On the first night of a virtual Democratic National Convention, the knives came out for President Donald Trump.
The sharpest, most personal cuts were delivered by women – a clear nod to the gender divide that’s driving the presidential contest.
John Kasich, the former governor of Ohio, reassured his fellow Republicans that Joe Biden was a presidential campaign worth straying for. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota spoke of unity – in bare feet, she confessed to the Georgia delegation this morning. “Which was cool,” she said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was indeed sharp-tongued, but never mentioned Trump by name:
“The European virus infected the Northeast while the White House was still fixated on China. The virus had been attacking us for months before they even knew it was here. We saw the failure of a government that tried to deny the virus, then tried to ignore it, and then tried to politicize it.
“The failed federal government that saw New York get ambushed by their negligence, and then watched New York suffer, but all through it learned absolutely nothing."
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, second-place finisher in two presidential primaries, did invoke the Republican incumbent by name – as did others, but in an almost bookish argument aimed at the progressives who follow him.
“If Donald Trump is re-elected, all the progress we have made will be in jeopardy. At its most basic, this election is about preserving our democracy,” Sanders said.
The visceral attacks came from two speakers. There was Kristin Urquiza, whose father died of COVID-19 this summer in Arizona. Her video address was brief, but included this:
“My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump — and for that he paid with his life."
Michelle Obama, the former first lady, was the evening closer – and for a good reason. Her 18-minute address, the longest of the evening, included this brutal line:
“Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is."
The “it is what it is” line, delivered without smirk or a rolling of the eyes, was a clear reference to a recent Trump interview in which the president addressed the death toll wrought by the coronavirus – in those exact same words.
A woman again will apparently have the final say in tonight’s session.
Former President Bill Clinton; John Kerry, the former secretary of state and the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee; and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York are on the agenda.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the liberal 30-year-old congresswoman from New York, will have a 60-second spot.
Georgia speakers will include Sally Yates, the former acting U.S. attorney general fired by Trump. Stacey Abrams, the 2018 candidate for governor, and state Rep. Sam Park of Lawrenceville, are among 17 “rising stars” who will jointly deliver the night’s keynote.
The apparent closer is Jill Biden, Joe Biden’s wife and an educator.
***
On Monday afternoon, the Trump Victory campaign held a preemptive press conference that featured Georgia GOP chair David Shafer and Gov. Brian Kemp.
Kemp was asked to explain his shift to allow cities to issue masking mandates in his most recent emergency order, which came after he dropped his lawsuit against Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in the city of Atlanta requiring just that. Said Kemp:
“We're giving the local governments now the opportunity to do a masking ordinance if they would like. They don't have to. I think you'll see a lot of communities where they won't. Some obviously have already done that or will.
“But you know that lawsuit was never about masks. We've been purchasing millions of masks for the state of Georgia for many months now. I've been on tours and urging people to wear masks -- Wearing one myself for months now.
“This was about the mayor of Atlanta trying to start shutting businesses down and ruining livelihoods of our citizens. And I just was not going to allow that to happen. It's unfortunate that the press only wants to talk about masks, because that's not what it was about…"
But this is what will have many in Georgia scratching their heads:
“I also felt like we had gotten to the point where, with schools reopening, that we needed to be consistent. We were allowing the schools to do masks if they wanted to…And we're just doing the same thing with the cities now. I believe that's a good balance for us to have."
Cities will be allowed to require masks in all public spaces, but private businesses can’t be forced to participate – they’ll have to opt in.
Trump Victory has another event at noon today, featuring Lauren “Bubba” McDonald, the state Public Service Commission.
***
Already posted: President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are running roughly even in Georgia ahead of two weeks of political conventions that aim to reframe the public’s attention on the race for the White House:
The poll, conducted for Channel 2 Action News by Landmark Communications, pegs Trump at 47% and Biden at 44% — within the margin of error. About 4% back Libertarian Jo Jorgensen, and another 4% are undecided.
***
At a Sunday town hall, Democrat Senate nominee Jon Ossoff blamed “Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans” for stalling on coronavirus relief. In particular, he noted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s $3 trillion tax cut and spending bill aimed at stemming the economic fallout from the coronavirus outbreak awaits final passage.
Ossoff’s campaign points out that he hasn’t endorsed the measure, and instead pushed Congress to return to pass a new relief bill. U.S. Sen. David Perdue’s aides, meanwhile, tried to assert that he supports it, and accused him of backing a “massive handout to the wealthy liberals” in larger states.
Here’s what Ossoff said:
“This hasn't been a mystery -- that the first COVID relief bill was going to run out, that the unemployment benefits would expire, that schools would need support in August and September. None of this has been a mystery. Congress - and let's be more specific, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans -- because the House passed another major COVID relief bill months ago that's been sitting on McConnell's desk for months. Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans waited till the very last minute like they always do, dangling people's livelihoods and ability to make home payments and small business solvency like a bargaining chip. And now they just threw their hands up and went home and passed nothing. So Congress needs to get back into session immediately."
***
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, the former vice presidential contender, has endorsed Jon Ossoff’s Senate campaign. This line in the press release, on this state’s flippability, caught our eye: “When I look at Georgia, I see what Virginia looked like just a few years ago,” Keane said.
***
Georgia Republicans have selected the six delegates who will represent the state in Charlotte next week.
They are: Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, GOP finance chair Shawn Still, National Committeeman Jason Thompson, National Committeewoman Ginger Howard, former National Committeeman Alec Poitevint, and ex-state Sen. Josh McKoon.
***
Coming up: U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler will launch a statewide tour on Monday that includes stops with U.S. Sens. Tim Scott and Tom Cotton, Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.
***
And this weekend: Jo Jorgensen, Libertarian Party candidate for president, will be in Georgia on Saturday night. Details here.
***
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the GOP nominee in the 14th District congressional contest, has formed a political committee to raise money that she can use to for certain campaign expenses and make donations to like-minded candidates or the Republican party. The Save America Stop Socialism PAC bears the name of Greene’s campaign slogan.
This leadership PAC is different than Greene’s official campaign committee, Greene for Congress. The SASS PAC has not yet reported any fundraising or expenditures.
***
The trailer for “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” a documentary featuring Stacey Abrams, was released on Monday. The movie is scheduled for theater release Sept. 9 and will be available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video Sept. 18.
The trailer demonstrates that Abrams’s 2018 run for governor and the voting issues that occurred across Georgia is a main focus but not the only one. The are scenes of Georgia voters recounting issues from Election Day, but we also spotted a rally on the steps of the Florida Capitol and people reenacting voting rights marches across Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Ambassador Andrew Young was also interviewed for the movie, which is backed by Abrams’ Fair Fight organization and several other progressive groups.
***
We also noticed U.S. Rep. John Lewis was part of a promo video running on the DemConvention.com website in between live streams, which contained b-roll of his speech at the 2012 convention in Charlotte.
In the speech, now available on the DNC YouTube, that preceded Barack Obama’s nomination for a second term, Lewis talks about being one of the original Freedom Riders who were attacked while testing a Supreme Court ruling that aimed to desegregate interstate busing. He told the story of later meeting and forgiving a man who once beat him.
“This man and I don’t want to go back. We don’t want to go back,” Lewis told the cheering crowd.
