Barack and Michelle Obama’s electrically brilliant speeches to the Democratic convention Tuesday night were a coordinated jab–cross that perfectly met Democrats’ needs.
To borrow an Obama-ism, let me be clear. They planned this.
Barack and Michelle Obama’s electrically brilliant speeches to the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night in Chicago were a coordinated jab–cross that perfectly met Democrats’ needs and—if the party is paying close enough attention—laid the groundwork for the strategic transition that vice president and nominee Kamala Harris absolutely must pull off in order to win.
They ended the first phase of the Harris campaign and launched the second.
Michelle was the star of the night among giddy Democrats for her eloquent mix of rhetorical flourishes, pointed critiques of former president Donald Trump’s silver spoon privilege and golden parachute business life (« most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward »), and gruesome knife twists, including the night’s most excruciatingly dank line: « who’s going to tell [Trump] that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those Black jobs. »
The result was a full on face-slap to the man who Democrats see as the spawn of Satan – and they were predictably rapturous. And why such a whiplash-inducing departure from her 2016 « when they go low we go high » mantra? Because that’s what her party needed. Michelle’s mission was to complete the great Democratic consolidation of 2024.
When President Joe Biden dropped out exactly one month ago, polling averages showed Trump leading Harris 45.6% to 41.0%. As of Tuesday night, Trump had dropped by about one percentage point. Harris had risen six. So clearly, Harris’ growing support is mostly not coming from persuading Trump voters. Rather, it’s coming almost entirely at the expense of third-party candidate Robert F Kennedy, Jr. who has fallen four points in that time. In other words, it’s coming from consolidation: Harris has been clawing back Democratic-leaning voters who were previously drifting away from Biden.
