Day 3 DNC Recap – Making The Case That Trump Is Not Fit To Be President
Day 3 of the DNC began with a consistent attack on gun violence and the power of the NRA with speeches by Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Gabby Giffords among others. That was followed by Rear Admiral John Hutson who really went after Trump about his comments about Russia earlier today. Leon Panetta followed that with another takedown Trump but his hawkish views and past history did not resonate with the crowd at all with his speech interrupted by “lies” and “no more wars” chants. And that set the stage for the three stars of the evening – Joe Biden, Tim Kaine and Barack Obama.
Biden gave his usual classic, passionate speech where he talked up Hillary’s leadership qualities, appealed to our greatness, and denounced Trump and his divisiveness, lack of empathy, and basic cluelessness. His best line, among many, was that “we lead not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example”. Michael Bloomberg then made a searing indictment of Trump and a strong endorsement of Hillary Clinton and he had one of the best zingers of the night, saying, “I built a business, and I didn’t start it with a million-dollar check from my father.” The theme of those three speakers, Panetta, Biden, and Bloomberg was to declare Trump unfit for the Presidency and they all did their job. But the old blowhard, Joe Biden, was still the star – that man knows how to give a speech!
Tim Kaine was not the most dynamic speaker but he gave a good accounting of his resume and the story of his political life. He spoke to Hillary’s trust issue by saying he trusted her with his son’s life who is serving overseas in the Marines and he easily weaved English and Spanish throughout his speech. But he was most effective in his attacks on Trump and how all the people who ever believe Trump always get stiffed. He was an effective attack dog but managed to do it in a pleasant and upbeat manner – a new happy warrior.
And that set the stage for President Barack Obama who simply rocked the house with one of the great speeches in modern American history. He began with an honest accounting of his administration’s successes and failures. And then proceeded to give what historian Michael Beschloss called the most enthusiastic endorsement of a nominee by any outgoing President in history. He spoke to our innate optimism and shared American values and showed that Trump and the values he represents lie well outside the mainstream. And the crowd loved every minute of it. Take a look at the whole speech, it’s worth it.
The evening ended with Hillary joining Obama on stage and getting a warm embrace from the current President who had made the case that she was the one to build on his legacy.
This was a great evening for Democrats with Bloomberg giving a good speech, Biden’s even better, and Obama’s simply the best. Bloomberg and Biden landed some serious blows on Trump and Obama came in and, in Michelle’s words, “went high”. In fact, the evening was almost too good as it puts an extraordinary amount of pressure on Hillary to come even close to the level of oratory that we heard last night.