Unified messaging on DNC’s first night
NEW YORK — Joe Biden introduced the breadth of his coalition to a divided America on Monday night, progressive Democrats joining conservative Republicans and a billionaire CEO to deliver an urgent appeal for voters to unite against President Donald Trump regardless of political ideology or party.
Former first lady Michelle Obama vouched for Mr. Biden’s empathy and experience, while the extraordinary ideological range of Mr. Biden’s many messengers on the opening night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention was perhaps best demonstrated by former presidential contenders from opposing parties: Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a democratic socialist who has championed a multitrillion-dollar universal health care plan, and former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican, anti-abortion conservative who spent decades fighting to cut government spending.
“My friends, I say to you, and to everyone who supported other candidates in this primary and to those who may have voted for Donald Trump in the last election: The future of our democracy is at stake. The future of our economy is at stake. The future of our planet is at stake,” Mr. Sanders declared.
Mr. Kasich said his status as a lifelong Republican “holds second place to my responsibility to my country.”
“In normal times, something like this would probably never happen — but these are not normal times,” he said of his participation at the Democrats’ convention. He added: “We can do better than what we’ve been seeing today, for sure.”
The unified message, outlined in excerpts of prerecorded speeches, came before the official start of the first presidential nominating convention of the coronavirus era. The all-virtual affair is the first without a central meeting place or cheering throngs. And there were real questions about whether the prime-time event would adequately energize the disparate factions Mr. Biden hopes to capture.
Republicans face a similar challenge next week.
Mr. Trump, seeking to undermine the Democrats’ big night by hosting a political rally in Wisconsin, where Mr. Biden’s party had originally planned this week’s convention, called the Democrats’ event “a snooze” before it even began.
“You know when you hear a speech is taped, it’s like there is nothing very exciting about it, right?” the Republican president said.
Democrats abandoned their plans for an in-person gathering in Milwaukee because of the pandemic. The unprecedented gathering is not only testing the bonds of the diverse Biden-Kamala Harris coalition but also the practical challenges of running a presidential campaign in the midst of a pandemic.
Among a series of national crises, speakers addressed bipartisan concerns that Postal Service changes will make it hard for voters to be sure their mail-in ballots are received in time and counted. Ballot access is a particular concern for people of color, whose communities were disproportionately forced to wait in long lines to cast primary votes earlier in the year.