An unconventional tale of the tape
Over the past two weeks, the two major U.S. political parties held presidential conventions. The Star’s Washington bureau chief, Ed Keenan, looks at the good, the bad and the ugly
WHEN AND WHERE
Democrats: Aug. 17-20, Milwaukee, Wis., and Wilmington, Del. Republicans: Aug. 24-27, Charlotte, N.C., and Washington, D.C.
IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE
Democrats: 22-35 in the Wisconsin convention centre for speeches; about 30 members of the media in the Delaware hall for Biden’s speech.
Republicans: 336 in the North Carolina hall; about 100 at Mike Pence’s speech at Fort McHenry in Baltimore; approximately 1,500 outdoors on the White House lawn for Trump’s speech.
TV RATINGS FOR NOMINEE’S SPEECH
Democrats: 23.6 million Republicans: 21.6 million
PLATFORM
Democrats: A 91-page document developed by a committee including members of the Biden and Bernie Sanders teams, outlining policies on topics including the economy, climate change, universal health care and criminal justice reform.
Republicans: None. A single page resolution to declare no new platform would be adopted in 2020, but “reassert the party’s strong support for President Donald Trump and his administration.” Trump’s campaign issued a 50-point agenda.
SLOGAN
Democrats: “Build back better.” Republicans: “The best is yet to come.”
ROLL CALL IMAGES
Democrats: Scenes from across the country — on beaches, in front of mountain ranges, next to food trucks and a plate of deep-fried calamari.
Republicans: Delegates in Charlotte stood in front of a white backdrop featuring the hashtag #RNC2020. Some wore distinctive hats or scarves.
PREVAILING THEMES
Democrats: “The most important election of our lifetimes”; Trump’s mishandling of coronavirus; Trump’s threat to democracy; light vs. darkness; Biden’s basic decency. Republicans: “In Joe Biden’s America, you will never be safe,”; coronavirus as a thing of the past after Trump’s magnificent response; fighting legal abortion; Biden as a “Trojan horse” for “radical socialism”; Trump is not racist and is actually a caring person away from the cameras.
LENGTH OF NOMINEE’S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Democrats: 25 minutes Republicans: 71 minutes, plus a 55minute speech in North Carolina on Monday
FACT CHECK
Democrats: CNN fact-checkers say, “Major speakers mostly spoke in generalities or offered subjective opinions — and when they did make assertions of fact, they have largely been accurate.”
Republicans: CNN fact-checkers say, “CNN counted more than 20 false, exaggerated or misleading claims from Trump on Thursday night. That’s in addition to a number of falsehoods from other speakers.”
CELEBRATORY IMAGES
Democrats: Streamers and balloons in a library as members of the Biden family celebrated the nomination to the tune of Kool and the Gang’s “Celebration”; fireworks over a parking lot in Delaware where supporters honked horns and waved signs outside Biden’s speech venue. Republicans: Trump’s name spelled out in fireworks over the Washington Monument before he and his supporters stood at attention for a cover version of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING
Democrats: Evident, including Biden and VP nominee Kamala Harris staying apart while onstage together, wearing masks in most appearances. Republicans: Virtually none. Few people appeared wearing masks, attendees sat close together at outdoor venues.
WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY
Democrats: Archival video of Barack Obama awarding Biden the Presidential Medal of Honour. Republicans: Donald Trump pardoned a reformed convict and conducted a citizenship ceremony during a broadcast from the White House.
QUESTIONABLE QUOTE
Democrats: Some Canadians thought Biden came close to plagiarizing Jack Layton’s farewell letter when he said in his speech, “For love is more powerful than hate. Hope is more powerful than fear. Light is more powerful than dark. This is our moment. This is our mission.” Republicans: Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, inaccurately attributed a quote to Abraham Lincoln that has been featured in a Facebook meme.
MOST MEMORABLE QUOTES
Democrats: “Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.” — Michelle Obama
“I am also asking you to believe in your own ability, to embrace your own responsibility as citizens, to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure, because that’s what at stake right now — our democracy.” — Barack Obama
“The Irish poet Seamus Heaney once wrote: ‘History says, / Don’t hope on this side of the grave, / But / then, once in a lifetime / The longed-for tidal wave / Of justice can rise up, / And hope and history rhyme.” This is our moment to make hope and history rhyme. With passion and purpose, let us begin — you and I together, one nation, under God — united in our love for America and united in our love for each other.” — Joe Biden Republicans: “Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime, and that’s why I believe the next American century can be better than the last.” — Tim Scott
“It’s almost like this election is shaping up to be church, work and school versus rioting, looting and vandalism — or, in the words of Biden and the Democrats, ‘peaceful protesting.’ ” — Donald Trump Jr.
“And this election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or allow a radical movement to completely dismantle and destroy it. It won’t happen. At the Democrat National Convention, Joe Biden and his party repeatedly assailed America as a land of racial, economic and social injustice, so tonight, I ask you a simple question: How can the Democratic Party ask to lead our country when it spent so much time tearing down our country?” — Donald Trump