Blogger Candidate Forum: DNC Convention Night Four, The Grand Finale

Democratic nominee for President Joe Biden
cnn.com

Hello Everyone:

The Candidate Forum has had a chance to rest up after a celebratory night four of the Democratic National Convention and is here with a wrap up and look ahead. Former Vice President Joe Biden (D-DE) formally accepted the Democrat National Committee's nomination to be the standard bearer on Election Day, November 3, 2020.  Speaking of which,

Are you a registered voter?  If you are, great, make sure you either mail-in ballot no later than midnight October 15th or if you can vote safely in-person, pack your provisions--mask, hand sanitizer, a phone charger, food and beverage, get in line and stay there.  If you are not a registered voter, stop reading, go to usa.gov, register, and vote.  You can make a plan to vote by texting VOTE to 30330.  Thank you, now then what happened on Thursday?

The Democrat candidates outside the Chase Center
Wilmington, Delaware
scpr.org

Night four was all about the Gentleman from Delaware, culminating in his acceptance speech.  It was both intimate and emotional--Blogger and The Candidate Forum did tear up a bit--yet effectively eviscerated the incumbent Mr. Donald Trump.  In his address, the Gentleman from Delaware presented himself as the best candidate to combat the perfect storm of crisis: the COVID-19 pandemic and the ruined economy.  We live in a period of reckoning of systemic racism and economic injustice.  VPOTUS Biden looked the viewers straight in the eye and promised to,

draw on the best of us, not the worst the worst

and

to be an ally of the light, not the darkness (cnbc.com; Aug. 21, 2020, date accessed Aug. 22, 2020)

Evening featured testimonial from members of the Biden family, including a loving tribute to his late son Beau, who passed away in 2015 from brain cancer.  Perhaps the most entertaining of the testimonials came from the Gentleman from Delaware's former rivals.  In an "after the rose"-type, albeit socially distant, interview hosted by the affable New Jersey Democrat and one-time rival Senator Cory Booker, a group of former nominee candidates including Peter Yang, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Amy Klobuchar, each warmly reminisced about the man they got to know away from the microphone.  More highlights

Former Democratic nominee candidate Mike Bloomberg
foxnews.com

 Former Democrat nominee candidate and  New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg did not parse his comments about the incumbent president's handling of the pandemic or, for that matter, what he thought of the president in general.  The onetime Republican, independent, Democrat had plenty to say  Sample,

When confront with the biggest calamity any president has faced in the modern era, Donald Trump spent the year downplaying the threat, ignoring science, and recommending quack cures, which let Covid-19 spread much faster than it should've, leaving hundreds of thousands needlessly sick or dead.  He has failed the American people, catastrophically...

Four years ago, I cam before this very convention and said New Yorkers know a con when we see one.  But tonight, I'm not asking you to vote against Trump because he's a bad guy.  I'm urging you to vote against him because he's done a bad job (cnbc.com; Aug. 21, 2020)

Mayor Bloomberg's comments definitely got the incumbent president's attention and could not resist tweeting that Mayor Bloomberg is

....trying to make a comeback by begging the Democrats for relevance

...They treated him like a dog---and always will.  Before politics, he said GREAT things about!... (twitter.com/@realDonaldTrump; Aug. 20, 2020; date accessed Aug. 22, 2020)

Apparently the "dog" still has plenty of bite.

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Mayor Pete Buttigieg (D-IN)
nypost.com

Two more former nomination rivals were given prime speaking slots,  Aside from Zoom call hosting duties, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker spoke about VPOTUS Biden's "support for union rights and a higher federal minimum wage that would help to lift Americans out of poverty" (cnbc.com; Aug. 21, 2020).

Former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, an openly gay man, told the viewers that VPOTUS Joe Biden support marriage equality before the rest of the Democrat party did.

Braydon Harrington and VPOTUS Biden
twitter.com

The Democrat National Committee spent most the evening trying to present the Gentleman from Delaware as an empathetic, grandfatherly figure.  Perhaps one of the most compelling arguments for that image was presented by 13-year-old Braydon Harrington.  He told viewers how the Gentleman from Delaware helped him overcome a stutter.

VPOTUS Joe Biden had to overcome his stutter throughout most of his nearly 50 years in public service.  Brayden, who met the VPOTUS at a campaign stop in New Hampshire, shared how the Gentleman from Delaware taught the methods he used to work past speech impediment.

Braydon shared with the viewers that the Gentleman from Delaware showed him his speeches, marked up, to make them easier to say out loud.  He used his own speech to the DNC to show how he wrote, following VPOTUS's example (cnbc.com; Aug. 21, 2020).  He said,

I'm just a regular kid, and in a short amount of time, Joe Biden made me more confident about something that's bothered me my whole life.  Joe Biden cared,... (Ibid)

Former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy
en.wikipedia.org

Ordinarily, the Surgeon General of the United States (past or present) is not a political appointment.  However, this is not ordinary times and former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, who served in the Obama administration between 2014 and 2017, felt compelled to step off the sidelines and lend his endorsement to VPOTUS Biden, "because he believes the former vice president is best equipped to combat the raging coronavirus pandemic" (Ibid).  Dr. Murthy told the viewers,

We need a leader who works with states to ensure that everyone who needs a test gets one and gets results quickly, a leader who secures a safe, effective vaccine and distributes it quickly and fairly, a leader who inspires us to practice social distancing and wear masks, not as a political statement but as a patriotic duty, a commitment we make to one another,...

That's why I'm here tonight, not because of politics or for party but because I know Joe Biden can be that leader... (Ibid).

Ed Good
abcnews.go.com

 Ed Good is a 95-year-old veteran of World War II and the Korean Conflict.  He is a lifelong Republican who voted for the incumbent president and a member of the National Rifle Association.  Mr. Good is endorsing VPOTUS Joe Biden.  Mr. Good succinctly told the viewers,

I think Trump has been the worst president we've ever had, so I'll be glad to see him go,... (Ibid)

Thank you sir for your service to your country.

It was also a night for comedy, for better or worse, from moderator actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus and comedian Sarah Cooper.  The jokes were squarely aimed at the incumbent president, poking fun at his ill-conceived and ill-received photo-op in early June and his efforts to de-legitimatize the elections.

As for the virtual format, if the number of online and prime time viewers tuning is any indication, then it was a success, something to consider for the 2024 election cycle.  What comes next?

What is next is the Republican National Convention, set to start on Monday, August 24th in Charlotte, North Carolina and will be some sort of hybrid of virtual and in-person events.  The incumbent president will present his acceptance speech from the White House South Law and the vice president will speak from Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, where the National Anthem was written.  The Candidate Forum will be here with the highlights of what should be an interesting event.