At DNC, it’s all about the Donald
Speakers spend as much time praising their candidate as launching broad attacks on Trump
The third day of the Democratic National Convention in one Joe Biden word: “malarkey.”
A critical campaign evening formally devoted to national security issues turned into a mocking all-handson-deck assault on the credibility and character of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who was depicted by a procession of high-profile speakers as a phoney, a charlatan, a dilettante.
“Folks, you cannot believe one word that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth,” said Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine.
“Our nation is too great to put it in the hands of a slick-talkin’, empty-promisin’, self-promotin’ one-man wrecking crew.”
U.S. President Barack Obama, closing the night 12 years to the day of his starmaking 2004 convention address, struck a different note, attempting to appeal to the better angels of a nation more divided than when he arrived on the national scene.
Obama, who called Clinton the most qualified presidential candidate in U.S. history, acknowledged the anxieties that have fuelled Trump’s stunning rise. But he described America as a “generous, bighearted, hopeful country” characterized by “courage and optimism and ingenuity” — nothing like the hellscape painted by Trump at the Republican convention last week.
“We’re challenged to do better, to be better. But as I’ve traveled this country, through all 50 states, as I’ve rejoiced with you and mourned with you, what I’ve also seen, more than anything, is what is right with America,” he said. He was preceded by an impassioned address by his vice-president. Alternating between a furious shout and a near-whisper, appealing to the white working people with whom Hillary Clinton has struggled, Biden described Trump as a mean-spirited know-nothing merely pretending to care about average Americans.
“He’s trying to tell us he cares about the middle class? Give me a break. That’s a bunch of malarkey,” Biden said.
“He has no clue about what makes America great. Actually he has no clue, period,” he said.
At that, the crowd at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center launched into a thunderous chant of “not a clue.”
“There’s only one person in this election who will help you,” Biden said. “There’s only one person in this race who will be there, who has always been there for you. And that’s Hillary Clinton’s life story. She’s always there. She’s always been there.”
The third night of the four-day convention was sprinkled with unusual appeals to moderates and conservatives worried about Trump’s unorthodox behaviour.
Mitt Romney, the last Republican nominee and now a Trump critic, was featured in a video series of conservatives depicting Trump as deranged. The Democrats rose in passionate applause when a retired navy rear admiral defended the previous Republican nominee, John McCain, from Trump’s disparagement of his capture during the Vietnam War. And former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, a billionaire and political independent who was elected as a Republican, delivered a scath- ing takedown of Trump’s business record, lending his credibility as a bona fide titan to a case the Democrats have tried to make for weeks: Trump as a fake, merely playing a tycoon on television.
“I’m a New Yorker. And I know a con when I see one,” Bloomberg said. Calling his fellow Manhattanite a “dangerous demagogue” and a “risky, reckless and radical choice,” he added: “Truth be told, the richest thing about Donald Trump is his hypocrisy.”
Bloomberg also raised a point the Democrats have been loath to address: Trump’s mental health. In a direct appeal to fellow independents, he said, “Let’s elect a sane, competent person.”
The night served as a national introduction for Kaine, a folksy Virginia senator. In his typical conversational manner, and occasionally in Spanish, Kaine described his work as a civil rights lawyer, Jesuit missionary and governor.
And then he turned to the task for which some Democrats worried he was ill-suited: savaging Trump. He took special aim at one of the businessman’s favourite phrases: “Believe me.”
“It’s gonna be great — believe me!” he said, deepening his voice in a poor Trump impression. “We’re gonna build a wall and make Mexico pay for it — believe me! We’re gonna destroy ISIS so fast — believe me! There’s nothing suspicious in my tax returns — believe me!”
“Here’s the question,” Kaine concluded. “Do you really believe him? Donald Trump’s whole career says you better not.”
Unlike the Republicans, the Democrats emphasized the threats of gun violence and climate change over Daesh terrorism.
“Trump says global warming is a hoax. I say Trump is a fraud,” said California Gov. Jerry Brown.
Showing unprecedented assertiveness on gun policy, Clinton’s campaign put forward seven consecutive speakers who advocated more restrictions.
“I’m glad common-sense gun policy was in place the day Christopher was born,” said Christine Leinonen, whose son was killed in the Orlando nightclub massacre. “But where was that common sense the day he died?”
Former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, wounded in a shooting in 2011, followed victims of the Charleston church shooting last year.
“Strong women get things done,” Giffords said. “Hillary is tough. Hillary is courageous. She will fight to make our families safer. In the White House, she will stand up to the gun lobby. That’s why I’m voting for Hillary.”
She concluded: “Speaking is difficult for me. But come January, I want to say these two words: ‘Madam President.’ ”