Readers praise their speeches, and one explains why the virtual convention is “the best one ever.”
To the Editor: Re “‘Do Not Let Them Take Away Your Democracy,’ Obama Says” (front page, Aug.20): The Barack Obama we have come to know as a speaker with words that sing — measured, cerebral and unemotional — was nowhere to be seen Wednesday night. Instead we saw a passionate Obama, with a dark, clear and urgent message. With emphasis on more than 170,000 dead, millions jobless, our reputation diminished and institutions threatened, an emotional Mr. Obama warned us that this is how “a democracy withers, until it’s no democracy at all.” This was not just a fervent plea to elect Joe Biden. It was a gutsy appeal, breaking the unwritten rule that presidents do not admonish one another. Susan BergerGlencoe, Ill. To the Editor: Your front-page article’s appalling misreading of former President Barack Obama’s speech to the Democratic convention perpetuates the Trump-established notion that presidential messages to the public are merely self-serving. Mr. Obama’s appeal to voters to take “responsibility as citizens, to make sure that the basic tenets of our democracy endure. Because that’s what is at stake right now” is not about Mr. Obama. It’s about our country. To suggest that his remarks are about legacy building is an insult to one of the few true voices of American leadership and to the citizens who share his horror at the current threat to the integrity of our nation.
