On the First Night of the DNC, the Biden Focus Is Clear — but What Comes Next for Democrats?

The first night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) went just fine for Joe Biden. It featured a diverse array of voices, all of whom — from the far-left Vermont senator Bernie Sanders to the smarmy former Republican Ohio governor John Kasich — praised Biden and condemned Donald Trump as utterly unfit to meet the challenges of the coming four years. Biden leads the RealClearPolitics polling average by almost eight points right now, so “just fine” will do. Short of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pulling a Ted Cruz circa 2016 and urging her acolytes to vote their conscience — which she won’t do — it’s difficult to imagine Biden coming out of his convention with anything but a bounce, if a slight one.

But for party leaders and those looking beyond 2020, last night should be cause for concern. Every speaker save for Michelle Obama could best be described as a human flatline. Muriel Bowser, mayor of the nation’s capital, gave an awkward speech making the case for Biden as a champion of racial justice and boasting of her establishment of Black Lives Matter Plaza in D.C., where the murder rate has spiked by 17 percent as compared with last year.