Kamala Harris made history, but Barack Obama made the biggest headlines from night three of the Democratic National Convention. Obama, we are told repeatedly, broke a norm for former presidents against directly criticizing their successors when he said “Donald Trump hasn’t grown into the job because he can’t. And the consequences of that failure are severe. 170,000 Americans dead. Millions of jobs gone while those at the top take in more than ever. Our worst impulses unleashed, our proud reputation around the world badly diminished, and our democratic institutions threatened like never before.” Among other things.
Much of the coverage of Obama’s decision to lay out who and what Trump is, and talk directly about the danger to democracy he represents, recognized that before Obama broke a norm, Trump shattered many more of them, and Trump’s responding rage-tweets helped make the point. Democrats have to be able to identify Trump’s destruction of civic values, his divisiveness, his assaults on voting if they are going to fight those things. Obama did that, powerfully and carefully, and it reverberated.
But, if she was somewhat overshadowed by one of the great orators of our time, Harris gave a strong acceptance speech, introducing herself to the nation with a loving, joyful description of the importance of family, a theme she returned to in extensively praising Joe Biden and in lifting up the people across the nation coming together to make the United States a better place.
In between those sections of the speech, though, Harris did take a moment for Donald Trump, saying “I’ve fought for children, and survivors of sexual assault. I’ve fought against transnational gangs. I took on the biggest banks, and helped take down one of the biggest for-profit colleges. I know a predator when I see one.” And no one who has watched her in a Senate hearing can doubt that she will be able to prosecute the case against Trump and Mike Pence.
While Harris and Obama capped the night, there were many other strong moments. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, standing in a daycare classroom and laying out the importance of child care: “We build infrastructure like roads, bridges and communications systems so that people can work. That infrastructure helps us all because it keeps our economy going. It’s time to recognize that childcare is part of the basic infrastructure of this nation—it’s infrastructure for families.”
Former Rep. Gabby Giffords appeared in a powerful video, playing “America (My Country Tis of The)” on the French horn and delivering words she had to work hard to be able to speak even now, years after she was shot in the head, her courage and ongoing fight showing the lasting effects of gun violence even on those who survive. Parkland survivor Emma Gonzalez also spoke on gun violence, as did DeAndra Dycus, whose son is quadriplegic and unable to speak after being shot when he was 13.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton served up a reminder that “Joe and Kamala can win 3 million more votes and still lose. Take. It. From. Me.”
Eleven-year-old Estela Juarez read a letter to Trump about her mother being deported though her father was a Trump-voting Marine. “Instead of protecting us, you tore our world apart,” she said. “My mom is a good person and is not a criminal. Now, my mom is gone and she has been taken from us for no reason at all.”
It’s not hard to find people who have been damaged by Trump’s policies, unfortunately. But night three of the DNC also made the case for throwing ourselves into the fight for change. As Obama ended his remarks, “This administration has shown it will tear our democracy down if that’s what it takes to win. So we have to get busy building it up—by pouring all our effort into these 76 days, and by voting like never before—for Joe and Kamala, and candidates up and down the ticket, so that we leave no doubt about what this country we love stands for—today and for all our days to come.”
Thursday is the final night of the DNC, and will bring Joe Biden’s acceptance speech, along with Sens. Cory Booker, Tammy Duckworth, Tammy Baldwin, and Chris Coons; plus Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms; former presidential contenders Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang; and performances by John Legend and Common and The Chicks. It runs from 9 PM to 11 PM ET and you can watch it here.
