Both played to strengths as Sanders hit the grim political realities while Michelle made an impassioned emotional appeal
After a night of sometimes odd, at times emotional pre-recorded, speeches and clips, the standouts and the historic was the trio of Kasich, Sanders and Michelle Obama. Kasich was the final speech in a series of clips devoted to Republicans, many former or current office holders, as well as voters, all passionately supporting Biden, mainly pointing out his many human and “decent” traits that so clearly set him apart from the cruel and chaotic man in the White House. Kasich’s speech was powerful and intense, and covered virtually every point, which was somewhat remarkable since this was, at nearly 10 minutes, far more than a sound bite.
Sanders then used his more than 8 minutes to target the rise of Authoritarianism that “so many of our heroes fought and died to defeat”, as well as how the “unthinkable has become normal”. He seemed to work hard to make it clear that he wants his large number of followers, the co called “Bernie Bros” to vote Biden and that he wants to work together with all factions, even conservatives, to defeat Trump and contribute to implementing solutions for the nation’s many serious problems.
Nearly half of his speech was about Biden’s projected policies and how he (Sanders) supports those, even going into detail on the economy, climate change, health care and more. The details even went as far as comparing his (Sanders’) proposed plan for universal health care and how Biden’s less comprehensive plan was nevertheless one that he could support 100%.
In closing he listed off the tragic-comic list detailing just how bad a Trump victory would be for the Economy, the Nation and even the Planet:
“the future of our democracy is at stake, the future of our economy is at stake, the future of our planet is at stake. We must come together to defeat Donald Trump and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as our next president and vice president. My friends, the price of failure is just too great to imagine”.
Bernie Sanders at the virtual DNC 2020
Then, closing out the first evening of the first ever ‘virtual’ convention, Michelle Obama, hit hard but remained emotionally centered as she continued to say “go high” but emphasized “standing fierce against hatred”. Then, clearly referring to Trump; “Going high does not mean puttin’ on a smile and sayin’ nice things when confronted by viciousness and cruelty” and “scraping and clawing our way to the mountain top”. “We’ve got to vote for Joe Biden like our lives depend on it” she intoned as millions listening silently thought “because they do”.
The rousing yet softly intoned plea was equal parts a testament to Biden’s compassion and character and a dignified take down a the man that who is “cannot meet this moment” and “clearly in over his head”. “He simply cannot be who we need him to before it is what it is” she said in the only and indirect reference to his many lies and undignified pronouncements. When asked about the massive numbers of covid deaths Trump shockingly tossed off the phrase “it is what it is“.
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