Washington: Democrats kicked off their convention with a show of unity and a rallying cry fueled more by animosity toward President Donald Trump than affirmations for their own nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden — enlisting progressives, centrists and even Republicans to paper over differences and oust the incumbent.
The debut night, held virtually, put on display the Biden campaign’s desire to make the election a referendum on Trump, unleashing broadsides against the president over the coronavirus, racial justice, character, the shattered economy and the U.S. Postal Service. It included speeches from former first lady Michelle Obama, Senator Bernie Sanders and four disaffected Republicans, but it was Obama who jabbed the president hardest.
The former first lady described Trump as unfit for office, while blasting him for mismanaging the pandemic and other issues.
“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” she said. “He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.”
“It is what it is,” she added pointedly, a phrase Trump used to describe the state of the coronavirus pandemic that has crippled the U.S.
Trump called Obama’s speech “extremely divisive” during an event at the White House on Tuesday celebrating the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote, and said he wouldn’t have been elected were it not for her husband.
“I wouldn’t even be here were it not for Barack Obama,” he said, after also criticizing Michelle Obama for recording her speech instead of delivering it live. “If they did a good job I wouldn’t be here. I’d be building buildings someplace and having a good time.”
He also said Michelle Obama was “in over her head,” echoing her comments about him the night before.
Earlier, he issued a series of unfounded allegations against the Obama administration in tweets, accusing the former president and Biden of “corruption,” “treason,” and “spying” on his campaign.
The convention was a bid to shore up the party’s unity as polls show Biden with a sizable but narrowing lead. The Democrats showcased Biden’s campaign as one broad enough for Sanders, the self-declared democratic socialist, and John Kasich, a former Republican governor of Ohio who sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2016.
“I’m sure there are Republicans and independents who couldn’t imagine crossing over to support a Democrat,” Kasich said. “They fear Joe may turn sharp-left and leave them behind. I don’t believe that.”
Trump offered counter-programming with a series of mini-rallies Monday that were peppered with Biden criticisms, some of them false. He said Biden will be a “Trojan horse for socialism,” will eliminate police, confine Americans to their basements, or triple taxes and trigger another economic collapse. Trump also hinted at a high-profile forthcoming pardon as he looks to bump Democrats from headlines.
Biden is seeking to energize his fractious party — as Obama encouraged people to not sit out this race and as Sanders all but begged progressives to vote for Biden.
“To everyone who supported other candidates in the primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election: the future of our democracy is at stake,” Sanders said. “The future of our economy is at stake, the future of our planet is at stake. We must come together, defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”
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Sanders acknowledged that Biden’s health-care plans fall short of his vision, but touted Biden’s plan nonetheless, as well as support for a higher minimum wage. Obama, too, acknowledged doubts that Biden can defeat Trump.
“Joe is not perfect and he will be the first to tell you that. But there is no perfect candidate,” she said of the man who served as vice president to her husband, President Barack Obama. In 2016, too many voters thought their votes didn’t matter, allowing Trump to win the Electoral College while losing the popular vote nationally, she said. “And we’ve all been living with the consequences.”
Some of the remarks were devoted to countering Trump’s attacks on voting by mail, encouraging Democrats to vote as early as possible, prepare to stand in line for hours and to confirm if mailed ballots had been received. Obama also alluded to the fledgling spoiler campaign being run by the rapper Kanye West to Trump’s apparent benefit. “This is not the time to withhold our votes in protest, or play games with candidates who have no chance of winning,” Obama said.
Biden leveraged the online format by popping up in segments during Monday’s event ahead of his acceptance speech Thursday, saying in one that police reform is possible. “I may be kidding myself, but I think people are ready” for reform, Biden said. “But we can’t let up.” Monday’s convention included segments with families of George Floyd and Eric Garner, two Black men who died at the hands of police.
Monday’s lineup was also aimed substantially at recruiting Republicans who have tired of Trump.
“Many of us can’t imagine four more years going down this path and that’s why I’m asking you to join with me in choosing a better way forward,” Kasich said. “In normal times something like this would probably never happen. But these are not normal times.”
The others included former Representative Susan Molinari of New York and two women who endorsed Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016 — Meg Whitman, a veteran tech executive who ran unsuccessfully for California governor, and former Governor Christine Whitman of New Jersey.
“Donald Trump has no clue how to run a business, let alone an economy,” Meg Whitman said. Molinari called Biden “a really good man, and he’s exactly what this nation needs at this time.”
Trump’s campaign dismissed them as “fake Republicans” who are “nothing but useful idiots for the radical left,” and called Kasich a sore loser. However, there are a range of efforts by ex-Republicans to criticize Trump or even campaign for Biden. Monday’s event also featured a montage of testimonials from grassroots Republicans saying they’ll back Biden.
The courtship of Republicans and centrists soon gave way to a montage of candidates who challenged Biden for his nomination, praising him. “It’s not easy to unite the Democratic party,” Washington Governor Jay Inslee said. “We’re a rambunctious group. Joe Biden has pulled it off.”
Sanders’s endorsement was full-throated in contrast to the long and bitter campaign he and Clinton carried out four years earlier. “Our campaign ended several months ago but our movement continues,” Sanders said, blasting Trump over inaction on the pandemic and the economic crisis. “Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Trump golfs.”
But tensions among progressives percolated. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez publicly sparred with Kasich over his view of the Democratic tent as progressives pushed to give her more speaking time.
The dueling narratives will continue apace on Tuesday, when Biden will take part in events with Tom Hanks and Lin-Manuel Miranda and Trump will travel to Iowa and Arizona, two states he won in 2016 and is now at risk of losing. The Democratic convention resumes with speeches from Jill Biden and Bill Clinton.-Bloomberg
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