Tipsheet

Here's the Moment Where the DNC Went Crazy for Barack Obama

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  August 21, 2024 6:00 AM

If you were bearish on Democratic Party enthusiasm, look no further than their national convention on night two. There shouldn’t be any doubts regarding re-animating this party’s base post-Biden exit. Night one was to give the soon-to-be-ex-president his sendoff, albeit not in primetime—program overruns cast Biden to the wayside again. That couldn’t happen again tonight with the Obamas. Two things were rehashed when the pair addressed the masses at the convention: they haven’t lost a step in their oratory skills and thank God for term limits. 

As an aside, we should be thankful that Michelle Obama has zero interest in public life, as it wouldn’t shock me if she’d handily beat any Republican in a national contest. Though fraying and entering its final stages of political life, Barack Obama built a virtually unbeatable coalition. The pair did its job: get the audience jacked up, remind them what’s at stake, and take jabs at Donald Trump. 

 

Michelle weaponized Trump’s “black jobs” remark against him, framing him as a racist in the process. She proclaimed that Trump is vying for one of those black jobs in retaking the US presidency. Meanwhile, Barack slipped in a joke about Trump’s manhood, citing the former president’s talk of the size of his rallies as the hook, which sent the convention into a frenzy. 

After trashing the former president, he then expounded upon finding respect for one another, working together, and tolerating differing views. Mr. Obama also gave a lengthy sendoff to Joe Biden, speaking eloquently about his former vice president’s career in public life, conveniently leaving out all the times he doubted him, especially in this job.

Still, while gifted orators, the couple are also experts in deceiving the public. The couple owns multiple homes, including a nice beachfront property in Martha’s Vineyard. They’ve done well, yet Michelle tried to strike a populist tone regarding her remarks about her parents being suspicious of folks who took more than they needed. This woman also gets paid $750,000 on the lecture circuit. If anything, these two are the most privileged in the country: Michelle earned her undergraduate at Princeton and a law degree from Harvard, while Obama obtained higher education degrees from Columbia and Harvard. Weirdly, the Obamas are poster children of what Republicans talk about regarding hard work and self-determination. Obama's speech also included lengthy sections about how Kamala will be the everyman's president and work for all Americans; she's been in the White House for over three years.

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Was it a good speech? Politically, it was the gold standard for what you want to accomplish. I’ll always give Mr. Obama that credit: he’s a gifted speaker with the skills required to win elections, qualities that Joe Biden did not have. Yet, the division grew exponentially under his administration, and the Justice Department’s politicization entered warp speed under Eric Holder as attorney general. It’s funny to talk about coming together when you hate the Republicans so much. 

Closer to home, the Bidens were absent for this speech for multiple reasons, not least because they’re sour at the former president for playing a role in orchestrating his ouster. There is a weird Dr. Kevorkian-like vibe as if everyone who worked and signed off on euthanizing the Biden presidency is working overtime to ensure these parts of the convention about Joe come off sounding like a celebration of life. 

The Democrats politically murdered the Bidens, and now they’re handing it off to some woman who isn’t qualified, who no Democrat has ever voted for in a primary. But the Obamas made good to deflect from that glaring point, along with a brutal job report revision that's bound to tie her campaign in knots.