Of Pageantry and Promises: The DNC and a New Democratic Party

Night 1 of the Democratic National Convention was a well-done spectacle. What of the message that the Democratic Party is changing?

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President Joe Biden took the stage at 11:26pm Eastern, an incredibly late starting time. There are any number of reasons for this, but the rumors are that the Democratic Party feared a lackluster performance and wanted to negate the number of eyes and ears trained on the speech. He finished at 12:19 after giving one of his better performances in years.

It was a masterful feat of political theater that came off seamlessly despite being incredibly hard and painful and doubtlessly stress-inducing at every level. Biden’s task was to pass the torch to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris while touting his accomplishments and communicating the true threat of Donald Trump. It was a rare thing, watching a president forego his reelection campaign and attempting to be as graceful as possible. What Biden did was credit Harris for every one of his achievements and say goodbye with gratitude.

Admittedly, it wasn’t without a few hitches. Speech problems aside, in the middle of the address some delegates in the crowd unfurled a banner reading STOP ARMING ISRAEL and it appeared there was a violent skirmish to stop them. It was a fitting reminder of the strife the party has felt over the past year.

Night 1 of the DNC was meant to demonstrate that Harris was the fitting standard-bearer of the party and that a generational shift had taken place. Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Jim Clyburn represented the old guard, but the roster heavily featured younger members who have been waiting their turn. Raphael Warnock delivered a hell of a performance. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was symbolically welcomed into the fold. Andy Beshear championed the revival of women’s rights. And the messaging around Harris was obviously intended to tout her leadership of a new generation.

As I have said since Biden bowed out, it is unclear where the Democratic Party is headed. It has been so effectively dominated by the past generation that it’s anybody’s guess where any of this is going. Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelois, in lockstep with Biden, Clinton, and others, have maintained a steadfast allegiance to the Neoliberal consensus for decades now, but the messaging this entire night was trained on a handful of targets, including Trump, the billionaire class that funds and directs the authoritarian movement, and neoliberal Trickle-Down Economics. This could be bluster and rhetoric, obviously, and the party has certainly served this up in spades, but there is reason to be hopeful, if not hopefully guarded.

For anyone who pays actual attention to politics, we must look beyond these pageants. They are full of promises and assurances that the party will get it right this time. And, after years of these performances, we should be wary in believing any of it. Conventions are slick propaganda displays, and the DNC was as effective as anything we’ve seen since at least the Barack Obama years. We are supposed to turn off our television sets or walk out of the convention feeling emboldened and hopeful and invigorated. They are, after all, infomercials for the party and its members.

Not all conventions are successful. Some are slogs and reminders that the party in the spotlight is empty of ideas or momentum. The Republican National Convention last month was a heretical lovefest of Trump and demagoguery of the highest order. There were no solutions on display. And the DNC has certainly had its moments where the messaging was chaotic and less than inspiring.

After Night 1, we can say this: the party has upped their messaging game. There are a variety of explanations for this, including new approaches to media and presentation, or even that the Harris Team has moved beyond the Biden Campaign’s limitations. Electorally, this is a positive development and continues the feeling that Harris and Tim Walz are trending in the right direction.

What we don’t know is what this will amount to. We should regard all politicians and parties with suspicion. We have been misled too many times. Heartbroken too many times. And we must remember these are servants, not messiahs or saviors or heroes or our friends, no matter how many memes tell us otherwise.

The next few nights will tell us a lot about where this is heading. Personally, I need to see the Democrats go after the Supreme Court more (I counted two mentions altogether) and tie them to the authoritarian movement and their billionaire donors. If you don’t do this, you’re not focusing on the problem and you’re simply avoiding reality out of electoral fear or a desire to let the rotten institutions stand. As well, I want to hear some actual discussion of how neoliberal Trick-Down Economics needs to give way to a robust plan for a better future. That was missing tonight, and there are any number of reason why that might be the case.

My reaction is this: it was a slick, well-orchestrated presentation that managed to massage a difficult and uncomfortable situation while showcasing new talent that contrasts a putrid and decrepit Republican Party. Well done there. Politically, this is good business. But what it amounts to, still remains to be seen.

I’ve been told there’s a new Democratic Party. I’m not holding my breath. But if it’s true that we’re moving past the neoliberal Democrats into a new chapter, I’m going to need to hear how that story is going to shift and how anyone plans to turn the page.