Night One of the Democratic National Convention was all about Donald Trump. Night Two was also largely about Trump, at least for the first hour, but the attention shifted to Joe Biden for the second hour.
The most compelling segment was about Biden’s close friendship with the late Sen. John McCain. Despite belonging to opposing parties, the two were more than cordial as senators, sharing friendly jabs in public. It’s difficult to envision the same happening today: Sen. John Cornyn having friendly private dinners with Sen. Chuck Schumer, or Sen. Mazie Hirono speaking well of Sen. Marsha Blackburn at a press conference. Perhaps these things happen, but comity is rare indeed.
There is a sense that the old way of doing politics, where Democrats and Republicans could be friends and be friends publicly, is completely lost. Biden clearly maintained that kind of relationship with McCain up until his death, and that’s a decent case that he would be more measured, more friendly as president than his detractors allege.
The other strength of Tuesday’s performance was the focus on Biden’s ability to overcome the tragic loss of his wife and daughter with the help of Jill Biden, his second wife. Biden has been married to Jill since 1977, in what is, to all appearances, a genuine and lasting love story. The montage of family interviews and other footage was nice to watch. It would be difficult to imagine Trump putting together a similarly toned video.
The one deficiency of Tuesday’s convention, which is no small deal, was the total lack of discussion on policy. Bill Clinton strongly criticized Trump for his handling of the pandemic but offered little indication of how Biden would have handled it differently if president. Would Biden have tried to enact a nationwide lockdown? Would he have demanded Congress spend more money on relief? Clinton hit Trump for his words shirking responsibility, a serious critique, but failed to suggest that Biden’s response to the pandemic could have saved thousands of lives.
The Democrats have calcified their pitch against Trump. They have made a case for Biden’s decency, but they have yet to make a compelling case that Biden can make a real difference on the coronavirus, the economy, or any of the numerous other issues on deck.
