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Democrats in 2016: Putting on a show
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 Date: November 8, 2016 |
Winner: Donald Trump (R) Hillary Clinton (D) • Jill Stein (G) • Gary Johnson (L) • Vice presidential candidates |
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This article covering the 2016 presidential election was written outside the scope of Ballotpedia's encyclopedic coverage and does not fall under our neutrality policy or style guidelines. It is preserved as it was originally written. For our encyclopedic coverage of the 2016 election, click here.
July 28, 2016
By Rich Cohen
Note: This is a three-part series in which Rich Cohen examines the Democratic nominee, the party, the convention, and the campaign.
Democrats have a litany of problems. They are the minority party in each chamber of Congress. They control barely a third of the nation’s governors and 30 of the nation’s 98 legislative chambers that organize on a partisan basis. In some ways, they are still reeling from this year’s bitter fight for their party’s presidential nomination.
But their convention has shown once again that raucous Democrats know how to put on a show. Their stagecraft and messaging have been smart and sometimes gripping. Their party leaders have risen to the occasion with upbeat speeches. Many of them have reached out to undecided and independent voters who seem likely to decide the presidential election.
In these and other ways, their Philadelphia story has differed greatly from last week’s Republican convention in Cleveland. The GOP event seems likely to be remembered chiefly for its dark and pessimistic themes and for its small cast of characters dominated by Donald Trump and his immediate family.
Those contrasts won’t necessarily dictate the outcome in November. Nor do they seem likely to reverse significantly the political balance of power. But they reveal major disparities in the two parties’ outreach.
“I am not a member of any organized political party. I am a Democrat,” early 20th century comedian Will Rogers said. In many respects, his motto remains apt. In a less familiar comment, he observed, “Their greatest trait to recommend the Democrats is optimism and humor. You've got to be an optimist to be a Democrat, and you've got to be a humorist to stay one.”[1] They have shown plenty of each trait this week.
The convention began ominously, with supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders forcing Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to step down from her job following WikiLeaks revelations that she had favored Hillary Clinton over Sanders. Wasserman Schultz resigned under pressure, though she remained present behind the scenes. The divisions continued Monday on the convention floor with loud protests. Ultimately, Sanders’ embrace of Clinton subdued much of the criticism.
The convention was bolstered by the presence of star-power throughout the week. The heavyweights included Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Obama and his wife Michelle, former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden. (Al Gore and John Kerry—the party’s two most recent failed nominees—were not part of the script, though each has endorsed Clinton.)
Republican luminaries, by contrast, were notably absent or chilly in Cleveland. Each former President Bush stayed away, as did 2012 presidential nominee Mitt Romney, none of whom has endorsed Trump. 2008 nominee Sen. John McCain has endorsed Trump, but he spent the week vacationing in the Grand Canyon. GOP congressional leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, pursued their own interests and kept distance from Trump. Prominent African-American or Hispanic Republicans were invisible.
Whether the Democrats’ upbeat themes would prevail over Trump’s negative drumbeat remained to be seen. But they largely ignored Republican talking points about the deaths of American officials at Benghazi, Libya, and the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton’s computer server and emails. They had changed the narrative from what Bill Clinton had termed the earlier “cartoon” portrayal of the Democratic nominee, including the GOP’s chant to “lock her up.”
The Democrats’ headline attractions have had their own downsides and limitations in recent years, from continued gossip about Bill Clinton’s personal life to President Obama’s policy clashes and setbacks in Congress and the courts. But when Obama told the convention on Wednesday, “I can say with confidence there has never been a man or a woman—not me, not Bill, nobody—who has been more qualified than Hillary Clinton to serve as President of the United States,” that electric moment seemed a passing of the torch in multiple ways.
Since 1948, there’s been only one election in which the same party retained the White House for more than eight years. That was in 1988, when George H.W. Bush won what many called “Ronald Reagan’s third term.” Granted, Bush emphasized some separate policies and nuances from his predecessor. But his election benefited from Reagan’s popularity. When Gore, another vice president, distanced himself in 2000 from retiring two-term President Clinton, many thought that he had made a mistake.
Even with Obama’s Wednesday night embrace of Hillary Clinton, her campaign has emphasized her own approach as a “change maker,” while still remaining loyal to him. She has benefited from her own distinctive political persona and history, including as the first woman to be a major-party nominee for president. In some ways, she might be running as a partner for her husband’s, not Obama’s, “third term.”
This presidential campaign often has taken on a “reality show” context, chiefly because of Trump’s personal story and his media savvy. But perhaps the eventual storyline will be that the Democratic nominee has lifted herself out of the politics-as-usual context that has handicapped her. If that happens, the turbulent week in Philadelphia likely will become a central element of the saga.
Richard E. Cohen is a senior editor at Ballotpedia and a veteran congressional reporter. Among the books that he has written, he is chief author of The 2016 Almanac of American Politics.
See also
- United States Senate elections, 2016
- Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, 2016
- Democratic National Committee
- Democratic National Convention, 2016
Footnotes
