PGN had ringside seats at the Democratic National Convention, an exhilarating, eye-opening experience that we’re all grateful to have had (yet also grateful the sleepless week is over!). Here are a few things we took away from the historic convention.
Throughout the convention, just about every one delivered a heartening smackdown to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Whether it was immigrants thrashing him on his woeful understanding of immigration policy, the parents of an American Muslim killed in combat taking him to task for his anti-Muslim stances or LGBT leaders calling out his and running-mate Mike Pence’s support for anti-LGBT policies, it was encouraging to hear so many people united against the unfortunate force that is Donald Trump. On the heels of the Republican National Convention, when Trumpers actively shut down a protestor for simply carrying a sign that read “No racism,” we all needed to see that common sense and compassion still abound in our society. The DNC delivered both.
It also delivered history as Hillary Clinton accepted the party’s presidential nomination, becoming the first woman to ever be nominated for president by a major party. She too dismantled Trump’s policies — or lack thereof, as it is — declaring a firm “No Donald, you don’t” in response to Trump’s assumption that he knows more about ISIS than military generals. That line spoke to the convention’s overall theme: halting the runaway train(wreck) that is the Trump campaign and the fervor — tinged with racism, sexism, xenophobia and homophobia — it has inspired in its followers. For far too long, Trump and his antics have been allowed to dominate American conversation, and DNC speakers sought to change that discourse — to show the damage his brand of politics has already inflicted on the country and then offer an antidote to those wounds in the form of Clinton.
Clinton certainly wasn’t everyone’s choice, though. While we knew Bernie Sanders’ supporters planned to protest throughout, the depth of the crowds outside AT&T Station on the first night of the convention was remarkable. Inside the stadium, protest chants cropped up each day, drowned out by chants of “Hillary” at almost every turn. While it was a bit disconcerting to hear the word “unity” trumpeted from the stage while there were very real pockets of dissension in the crowd, that spoke volumes to the reality facing the Democratic Party right now.
There is significant work to be done before there is unity within the Democratic Party. A platform that blended the policies of Clinton and Sanders was a key step toward that aim. But those efforts can’t be crumbs thrown for votes — they need to be genuine in order for the party to represent all voices, classes and viewpoints of Democrats. The more unified the party is, the more likely Trump will be relegated to the footnotes of history, and Democrats can take not only the White House, but also the U.S. House and Senate — and make progress a reality.