The DNC Has Been a Grand Show

I'll be proud to play a supporting role

I will be speaking Thursday night.

Make no mistake about it. Kamala Harris aside, Michelle Obama is the superstar of the Democratic Party. She proved it in her Tuesday night speech to the party’s national convention where she took Donald Trump apart, piece by piece, rocking the house with jabs and needles, describing him as a conman and hatemonger who didn’t deserve the office he seeks. She said:

“If we bankrupt a business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third or fourth chance. If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead. No. We don’t get to change the rules so we always win. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top.”

Ms. Obama spoke to a crowd that cheered so much she sometimes struggled to be heard. When she finished, she introduced her husband, who happens to be one of the great orators of modern politics. He made a theatrical kind of joke, telling the crowd, “I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama.”

When he got his chance to speak, Obama said of Trump, “Here’s a 78-year-old billionaire who has not stopped whining about his problems since he rode down his golden escalator nine years ago.”  The former president added, “It has been a constant stream of gripes and grievances that’s actually been getting worse now that he’s afraid of losing to Kamala.”

All party conventions are theatrical events meant to inspire the delegates in the hall and TV  viewers across the country.  Far more people are watching the DNC than tuned into Trump’s Republican convention, which I’m sure bothers him to no end.  Trump also failed to produce a truly impressive lineup. I think this is because he’s turned the GOP into a club for Trump toadies and toadies just don’t perform well when the boss is looking on.

The Democrats’  line-up has included supporting players of the sort Trump could never muster. It has included two former presidents – Obama and Bill Clinton – and the sitting president Joe Biden who kicked off the four-day event with an appearance that amounted to his swan song after fifty-plus years in public services. No Hollywood writer could have dreamed-up a more dramatic opening for the DNC than a speech delivered by a aged president who sacrificed his own bid for re-election in favor of a more dynamic candidate.

As many in the media noted, the Biden of Monday night, who often grew teary-eyed, was much sharper than the Biden who saw his re-election hopes dashed in his one debate with Trump. He delivered a vigorous case for preserving American democracy against Trump’s bid for one-man rule and he faced squarely his own decision to step aside.

“ It's been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. I love the job, but I love my country more,” said Biden  “We love our country more, and we need to preserve our democracy. In 2024, we need you to vote. We need you to keep the Senate. We need you to win back the House of Representatives. We need you to beat Donald Trump.”

Before Biden leaves the national stage, he must receive the credit he deserves for blocking Trump’s 2020 re-election bid and giving the country a four-year break from the former guy’s (as Biden calls him) chaos, division, and rage.  History may well conclude that Biden saved American democracy, as he intended, and notched historic achievements with his response to the Covid-19 pandemic and an infrastructure program that created millions of jobs.

Having accepted a request to speak on the final day of the DNC it will be my job, in part, to stand for genuine conservatives who once populated the Republican Party. I’m talking about the GOP I knew from the day I became politically aware to the rise of Trumpism.  In a four-night event filled with so much drama and excitement, I don’t expect to stand out, but I will be proud to play my role and thrilled if my voice helps to energize the delegates and inspires some of my fellow conservatives to join me on the right side of history.