Democrats’ new focus on “joy” has some party leaders thinking they’ve finally cracked the code for taking on Donald Trump without turning off voters.
But inside the Chicago convention hall, rank-and-file delegates made it clear they have no intention of letting up on their attacks on the former president. The lines that lit up the most in the hall were direct attacks on the Republican and repeated references to his felony convictions — as well as specific comments about Trump and women.
Clinton, Raskin and Crockett portray Trump as ‘despicable villain’ and predator
In her spirited speech at last night’s Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton and other speakers made clear that there is another driving force: defeating the Republican who shattered her own White House dream in 2016 and has tormented Democrats ever since.
For Clinton – herself once the target of repeated “lock her up” chants at Trump rallies – it was her comment about Trump’s conviction that drew the most ire.
“Donald Trump fell asleep at his own trial and woke up making his own history: the first person to be convicted of a felony 34 times,” Clinton said — before people in the crowd chanted “lock him up.”
For Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, it was the line in which he described Trump as “a sore loser who doesn’t know how to take ‘no’ from American voters, American courts, or American women” that galvanized the crowd.
President Joe Biden wipes away a tear after being introduced by his daughter Ashley during the first day of the Democratic National Convention, a night that also saw relentless attacks on Donald Trump
For first-term Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas), it was Trump’s brand as a “vindictive, despicable villain who violates the vision of the voters … I hear alliteration is back in style” that sent the crowd into raptures.
“I’m known for fighting back, and that’s what we were going to do for me,” Crockett told DailyMail.com after her speech, after she broke down in tears on stage as she recounted how Kamala Harris had once comforted her.
It’s not that Democrats didn’t enjoy their one-liners.
When the Reverend Raphael Warnock spoke about his historic Senate victory, it was his criticism of the Bible that galvanized the crowd. “I saw him holding the Bible and then propping the Bible up, like he needed to,” he said. “He should try reading it.”
“Everybody has a role,” Rep. James C. Clyburn (D-S.C.) told DailyMail.com after his own speech. “I don’t expect Kamala to play the role in this campaign that I will play. So when I talk about Project 2025, she can wax philosophical about it. But I’m talking about what it really is: Jim Crow 2.0,” he added.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) shed tears during her own remarks. “I’m known for hitting back — and that’s what we would deliver from me,” she told DailyMail.com
Hillary Clinton referred to her own ‘glass ceiling’ speech as the target Kamala Harris for the White House she once aspired to
The driving ambition to topple Trump helped explain the extraordinary effort to dump Biden and install Vice President Kamala Harris in her place. It moved so quickly that the party platform released Sunday repeatedly called for a second term for Biden.
“They want red meat,” said former congressional candidate Robert Zimmerman, who was defeated by former Rep. George Santos, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges on Monday. “They want to put it to Trump. But they’re doing it in a very positive way,” he told DailyMail.com.
The red thread followed a first half of programming that attempted to check all the boxes of the Democratic electoral coalition, with a particular emphasis on mobilizing Black voters, who have rallied behind Harris after slipping past Biden compared to his 2020 numbers.
Biden time
It seemed like party leaders wouldn’t mind if TV viewers tuned out President Joe Biden when they scheduled him to speak at 9:50 p.m. local time. But it was nearly 10:30 p.m. before he even got started (11:30 p.m. in New York), with a speech that touched on his favorite topics: Charlottesville, infrastructure and the soul of the nation.
Organizers had to scrap a few speakers—and a scheduled James Taylor song—to keep things moving. At times, the teleprompter took on a life of its own, botching one of Raskin’s best lines. By the time Biden finished his speech, it was 11:20 p.m. in the auditorium, and there were a few empty seats up top. That meant it was past midnight on the East Coast.
Emotion in the room
There was a lot of emotion in the room and clear affection for Biden, 81, in the audience — even without the pre-printed signs reading “We love Joe.”
He received a huge standing ovation when he entered the room. Biden looked impressed and wiped a tear from his face after introducing daughter Ashley.
When people chanted, “Thank you, Joe,” he tried to be magnanimous. “Thank you, Kamala,” he replied.
But there were signs that the handoff he was forced to make still stung. Even as he complimented Harris, Biden couldn’t resist noting, “And like many of our best presidents, she was also vice president.”
It was brief performances by Harris, 59, that thrilled the audience.
As Biden fell back on some of the contrived and reinterpreted statements that have dotted his speeches for four years (“that’s not an exaggeration, I mean it literally”), there was gratitude, but also relief.
“I pledge to be the best volunteer Harris and Walz have ever seen,” Biden said — signaling a new, much-reduced role as he vacationed in California.
Series of Black speakers unveil focus on bringing Black voters home
Previous convention speeches and videos highlighted the historic candidacies of Representative Shirley Chisolm, who ran for president in 1972, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson, who made historic presidential runs in 1984 and 1988.
“It’s been a long struggle and a long journey,” the Rev. Al Sharpton said in a video played for the crowd — which later erupted into a huge cheer when Jackson emerged in a wheelchair.
While Trump found ways to recruit minority speakers at his convention, Democrats brought in a long line of established and younger black lawmakers, plus a smattering of Hispanics and recognition of Native American tribal lands.
This came after NAACP Chairman Derrick Johnson joked that “I’m here to do my job as a black man,” and followed earlier comments from DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison and Chicago native Minyon Moore, plus numerous members of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Polls since Joe Biden withdrew have shown the centrality of black voters to the Democratic coalition. Harris is outperforming Biden nationally and in swing states, having consolidated support among black voters and younger voters. Maintaining their support and bringing turnout to Biden’s 2020 levels, down from Barack Obama’s, is crucial.