Convention takeaways

Faith at the forefront

On the night he was to officially accept the Democratic nomination for president, Joe Biden put faith front and center.

Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware spoke of a “private” faith that is personally defining for Biden, a practicing Roman Catholic. Coons said the nominee “believes in the power of prayer” and in “the dignity of all people” because they are “made in the image of God.”

A video showed Biden explaining his faith as he discussed the 2015 killings of nine Black people by a white supremacist at a historically Black church in Charleston. “They forgave him,” Biden said of the victims’ families. “The ultimate act of Christian charity. They forgave him.”

Still the Obama-biden party

When Biden celebrated his South Carolina primary victory on Feb. 29, he boomed, “I’m an Obama-biden Democrat!”

Through four nights, the speakers who claimed the most airtime besides Biden and vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris: former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle.

Obama spoke nearly four times longer than former President Bill Clinton. Michelle Obama closed out Monday night with a keynote almost twice as long as the combined time awarded to 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The question is how the Obamas’ star power can be leveraged in the fall campaign.

Compassion, empathy, anger

Democrats quite consciously played up empathy, compassion and a bit of righteous anger, all traits they associated with Biden.

On Thursday, it was Brayden Harrington, a 13-year-old who shared his story of bonding with Biden over their shared stutter. The night before, there was the Sanchez family of North Carolina telling of how Trump’s immigration policies threaten them.

Democrats chose the approach because of the etiquette-bedamned manner Trump infuses his rhetoric, betting that a majority of voters simply want what former Republican President George H.W. Bush once called for: “a kinder, gentler nation.”