The last Democratic National Convention now seems like a hallucination—a virtual, socially distanced event in a time of intense anxiety and deep grief. Back in 2020, many of the speakers spoke to us from their own homes, an odd comfort at a time when Democrats craved solace from the dual threat of Covid and Donald Trump. The first night of the 2024 DNC felt like a return to normal—a carefully choreographed political rally in a packed Chicago arena.
Except this year is anything but normal.
A sitting president has voluntarily handed over power to his African-Indian American female vice president, Kamala Harrisa historic turning point of events on many levels. The opening night of the convention should dramatize the transition, gently but surely bringing the President Joe Biden offstage while applauding his achievements and honoring his contributions. It should seamlessly—and painlessly—blend the welcome and the farewell.
This extended tribute also served as a farewell to some of the white, old-school politicians, now overshadowed by a multicultural array of speakers whose diversity matched the diversity of the delegates, as we saw in the wide-angled views of the audience.
Throughout the night, amid the hollow tributes and passionate testimony, you couldn’t help but worry about what Biden’s speech would be like. His utterly hollow debate performance gave us reason to worry. Every Barnstormer performance—Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezwonderful expressive hand gestures, Crockett Jasmineinnuendos and accusations, Raphael Warnock‘s mix of rhetoric and plain-spokenness only adds to the concern: how could Joe possibly follow through?
When Biden’s daughter Ashley introduced him, the audience was ready for a tearful catharsis. The camera lingered on father and daughter as they hugged and he wiped away tears. The ovation lasted nearly five minutes, the arena rocking with “We Love Joe” signs. And then the president began his speech, touting the accomplishments of his presidency (politely stressing that he shared credit with Harris) while emphasizing the apocalyptic threat posed by Trump. Concerns about his energy and stamina proved unfounded: if anything, the speech was a little too forceful and aggressive, making even his boasts seem distasteful. Biden is no “joyful warrior” like Vice President Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, and the speech—though very passionate—underscored exactly why he was not the right man for the moment.
Democratic conventions have traditionally added glitz and glamour to keep TV audiences engaged: superstar hosts, pop singers, even creepy musical numbers like the infamous 1996 Macarena dance. Amid wild speculation about potential weekend performances, Taylor Swift or BeyonceDemocrats kept things pretty low-key on this first night, with country singers Jason Isbell And Mickey Guyton appeal to discerning Red State voters. Overall, it was a sensible, substantive convention, in contrast to the RNC’s hyperbolic Wrestlemania atmosphere, complete with Hulk Hogan tear shirt
DNC 2024 Host—Actor and Activist Tony Goldwyn— was an odd choice for opening night, since he played the president in Shonda Rhimes dramatic Scandal is a terrible president who won his office by rigging votes, assassinating a supreme court justice, cheating on his wife while in the White House, and launching a war to save his girlfriend.
Unexpectedly, one of the highlights of this long opening night was Hillary Clinton. Perhaps she was relaxed because she wasn’t pursuing her own career ambitions, but her speech had a smooth rhythm I don’t remember from her own 2016 run. Clinton sparkled on the screen as the convention audience roared with approval. She must have been as emotional and pained to anoint someone else as she was to anoint someone else as (please, God) the first woman president as she was when Biden gave up his own reelection bid. But she was gracious and took some good jabs at her onetime rival. Noting Harris’s prosecutorial past, Clinton said, “She will never rest from defending our freedom and our safety. Donald Trump fell asleep during his own trial and when he woke up, he made history of his own — the first person to run for president with 34 felony convictions.” The crowd chanted “Arrest him!” Clinton couldn’t hide her grin. You almost want her to do one. Fleas– in a fourth-wall-breaking style, winking at the audience as she says, “We got him on the run.”
