Let’s get something clear, I’m not comparing any of these speeches because I think they are all fantastic. These are in absolutely no particular order except for all being number one on your need to watch list. If you made the colossal mistake of missing the Democratic convention then you need to be watching these speeches. Really, it’s the least you can do if you can’t vote.
Speech 1: Barack Obama
Barack Obama is known for his powerful and eloquent speeches, and as a result, his moving address on August 19 came as no surprise to anyone. Obama’s oratorical style fits perfectly with the quarantine venue, as he speaks straight towards the camera and does appear to be waiting for applause. Politicians often rely on applause during their speeches to keep them centered but Obama’s years of giving oval office addresses to empty rooms was evident in this address. The moment where you could feel him becoming emotional was when he talked about what inspired him to fight for this country. Obama recalls talking to an early civil rights leader,
“On the very day that I was born, he was walking into a jail cell. Trying to end Jim Crow segregation in the south. What we do echoes through generations. Whatever our backgrounds, we are all the children of Americans who fought the good fight. Great-grandparents working in fire traps and sweatshops without rights or representation. Farmers losing their dreams to dust. Irish and Italians, and Asians and Latinos told, ‘Go back where you came from.’ Jews and Catholics, Muslims and Sikhs. Black Americans chained and whipped and hanged. Spit on for trying to sit at lunch counters. Beaten for trying to vote. If anyone had a right to believe that this democracy did not work and could not work, it was those Americans. Our ancestors, they were on the receiving end of a democracy that had fallen short all their lives. They knew how far the daily reality of America strayed from the mitt. And yet instead of giving up, they joined together and they said, ‘somehow, some way, we are going to make this work, we are going to bring those words in our founding documents to life. I have seen that same spirit these last few years.’”
I might have tears in my eyes as I type this. There’s a reason his speeches are legendary.
Speech 2: Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama’s speech felt like talking to a friend in time of need. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen because it felt like she was talking to me, just to me. She was sitting on a couch by a fire, looking you straight in the eye, and saying that she hated politics but loved this country and that was why she was here. Her messages were an urgent call to voters that this was a time of need. She detailed how Trump had failed over and over again, frequently using his own words against him. Her speech lasted around 20 minutes but it felt shorter than other political speeches simply because it didn’t feel political; it felt like a friend telling you the cold hard facts. Here is an excerpt I found memorable.
“So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”
Or as President Trump said to the thousands of people dying everyday to a virus he has released no plans to get a hold of after more than half a year, “it is what it is.”
Speech 3: Joe Biden
Biden was opened by his son and daughter, Ashley and Hunter Biden, and an old video of his late son Beau Biden. The opening felt more touching and heartfelt because we’d just learned of Biden’s loss of not one but two children. As such, seeing only two out of his four kids still alive(at least for me) was emotional.
Right from the start, he broke it down — what he would be doing the moment he stepped into office to fight the virus that has taken more than 175,000 American lives. He did what a lot of political analysts have been begging him to do, to explain what he could do to protect Americans better than Trump. Undecided voters might not like Trump but they don’t know what Biden would be doing better, but in this speech he made the line between his and Trump’s action plans very clear. The primary theme of the convention, one might argue, was the focus on Biden’s profound empathy and being able to truly relate to grieving families because he held that same grief from the death of his wife and two children. Republicans hyped this speech up to be a big failure and to watch out for “Biden gaffes”’ but the gaffes didn’t arrive and the criticism from the right wing that served as a prologue to the speech only aided it. Biden hit everything he needed to and for the first time reminded us of what it was like to have a president who didn’t talk about random things like his inability to climb a ramp, didn’t ignore heavy topics or didn’t possess decent empathy. Biden demonstrated in his speech that he was the president that we deserve, someone who would take the job seriously and really truly listen to the people.
“And after all this time, the president still does not have a plan. Well, I do. If I’m president on day one we’ll implement the national strategy I’ve been laying out since March. We’ll develop and deploy rapid tests with results available immediately. We’ll make the medical supplies and protective equipment our country needs. And we’ll make them here in America. So we will never again be at the mercy of China and other foreign countries in order to protect our own people. We’ll make sure our schools have the resources they need to be open, safe, and effective. We’ll put the politics aside and take the muzzle off our experts so the public gets the information they need and deserve. The honest, unvarnished truth. They can deal with that. We’ll have a national mandate to wear a mask—not as a burden, but to protect each other. It’s a patriotic duty. In short, I will do what we should have done from the very beginning. Our current president has failed in his most basic duty to this nation. He failed to protect us.”
#TeamJoe— that wasn’t part of the speech, that was just me.
Speech 4: Kamala Harris
We knew Kamala from running in the Democratic Presidential Primaries, so we knew her on the debate stage, we heard some bad press about her but we didn’t really know her. At least I didn’t. That’s why this speech was so important. It introduced us to the first Black woman and person of Asian-American descent on a major party ticket. The first ten minutes really detailed her upbringing as a child of immigrants, her family and her step children who call her Momala. She talked about the movements that made it possible for her to be standing on the stage. Harris remembered her friendship with Biden’s late son Beau and how he helped her get to know Joe Biden on top of what she already admired about the former senator, specifically the VAWA (Violence Against Women Act). Last but not least I would argue that her most powerful moment on stage was when she mentioned Breonna Taylor, who was 26 when she was shot and killed by cops because of the color of her skin and has yet to gain justice. The acknowledgement of the structural racism coming from a black woman accepting the Vice Presidential nomination shined in comparison with Trump’s response to the protests on racial justice around the country, which was to protect confederate statues. Harris voicing the names of victims of police violence reminded us what it was like to have a president who openly talks about these issues and works hard to change them.
“And while this virus touches us all, let’s be honest, it is not an equal opportunity offender. Black, Latino and Indigenous people are suffering and dying disproportionately.
This is not a coincidence. It is the effect of structural racism. Of inequities in education and technology, health care and housing, job security and transportation. The injustice in reproductive and maternal health care. In the excessive use of force by police. And in our broader criminal justice system. This virus has no eyes, and yet it knows exactly how we see each other—and how we treat each other. And let’s be clear—there is no vaccine for racism. We’ve gotta do the work. For George Floyd. For Breonna Taylor. For the lives of too many others to name. For our children. For all of us. We’ve gotta do the work to fulfill that promise of equal justice under law. Because, none of us are free…until all of us are free.”
Speech #5: Bernie Sanders
Bernie, the last democrat left in the race after Joe Biden won, someone who has a specific and dedicated fan base that has been widely accused of not showing up for Hilary in 2016, spent his speech illustrating the very real humanitarian crisis that was happening and will continue to grow if Donald Trump is reelected and urged his supporters to vote for Biden and against Trump. One of Sander’s most hard hitting moments was when he described a few of the many events that would end a presidency normally but were now the new normal. He went in on Trump, at one point outright calling him an authoritarian, a word many have been skipping around but have been hesitant to use publicly as it has such a dark and weighted meaning. However in my humble opinion this is exactly what Trump’s presidency has descended into, an autocracy. In case you aren’t aware what authoritarianism means here’s a google definition, “favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.” Sound familiar? Also it’s worth talking about how the DNC made the interesting decision to put former Republican governor John Kasich, who holds many far right views, speaking on the same night as Bernie, a symbol of the left side of the democratic party. However, many argued that this choice was made to illustrate a real all-hands-on-deck situation – the right and the left coming together to vote out a so-called authoritarian regime.
Bernie’s speech was a powerful plea to vote Trump out before it’s too late. To hear Sanders recount some of Trump’s shortcomings was a good refresher on how dangerous the current president really is. Some of Bernie’s best moments (in my opinion) are below.
“Under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root in our country. I and my family, and many of yours, know the insidious way authoritarianism destroys democracy, decency and humanity. As long as I am here, I will work with progressives, with moderates, and, yes, with conservatives to preserve this nation from a threat that so many of our heroes fought and died to defeat.”
“At its most basic, this election is about preserving our democracy. During this president’s term, the unthinkable has become normal. He has tried to prevent people from voting, undermined the U.S. Postal Service, deployed the military and federal agents against peaceful protesters, threatened to delay the election and suggested that he will not leave office if he loses. This is not normal, and we must never treat it like it is.”
Honorable mentions —which were also amazing, fantastic, incredible, and made me cry and were beautiful moving keynotes— included Jill Biden and Elizabeth Warren, so go watch those too. And don’t judge me for crying so much while watching this, I just get emotional when I feel like democracy might have a chance after all.