Dems put divides aside, back Biden
Supporters of the former vice president say US can’t survive four more years of Trump, crises could get worse
Obama delivered a passionate condemnation of US President Donald Trump during Monday’s opening night of the Democratic National Convention, declaring him “in over his head” and warning that the nation’s mounting crises would only get worse if he’s reelected over Joe Biden.
“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country,” she said. “He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us.”
The former first lady, one of the nation’s most respected women, was the headliner at the first presidential nominating convention of the coronavirus era. There was no central meeting place or cheering throng during the all-virtual affair. But it was an opportunity for Democrats—and some Republicans—to rally behind
Biden, the party’s presidential nominee.
Bernie Sanders, the progressive Vermont senator who was Biden’s last standing rival during the primary, encouraged his loyal supporters to vote for the former vice president in November, arguing the nation can’t survive another four years of Trump.
Health care
He notably backed Biden’s plan for tackling health care, one of their most substantive differences in the past. Sanders backs a Medicare for All plan while Biden has called for expanding the current Obamacare law.
But it was Michelle Obama, making her fourth convention appearance, who once again delivered an electrifying moment. Wearing a necklace that said “vote,” she tapped into her enduring popularity among Black voters and college educated suburban women—voters Biden will need to show up in force.
She issued a stark warning to a country already navigating health and economic crises along with a reckoning on racism.
“If you think things possibly can’t get worse, trust me, they can and they will if we don’t make a change in this election,” she said as she issued a call to action for the coalition of young and diverse voters who twice sent her family to the White House.
Biden will formally accept the nomination on Thursday near his home in Wilmington, Delaware. His running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, who is the first Black woman on a national ticket, speaks on Wednesday night.
Leading up to that, Biden sought on opening night to demonstrate the broad ideological range of his supporters.
Antiabortion support
On the same night he was praised by Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist who championed a multitrillion-dollar universal health-care plan, Biden also won backing from Ohio’s former Republican Gov. John Kasich, an antiabortion 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,” Sanders said as he endorsed Biden’s health-care plan.
Still, there were real questions about whether the primetime event would adequately energize the disparate factions Biden hopes to capture.
Republicans face a similar challenge next week.
Trump sought to undermine the Democrats’ big night by hosting a political rally in Wisconsin, where Biden’s party had originally planned this week’s convention. He called the Democrats’ event “a snooze” before it even began.
Monday’s speeches were framed by emotional appearances from average Americans touched by the crises that have exploded on Trump’s watch.