Matthew Continetti

August 19, 2020 11:58 PM

The programmers behind the Democratic National Convention must have known they had a problem. Major speeches, from Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama, and Kamala Harris, had to be included in the 10 p.m. hour to guarantee the widest audience. How then to fill up the first 60 minutes? They settled for videos and speeches about a mishmash of hot button cultural issues: gun violence, immigration, climate change, women's rights, and domestic violence. I found Gabby Giffords's speech moving, but the rest was a snooze. An Obama-Trump voter in Michigan, Wisconsin, or Pennsylvania would probably view with skepticism this litany of progressive causes. Then she would change the channel as soon as Hillary Clinton appeared onscreen.