Delegates will cast their official nominating votes from afar.
Hi. Welcome to On Politics, your guide to the day in national politics. I’m Giovanni Russonello, typically the morning newsletter writer. I’ll be your evening host during the conventions. Sign up here to get On Politics in your inbox every weekday. Is it just me, or did last night’s Democratic National Committee broadcast have the feeling of a slightly strange, slightly strained telethon? With no live audience to address, the actress Eva Longoria, the evening’s host, stood before a stage adorned with red, white, blue and aquamarine highlights, cuing speakers who beamed in via livestream. What this telethon was selling, of course, is the ticket of Joe Biden — who was described over the course of the night as empathetic, relatable and ready to lead on Day 1 — and his running mate, Senator Kamala Harris of California. But what it was not selling felt even more important: four more years of President Trump, whom the speakers blamed for badly mismanaging the coronavirus crisis and turning his back on the movement for racial justice in the country. As a writer, I split my time between covering politics and music, and yesterday’s broadcast highlighted something they have in common: the importance of connecting with your audience. In both realms, the interaction between the performer and the listener is what matters most. A party convention without tens of thousands clapping their hands and waving placards is like a Rolling Stones show at Madison Square Garden without any listeners. The music would ring tinny and hollow, bouncing off the arena’s empty walls. The D. N. C.’s planners clearly identified this problem: That’s why they included dozens of everyday Americans in the broadcast, cutting to them intermittently as they watched the convention via Zoom and applauded in between speeches.
