Democrats put the spotlight on everyday people’s stories to paint the chaos of the Trump administration and convince Republicans to come to their side.
The first night of the Democratic National Convention looked nothing like previous party conventions. It was entirely virtual. The lineup included well-known Republicans endorsing Joe Biden for president. And the star of the night wasn’t Biden himself. It was regular people.
Yes, there were big-name speakers, such as former first lady Michelle Obama and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who capped off the night. But for most of the two-hour event, the spotlight was on health care workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, teachers worried about returning to school safely, small business owners struggling to get by and former supporters of President Donald Trump who now enthusiastically back Biden.
Kristin Urquiza was among them. Her dad was a Trump supporter who believed the president when he said the pandemic was under control, said Urquiza, so he went to a karaoke bar in Arizona after the state lifted its stay-at-home order in May. He ended up testing positive for COVID 19 soon after, and a few weeks later he was put on a ventilator. Days later, he died alone in an intensive care unit.
“My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that he paid with his life,” Urquiza said. “One of the last things that my father said to me was that he felt betrayed by the likes of Donald Trump. And so, when I cast my vote for Joe Biden, I will do it for my dad.”
So many stories centered on the coronavirus ― and Trump’s failure to mitigate its spread. Trung Lee, a nurse in Connecticut, talked about being scared to lose colleagues in a second wave of the pandemic. Michelle Boyle, a union nurse in Pittsburgh, said she was a first responder during the Haiti earthquake 10 years ago and even then didn’t fear for her life as she does now, going to work in the U.S. without enough protective gear. Scott, a small business owner from Swathmore, Pennsylvania, started his business 31 years ago with his wife and is barely getting by.
“It’s been rough. ‘Rough’ is a nice word to say it,” Scott said. “Our revenue is off about 40%. We have half the employees that we had before COVID, and our customers are a little scared. Our employees are sometimes afraid to come to work because of the COVID. To be honest, I’m just frustrated. I don’t understand how we got here.”
Invoking everyday Americans’ stories — usually stories from the campaign trail — is commonplace in political speeches. But Monday night was different. These kinds of personal stories and videos that would typically get talked over by thousands of delegates at an in-person convention, and lost to at-home viewers to commercial breaks, were the main event.
Prominently featured among these everyday voices were Republicans and Trump supporters, urging their fellow conservatives to cross party lines.
“I’ve been a longstanding Republican, and I am telling you, you’ve got to vote for Joe Biden,” Michael, from Rhode Island, said in a prerecorded video montage alongside Republicans from Wisconsin and Florida. “I don’t think we can deal with the kind of person we have in the White House any longer.”
The Democratic Party’s decision to include elected Republicans, like former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Rep. Susan Molinari, now a lobbyist, on the first night of the convention was controversial within the party — especially on the same night Sanders, who championed a democratic socialist agenda, was slated to speak.
Some of the party’s biggest stars, including progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who is slated to speak for one minute Tuesday night, denounced the decision publicly.
“John Kasich doesn’t get to say who is or isn’t representative of the Democratic Party,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a fundraising email Monday night. “An anti-choice, anti-worker Republican does not get to decide who represents the Democratic Party.”
I’ve been a longstanding Republican and I am telling you, you’ve got to vote for Joe Biden.Michael, from Rhode Island
Over the course of Monday’s programming, however, it was clear the party sees these longtime Republicans and former Trump voters as part of Biden’s path to victory. They highlighted their personal experiences on everything from Trump’s COVID-19 response to his divisive rhetoric to his trade policy. Rarely did the speeches go into specifics on Biden’s policy platform.
Rick Telesz, a 62-year-old dairy and soybean farmer in Volant, Pennsylvania, spoke of how Trump’s trade wars had harmed his business.
“My biggest fear is that if these trends continue with this type of leadership, I will be the last generation doing this kind of farming,” Telesz said.
He was followed by Eric, a voter in Illinois, sitting in his living room with what appeared to be a glass of whiskey on the rocks, saying he was an “ashamed” former Trump voter.
“I challenge you to think back to what made you vote for Donald Trump in 2016,” Eric said. “I’ve registered as a Democrat for the first time in my life.”
Kasich made the same appeal, beamed into the convention Monday evening standing at a literal crossroads, emphasizing his belief that Biden would remain a moderate in office.
“I’m sure there are Republicans and independents who couldn’t imagine crossing over to support a Democrat, they fear Joe may turn sharp left and leave them behind. I don’t believe that, because I know the measure of the man who is reasonable, faithful, respectful and, you know, no one pushes Joe around.”
Eventually, these voices did bring it back to Biden: Gregg Weaver, a former Amtrak conductor who rode the train with Biden for decades, said the former vice president is a regular person, too. He said he’s most comfortable around working-class people like him.
“Everybody was special to him. We have heroes all over this country, and a lot of essential workers that we don’t even see that are behind the scenes. They’re keeping this country going,” Weaver said. “He understands that.”