PHILADELPHIA — Only in this bizarre election would we see the sunny themes of Ronald Reagan more apparent in the Democratic National Convention than the Republican convention.

The Democrats this week cast the Republican nominee as dangerously soft on the Russian menace. As the crowd waved American flags, speakers drew cheers as they spoke of standing up for religious liberty and maintaining a strong national defense. They scorned the Republican nominee for disrespecting our military.

The Democrats spoke of morning in America. Even anguished mothers of sons killed in war and senseless domestic gunfire, surrounded by a basketball arena packed with support, highlighted American exceptionalism.

It all sounded light years from Trump's summation of America today: "Death, destruction, terrorism and weakness."

Republican delegates last week chanted "Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!"

Democratic convention delegates this week chanted "USA! USA! USA!"

Fear versus optimism.

"Watching Democrats talk about America the way Republican candidates used to talk about America," tweeted Tony Fratto, George W. Bush's former deputy press secretary, Wednesday night.

On Thursday, former Reagan speechwriter and lifelong Republican Doug Elmets took the stage on behalf of Hillary Clinton.

"I knew Ronald Reagan; I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald Trump, you are no Ronald Reagan," Elmets said. "President Reagan famously said, 'Tear down this wall.' Trump says, 'Build the wall, because that will make America great again.' Reagan saw nuance. Trump sees the world as us versus them, where somebody with brown skin or a foreign-sounding name is likely to blame for our troubles."

It may take a few weeks before we know what, if any, effect the conventions have on a presidential race that at this point is far closer than most Democrats and many Republicans can fathom. Conventions, slick and choreographed as they usually are, can be decisive in defining the choices before voters.

What we can say is that despite Trump's background in the reality TV entertainment business, the Democrats put on a better show.

The Democrats made better use of their schedule and maximizing TV viewers with marquee speakers.

They featured heart-wrenching speakers, including family members of fallen police officers, victims of racially charged gun violence, mothers who lost sons in Afghanistan and the Pulse nightclub. When at the GOP convention the tearful mother of a son killed in Benghazi spoke, Trump called into Fox News as if nothing significant was happening at that time.

The Democrats laughed a lot ("I'm Sarah Silverman and this past year I've been feeling the Bern. … Relax, I put some cream on it.") The Republican convention was virtually devoid of humor.

The Democrats also drew more viewers for the first three nights, which is a big deal considering how often Trump boasts of being a ratings magnet.

You campaign in poetry, govern in prose, the late Mario Cuomo said, and there is no better opportunity for poetry than a political convention. The GOP convention included some strong, angry speeches from the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie. But I can't recall any speaker who aimed at inspiring, let alone the poetic rhetoric of Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama this week.

And Hillary Clinton? Well, she tried.

Even her admirers say she is a far stronger listener than speaker. She will never be a soaring orator, but on Thursday one of the most polarizing figures over the past two decades delivered a message of unity.

"Don't believe anyone who says: 'I alone can fix it.' Those were actually Donald Trump's words in Cleveland. And they should set off alarm bells for all of us. Really? I alone can fix it? Isn't he forgetting? Troops on the front lines. Police officers and firefighters who run toward danger. Doctors and nurses who care for us. Teachers who change lives. … Americans don't say: 'I alone can fix it.' We say: 'We'll fix it together.' "

But the chants of Hill-a-ry! Hill-a-ry! from the crowd sounded less like expressions of joy than shouts to drown out her hecklers among the Bernie or Bust crowd in the Wells Fargo Center.

Part of a nominating convention's job is to unite the party, and on that score both parties apparently have lingering, though minor, challenges. Polls show nine in 10 Sanders supporters will vote for Clinton, though a vocal minority continued to try to distract from Clinton. On Thursday, some heckled a Medal of Honor recipient as he spoke of losing his leg.

The primary is officially over, however. The target audience on Thursday night and for the next 90 days is largely that sliver of the electorate that still could swing either way. Women in the suburbs, especially places like Tampa Bay, are likely to be the most sought-after audience of all.

"The person who wins the moderate vote wins the presidency in the United States of America. Barack Obama did that twice. George Bush did that twice. Some of the voters are in Florida," Democratic consultant David Plouffe said, specifically pointing to Florida's I-4 corridor.

"My firm belief is that the fall is not going to be friendly to Donald Trump," said Plouffe, who helped lead Obama's two campaigns. "One thing I've learned about going through this twice is that voters take this decision very seriously, they take it more seriously as (the election) comes close. Those debates are going to be important, and they really do envision this person in the Oval Office. Hillary Clinton's strengths — they are not always strengths that you would choose for a primary — but her dependability, her strength, her competence I think are going to be strengths for the general election."

Dependability and competence. Is that enough?

On the stagecraft of political conventions, the Democrats' feel-good patriotism this week absolutely trumped the Republicans' message of fear and anger.

When 70 percent of Americans feel the country is heading in the wrong direction, however, Trump's promise of a new course could pull voters along for the ride.

Contact Adam C. Smith at asmith@tampabay.com. Follow @adamsmithtimes.