Night one of the Democratic convention went pretty well. There were no hitches that were detected, and a plethora of speakers made the case for Joe Biden, including one exceptional speaker who brought the house down. If you weren't genuinely moved by the words and authenticity of Michelle Obama, you should probably have your pulse checked. The former first lady was in rare form.
But the two most crucial speeches last night came from two men who could not be farther apart on the issues: Bernie Sanders and John Kasich - the oil and vinegar of the political spectrum. It was odd seeing both men appear on the same night making the case for a man who on most days they would have serious disagreements with. Kasich because Biden is a Democrat and Sanders, well, for pretty much the same reason.
And yet there was a sense of urgency in both men's words that overrode whatever differences they might otherwise have. They understood the moment required more than just political posturing. Kasich, having seen his once beloved GOP systematically being taken over by a despot, urging his fellow Republicans to put country ahead of party and vote Democrat; Sanders, perhaps sensing a repeat of 2016, pleading with his supporters to get behind Biden, at one point admitting that "the price of failure is just too great." Turns out cats and dogs can sleep together; it just takes an apocalypse to make it happen.
Frankly, I'm not sure how effective Kasich was. My instincts tell me that at the end of the day, Trump is likely to get over 90 percent of the Republican vote. Still, if Kasich was able to reach a few of the more reluctant MAGA warriors with his words and pull them back over the fence, it was worth it. Politics, like sales, is all about the margins. And As Michelle Obama reminded everyone in her speech, in one of the states that decided the last election, the difference came out to two votes per precinct. Two votes! That state was Michigan and Trump won it by just over 10,000 votes. Every little bit helps.
As for how effective Sanders was, I am somewhat more optimistic. Unlike Kasich, who's pretty much been excommunicated from his party's apparatus, a lot of progressives hang on ever word that comes out of Bernie's mouth. While not abandoning the core issues he cares most about, he made a strong and forceful argument for why progressives need to grasp the stakes in this election. For the first time in quite possibly his entire political career, it's dawned on him that if Trump gets reelected, there might not be a 2024 election. No progressive movement, no progressive candidates, no fucking country. As Prince would say, party over, oops, outta time.
Whether his supporters will listen to him remains to be seen. Based on some of the posts I keep seeing on social media, it's going to be a very hard sell for many of them. Bernie was the one who was going to usher in their revolution and there he was imploring them to take one for the team and get on board Democrat Central. By comparison, giving a lion a pill would be a walk in the park.
Given where we are right now, if Kasich can convince say one percent of moderate Republicans who voted for Trump in 2016 to vote for Biden this fall, and if Sanders can convince say five percent of the progressives who either stayed home or voted for Trump last time around to pull the lever for Biden, that's your ballgame right there.
That's why these two speeches were so crucial last night and why if you're the Biden campaign - indeed if you're the Democratic Party - you're praying that both men's words will be heeded by their respective audiences.
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