What Went Down On The First Night Of The Democratic National Convention

Yeah Amelia, I think part of it’s going to be the coverage surrounding the speech rather than the live viewership of it. As Nathaniel just pointed out, Michele Obama is pretty popular for a public figure in our polarized time, and so her comments could break through to less-engaged voters.

Michelle Obama is a very talented speaker and public emoter and always has been. I wrote a piece about her during her book tour that talked about this power — this “I hate politics” kind of political power she wields. She is very good at projecting “everywoman” when she’s actually far from it, for many reasons! But a forum like tonight reminds you of her real talent for speaking and her very particular place in American life.

If you’re trying to reach less-engaged voters (although you can certainly question whether they’d be spending their Monday night watching this), I kind of think this low-key, earnest version of the convention speech might be more effective? It feels much less like a political pageant, anyway.