)  Even some of what happened before the magic network hour was magic, and may have more impact in news clips and campaign spots.

  I'm thinking especially of Stacey Lihn, not a politician, on stage as the mother of a toddler with a heart defect.  Her presentation was perfect--crisp, emotional and absolutely on point.  Her child was in danger of exceeding her lifetime limit on her health insurance, until Obamacare lifted that limit.  But she's heard Romney say he would repeal it on day one, and that's "something we worry about every single day."  Now it's a right that would be taken away. There's no way this young family could afford to provide the care she needs. Her husband and two children stood beside her.  One of the girls stood and looked appealingly at the crowd.  The other was in her father's arms, and at the mention of Romney (coincidentally but potently) she began to fuss and cry.

The politicians did pretty well, too (although the young daughter of Mayor Castro of San Antonio, the keynote speaker, did a little scene stealing herself when she became interested when she saw her face on the TV and fluffed her hair to watch what happened.)  Mayor Castro told a Latino version of the multi-generational American Dream, which would later find resonance in Michelle Obama's.  Si se puede.

  Governor Deval Patrick of Massachusetts gave a fiery speech (just before primetime), at last justifying his reputation as an orator.  Govenor O'Malley of Maryland started primetime with a call and response, and the enthusiastic crowd cooperated by flashing their "Forward" signs (in blue) and "Not Back" (in red, of course) right on cue. Earlier, Kathleen Sibelius was sharp, and even the old white guy of the night--former Republican Governor of RI Lincoln Chafee-- was sweetly effective.

Kal Penn, Lilly Ledbetter--crisp and on point, very impressive. Rahm Emanuel was also crisp and on point, talking issues but from the perspective of being the Chief of Staff in the first years.  Joseph Kennedy III (Bobby's grandson)  introduced a tribute video to Senator Ted Kennedy--and he has the star power and presence to reopen the Kennedy franchie--while the video itself also happened to deftly show Teddy shredding Mitt Romney in their senatorial debates, showing Romney avoiding any specifics and Teddy calling him on it.  When Romney talked about how pro-choice he is (!), Teddy said, he says he's pro choice, I think he's multiple choice.  Is it still 1994?  Romney must think so.

But of course the supernova of the night was Michelle Obama.  Like the best of the preceding speeches, it told a positive story which--by the plot points it touched--reminded everyone of Romney positions and characteristics to the contrary.  But it was also a truly transcendent speech--one of the greatest moments in convention history--certainly a great television moments.  The speech as written is brilliant, but it was the presentation that made it so powerful, so transcendent.   I wouldn't want to be Barack right now, trying to do better.

In the form of the evening, a very effective infomercial.  In the content, it was speaking to the Obama constitutency that needs to come out in big numbers: women, Latinos, Africian Americans, gays and lesbians, seniors, the new immigrants.  If they do, he wins.  But more than that: this is the new Democratic party.  It's not identity politics--it's demographics, it's the new reality.  It's the new American middle class.

I've watched these conventions for many years.  At their best, they are the Democrats reaffirming what they stand for.  Here there were no apologies for Obamacare, for the philosophy of helping hands, of social justice.  Sure, there was political skill in the best presentations.  But this wasn't skewed to some pollster's idea of the undecideds you have to cater to.  This was: this is who we are, this is our guy. 

That's why there was so much enthusiasm, so much love in the hall.  And this was the first day.