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Welcome to a special edition of From the Politics Desk, bringing you the highlights from the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
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CHICAGO — He once forged his political career here, but on Tuesday, former President Barack Obama returned to his hometown to play the role of elder statesman.
“It’s good to be home!” Obama opened to an almost deafening reception at the United Center. “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling fired up!”
That nostalgic reference to Obama’s well-known “fired up, ready to go” chant brought another roar.
As the closer for the second night of the Democratic National Convention, Obama weaved nuts-and-bolts party principles along with what he saw as a road map for the future. He paid tribute to Joe Biden, his former vice president — one of the few speakers to do so Tuesday night — and said making that pick was one of the best decisions he had made.
He called for Americans to spurn divisiveness that grows into blind hatred of one another. Obama made the case for Kamala Harris, ticking through her accomplishments as attorney general of California, then as vice president, saying she helped take on drug companies and the high price of insulin and helped lower health care costs.
At the same time, Obama took shots at former President Donald Trump, including chiding the Republican nominee for having “this weird obsession with crowd sizes,” he said, gesturing with his hands in a way to indicate something small. It was one of his biggest laugh lines of the night.
“We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos,” Obama said to cheers. “We have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse.”
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A shift in focus: Former first lady Michelle Obama served as the lead-in to her husband. While she’s known for saying “when they go low, we go high,” Jonathan Allen notes that tonight she pivoted to a more direct confrontation with Trump that better aligns with Harris’ slogan: “When we fight, we win.”
“His limited and narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hard-working, highly educated, successful people who also happened to be Black,” Obama said of Trump’s treatment of her and her husband.
Alluding to her hope that Harris will win — and Trump’s repeated use of the term “Black jobs” — she chided him. “Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs?” she said.
A personal touch: Meanwhile, Doug Emhoff sought to introduce the country to “Momala” as many Americans still get to know the newly minted Democratic presidential nominee.
Alex Seitz-Wald writes that with self-deprecating ease, the nation’s first second gentleman called his wife a “joyful warrior” and a loving co-parent to his kids who, on their anniversary every year, makes him listen to the “embarrassing” voicemail he left asking her out on their first date.
“My mom is the only one who thinks Kamala is the lucky one for marrying me,” he said to laughs.
CHICAGO — One of the running gags on social media among many Democratic activists is to mock the media with the meme “Democrats in disarray.”
The trope dates to a previous generation of Democrats who regularly used the media to debate among themselves the right direction for their party, whether on the policy front or on the campaign trail, while Republicans kept their internal disputes a lot more private.
But since the onset of the Trump era, it has been the GOP in a constant state of disarray. It makes sense given that Trump has been trying to remake the GOP in his own image and that that image is in stark contrast to the belief system of the more traditional GOP brand names of the last 30 years — think Bush, Romney, Cheney, Ryan or McConnell. Other than defeating Democrats on Election Day and cutting taxes, there isn’t a lot that Republicans agree on these days. There are huge divides over trade and economic policy and more fundamental disagreements over the role America should play in global security. On character, the rule of law and more, the divide in the party is there for all the world to see.
By contrast, the Trump era has made the Democrats more cohesive and, in turn, more pragmatic and publicly unified. The one thing that most unites the party is defeating Trump, and it can create clarity of purpose. When Sen. Joe Manchin and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can both endorse Harris in the same news cycle, you know you have a Democratic Party that as an institution is quite healthy … at least for the moment.
This convention is showcasing this institutional strength and discipline. Every living president is speaking or represented (Jimmy Carter’s grandson spoke in place of his ailing grandfather). In fact, each night features a different president: Joe Biden on Monday, Obama on Tuesday and Bill Clinton on Wednesday — and perhaps a future president on Thursday, with Harris.
Contrast that to the Republicans. A Bush hasn’t spoken at a GOP convention since 2012. Before that, a Bush family member had spoken at every Republican convention but one since 1956.
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That’s all from the Politics Desk for now. If you have feedback — likes or dislikes — email us at politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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