What Went Down On The Final Night Of The DNC

Going back to Julia and Kaleigh’s point earlier about the nature of Democrats’ anti-Trump message … we were talking about that on the podcast last night — that running strictly on an anti-Trump message is much different in 2020 than it was in 2016. In 2016, it was about Trump personally and somewhat hypothetical. In 2020, Biden can run a much more substantive, policy/real-world-focused anti-Trump message — about what he’s done and not done.

The Biden family’s collectively tragedy was always going to be a big part of the campaign’s DNA, and it does soften some of Biden’s unlikeable qualities — he can be cringey in his remarks on race and of course, he’s a career politicians with longtime presidential ambitions, which most people find to be a turnoff. But obviously, the losses resonate so much more during the pandemic. That’s been what tonight has been about. And it softens the ground for Biden to speak.

One question posed earlier in the evening asked about the balance tonight would strike between Biden’s autobiography and his policies. So far we’ve seemed to focus more on the bio, with many different speakers talking about Biden’s authenticity, using terms like decency and empathy to convey it. Do you think that’s the kind of introduction voters need for Biden tonight versus his vision for the country? He’s been in public service now for almost 50 years and many younger voters maybe don’t know who he is, but I wonder if this was the right tack versus drilling in on what his administration would stand for.