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You are here: Home / Politics / Proud to Be A Democrat / Night One Reactions

Night One Reactions

by John Cole|  August 18, 20202:02 am| 46 Comments

This post is in: Proud to Be A Democrat

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I thought it was all very fine, I thought Michelle was perfect (as always), and while I know all sorts of people are upset about the Kasich and Republican support, I am ok with that. Remember, it’s Kasich and Republicans supporting Biden, not Biden supporting them.

The line that is going to stick with me probably for the rest of my life was that young woman who said “My father’s only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump.” That’s just devastating to hear, in both the truth and because of the pain it has caused that family, and devastating to Donald Trump (among rational people).

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Reader Interactions

46Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    August 18, 2020 at 2:09 am

    That young woman is a ready made ad. It was KAPOW???

  2. 2.

    BeautifulPlumage

    August 18, 2020 at 2:18 am

    I don’t have tv/cable/etc and didn’t expect to see any of it “live” but I was helping out my somewhat apolitical sister and Michelle’s is the one speech she un-muted. And I’m still puzzled. The speech was …was …perfect as usual.

  3. 3.

    guachi

    August 18, 2020 at 2:25 am

    It was far better than any other convention I’ve seen. The ability to have edited, pre-recorded speeches was great. The lack of a convention hall made everything more intimate. And could get things like the mash-up of other Democratic candidates.

  4. 4.

    smike

    August 18, 2020 at 2:26 am

    @BeautifulPlumage

    That sounds great! Very positive night.

  5. 5.

    Mary G

    August 18, 2020 at 2:31 am

    I was a bit worried about technical glitches, but it was professionally smooth. I did like it without the crowd. It was intimate and very disciplined with time. Bernie’s speech surprised me in a good way. The ordinary Americans were great.

  6. 6.

    BeautifulPlumage

    August 18, 2020 at 2:31 am

    @smike:  yes, a great night, except I was trying to unclog her kitchen sink. Michelle’s spot on video was a welcome break!

  7. 7.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 18, 2020 at 2:36 am

    It was nice to have much more content and almost no blather from the “experts”.  I thought the segment with the Republicans for Biden was good, it made it harder to dismiss everything else a merely a partisan exercise.

  8. 8.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    August 18, 2020 at 2:38 am

    @Mary G: Bernie came across very elder statesman like.  There was a bit of a glitch with Jim Clyburn’s segment, but other than that it was pretty much flawless.

  9. 9.

    smike

    August 18, 2020 at 2:39 am

    @BeautifulPlumage:

    Sink is now sinking stuff, I hope…

  10. 10.

    Cathie from Canada

    August 18, 2020 at 2:41 am

    I saw some NBC news commentary with the tired trope “They are just against Trump, they aren’t excited about Biden!” when actually I thought there was lots of positive stuff about Biden, his story, his plans, etc. – Even from Bernie, who spent quite a bit of his speech talking about what plans Biden had.
    The media just have to recycle those tired old talking points sometimes, don’t they.

  11. 11.

    rikyrah

    August 18, 2020 at 2:52 am

    Excellent ad

    We have a choice this November. It's a choice to vote for a man of character or a man without character. #AmericaOrTrump pic.twitter.com/HPSfGyrVdy— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) August 17, 2020

  12. 12.

    HumboldtBlue

    August 18, 2020 at 2:54 am

    I think that was well done.

    Good cadence.

    First night. too.

  13. 13.

    JaneE

    August 18, 2020 at 2:55 am

    As if the Democrats didn’t have enough choices on what to hit Trump with, his betrayal of the trust of ordinary people should be another thing to emphasize in campaign ads. Just intersperse Trump saying “What do you have to lose?” with the stories of people who lost their lives because of his actions.

  14. 14.

    Chief Oshkosh

    August 18, 2020 at 3:05 am

    (among rational people).

    “Governor, every thinking person would be voting for you”. He retorted, “Madam, that is not enough. I need a majority.”

  15. 15.

    James E Powell

    August 18, 2020 at 3:14 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    it made it harder to dismiss everything else a merely a partisan exercise.

    It infuriates me that this is somehow an obligation for Democrats, but never for Republicans.

  16. 16.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 18, 2020 at 3:21 am

    @guachi: The ability to have edited, pre-recorded speeches was great.

    It was great not having the crowd BS.  Even greater streaming it from non-broadcast-TV-channel YouTube pages (Joe Biden’s, and I hear C-SPAN was no talking heads either) was the relief at having no talking head assclowns trying to orally pleasure themselves on camera.

    Or having Upchuck Todd trying to suck his own cock by ripping down the Democratic party.

  17. 17.

    Morzer

    August 18, 2020 at 4:05 am

    I think the contrast between this sane, intelligent, optimistic convention and Trump’s jiggling jerkoffs on parade is going to be a powerful one.  I suspect that Trump’s egomania and hateful delusionality is going to cripple any attempt at a response by the GOP. Not that our current miserable reality left them many options.

  18. 18.

    TS (the original)

    August 18, 2020 at 4:24 am

    The line that is going to stick with me probably for the rest of my life was that young woman who said “My father’s only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump.”

    I’m 99% sure I had heard/seen this before – perhaps her tweets via AL? – but obviously the Biden campaign had seen them also.

    Not only did they present a tech smart, professional, sometimes emotional, informative & interesting event, they put the effort into getting the wonderful mix of speakers and the latter put the effort into preparing for the event.

  19. 19.

    Amir Khalid

    August 18, 2020 at 4:41 am

    The BBC’s story on the Democratic party convention’s first day. Note where North America reporter Anthony Zurcher says

    The only speaker who landed an emotional punch, however, was Michelle Obama.

    I’m not sure he saw the same convention you guys did.

  20. 20.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 18, 2020 at 5:02 am

    @Amir Khalid: What was he watching?

  21. 21.

    Amir Khalid

    August 18, 2020 at 5:10 am

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Who knows.

  22. 22.

    geg6

    August 18, 2020 at 5:39 am

    @mrmoshpotato: 

    MSNBC did a great job with it. They did break in twice, but it was just for a minute or so each time. Plus! It was an all female desk! Rachel, Joy and Nicole! I was so happy to see that. They did the pregame, too.

  23. 23.

    Yutsano

    August 18, 2020 at 5:45 am

    @geg6: Then they brought in Brian Williams. I have no idea why MSNBC did such a stupid thing. He added nothing to the program except take over like a daddy figure. It was pretty gross honestly.

  24. 24.

    Betty Cracker

    August 18, 2020 at 5:45 am

    @Amir Khalid: I interpreted the Beeb dude’s comment as comparing Michelle Obama’s speech to the politicians’ speeches, so it didn’t sound as incongruous with what I saw. And wow, what a speech it was. She just laid it out there in plain language.

    The speech was powerful, and it’s getting a lot of media buzz, which attracts Trump like a moth to a light bulb. She hit Trump where it hurts the most by basically reinforcing his psycho father’s (correct!) opinion that DJT is a dumb, unworthy loser.

    It’s hard to imagine that Trump won’t respond. I wonder if he will go on a tirade against Michelle Obama, who is wildly popular and beloved? He might be stupid enough to do that. We’ll see.

  25. 25.

    Betty Cracker

    August 18, 2020 at 5:47 am

    @Yutsano: I had the exact same reaction. I’m not sure what Williams’ hold is on everyone at that network. Maybe he always has the best weed or something? His colleagues seem to genuinely adore him. He adds nothing, ever, IMO. Sends me searching for the remote every time.

  26. 26.

    VOR

    August 18, 2020 at 5:52 am

    Someone made the point that Democrats started planning for a virtual convention, at least in part, months ago. Republicans still don’t even know the location for Trump’s acceptance speech. They were planning a In-person, with audience, convention until just a few weeks ago. And you know Trump will have some last minute whims which need to be accommodated. I predict a sharp contrast in the smoothness of the two conventions.

  27. 27.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 18, 2020 at 6:05 am

    @Yutsano:

    Then they brought in Brian Williams. I have no idea why MSNBC did such a stupid thing. 

    You repeat yourself in a way. :)

  28. 28.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 18, 2020 at 6:09 am

    @Betty Cracker: And she didn’t even openly call Dump a dumbass.  She just laid out the situation we’re in because he can’t threaten to sue or pay off the pandemic to go away.

    ETA – is there a countdown to the orange assclown calling Obama a “nasty woman?”

  29. 29.

    Yutsano

    August 18, 2020 at 6:10 am

    @Betty Cracker: The only thing I can think of is he’s been there so long he has “seniority”. Or we could go Occam’s razor and he was there because that’s his normal time slot. I didn’t know Rachel did her show right before the convention started but I wish I had as she did an excellent interview with Elizabeth Warren. I can’t wait for her speaking slot now.

    And as it is 0310 here I’m going back to sleep for a spell.

  30. 30.

    mrmoshpotato

    August 18, 2020 at 6:14 am

    @geg6: Apologies for being so blankety with my statement.

    P.S. Chuckles still tries to blow himself on camera.

  31. 31.

    David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch

    August 18, 2020 at 6:23 am

    by the time they brought Williams in it was past 11PM and most of the country was going to bed.

     

    We’ve got four long night, save the first team (Rachel, Joy, Nicolle) for prime time.

     

    Oh, and thank God Tweety wasn’t there droning on about Tip and the Gipper.

  32. 32.

    Betty Cracker

    August 18, 2020 at 6:27 am

    @David ? ☘The Establishment☘? Koch: Thank you for reminding me to be grateful for the absence of Tweety!

  33. 33.

    greenergood

    August 18, 2020 at 6:37 am

    @Amir Khalid:  The BBC, aka the UK government’s propaganda machine, is busy generating ‘meh’ reports about the Democratic party. Another Beeb journalist, Jon Sopel, had a report on Radio 4 yesterday a.m. about how he couldn’t find anyone, not ANYONE, who really wanted Biden, just people who didn’t want Trump. The Beeb, following the UK gov’s Brexit policy, is running scared that Trump won’t get in and then we won’t have our ‘glorious’ trade deal with the US, you know, the one that’s going to make up for all the trade we won’t have with the EU anymore, as we ‘take back control’. And Biden and Dems generally lean far more towards the EU than the UK.

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 18, 2020 at 6:43 am

    @greenergood:  They don’t realize they are going to get a better deal from Biden than they ever would from trump? I guess MAGA heads aren’t the only ones drinking the koolaide.

  35. 35.

    Mai naem mobile

    August 18, 2020 at 6:58 am

    I hope Melania plagiarizes this speech of Michelle’s at the RNC next week.

  36. 36.

    greenergood

    August 18, 2020 at 7:04 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: No we have our own brand of koolaid drinkers: MEGAs – Make England Great Again (NB: not Northern Ire, Scotland or Wales)

  37. 37.

    Kathleen

    August 18, 2020 at 7:07 am

    @Betty Cracker: Even Fox Bots praised her speech.

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    August 18, 2020 at 7:27 am

    @greenergood: It just amazes me that anyone thinks there is a deal with trump that doesn’t come with a knife in the back.

  39. 39.

    artem1s

    August 18, 2020 at 9:05 am

    it’s Kasich and Republicans supporting Biden, not Biden supporting them.

    It’s Kasich and Republicans supporting Moscow Mitch and using Trump as a fall guy so they can return to business as usual as soon as they fumigate the WH.  Never forget that. This is only the first of three elections that may save us from becoming a failed fascist state.  We won’t be getting any help from these nice polite Republicans when it comes time to clean out the rest of the swamp critters in 2022 and 2026.  As with climate change we may already have passed the point of no return in terms of the damage that they have done to our courts, legal system, and public perception on how governments actually function.  The media and election process will be the same old mess. And the day after the inauguration these guys will all be demanding to be the only voice at the table because obviously Democrats couldn’t win an election without them.  The will frame a Biden win as a Republican mandate to return to Reaganism and demand we give up all those icky civil rights issues and ignore income disparity issues because they make everyone feel so bad about rich white people men.  The GOP is much, much better at the game of stealing credit for political wins than the Stans ever were.

  40. 40.

    greenergood

    August 18, 2020 at 9:21 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Just illustrates how simultaneously desperate, and self-deluded are Brexiteers …

  41. 41.

    Denali

    August 18, 2020 at 9:47 am

    The Convention is available online at Demcon.com without interruptions. I was very impressed  by how smoothly everything went off.  Michelle’s speech was the highlight.    I also thought Joe Biden was effectively  portrayed as someone who cares deeply about others in stark contrast to he who shall not be named. I hope people other than committed Democrats will watch.

  42. 42.

    WaterGirl

    August 18, 2020 at 9:53 am

    @Denali: That link takes you to something that is not at all the Democratic Convention!

  43. 43.

    Miss Bianca

    August 18, 2020 at 10:39 am

    So, what’s the best way to catch up on Night One? I was busy doing other stuff last night (including meeting with my local Democratic Party chapter via Zoom!), but happily trolled through all the comments and came to the conclusion that I should watch it retroactively!

    Youtube? Dem Convention website? Thoughts? Anyone? Bueller? : )

  44. 44.

    chopper

    August 18, 2020 at 10:41 am

    @Mary G:

    well, they’ve had months to plan this so i would hope it’s going to run smoothly. i assume whatever the gop barfs up is going to be a hot mess since they refuse to plan for anything.

  45. 45.

    Mo MacArbie

    August 18, 2020 at 12:08 pm

    Don’t know if you’re still watching this thread, but C-SPAN has it.

  46. 46.

    bluefish

    August 18, 2020 at 7:23 pm

    Hello?! Those of us old enough to remember Kasich and Scarborough from back in the days of Pet Shop Boys and Tears for Fears welcome both with open arms. And laugh the laugh of the old. Forever 21. Ha ha and mfing HA! I can’t spell Kasich but thanks, bro. Told you decades ago.

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